The ROI you get when turning workforce wellbeing insight into action

Confidence that policies support mental health is high, stigma is being broken down, and the majority of workplaces have support such as employee assistance programmes in place – all developments to be celebrated.

While this signals a continuation of recent positive trends we have seen in workplace culture, it’s also clear that barriers to creating mentally healthy workplaces persist in some key areas.

Although wellbeing is a priority at board level, for example, this survey tells us that initiatives are scarcely driven from the top. An effective ‘whole organisation’ approach for the longterm is always best achieved when wellbeing strategies are led by board members.

For many organisations, we also see a reluctance to include wellbeing as part of a business strategy, despite the evidence highlighting the financial impact of poor employee wellbeing.

This suggests a misconception still exists that investment in wellbeing will negatively impact the bottom line. But as we already know, and as this research shows, there is a substantial return on investment for those who do factor in wellbeing.

Sharing what works and what doesn’t is invaluable

Measurement is another significant barrier. As many in the industry work to research and improve processes and systems to support informative data collection on employee health and wellbeing, we must remain steadfast in our commitment.

There is a balance to be struck between continuing to innovate in our strategies and interventions, and improving the ways we assess their effectiveness. At the same time, as we progress, those leading the way have an important role to play in sharing knowledge of what works and what doesn’t.

As was evident in judging the recent 2018 Employee Wellbeing Awards, there is a huge range of approaches to workplace wellbeing across different sectors, varying from those oriented around health and safety, to some based on diversity and inclusion and others focusing more on talent development and performance. At the core of every well-crafted strategy, though, is a robust preventative approach, and appropriate workplace support.

Communicating best practice will, as ever, be essential to support those organisations yet to develop and implement a well-defined wellbeing strategy. For us all to progress and share the best practice possible, the challenge now is for more senior leaders to take forward the insights from this research and translate them into action. It’s a huge opportunity for everyone at board level.

Poppy Jaman OBE is former CEO at Mental Health First Aid England.

Download a copy of the 88 page Employee Wellbeing Research 2018 (free to REBA Professional Members and all those working for REBA Associate Members).

If you would like to learn more about employee wellbeing, register here to attend the Third Annual Employee Wellbeing Congress on 5 July 2018.