Providing healthcare initiatives on a budget
With this is mind, putting together an effective health and wellbeing strategy that suits smaller budgets can pose a challenge. Beth Robotham, head of business development at Bupa UK, says: “When I think about cost effective, I think it’s really about value, so having a really clear sense of what is important to an organisation will help employers make better decisions about where to invest.”
Key considerations to help employers achieve this:
1) Create a targeted approach
Understanding the workforce demographic and what their lifestyles involve provides employers with the building blocks for a successful, targeted health and wellbeing strategy that is tailored to employee needs - this will ensure that the benefits budget is being spent in the right places.
Utilising data such as employee engagement figures, absence statistics or business performance results can help employers’ spot gaps and trends within the workforce, pinpointing key areas of improvement and focus, such as musculoskeletal disorders or workplace stress.
2) Maximise existing resources
Promoting the services an employer already has in place is a great way to signpost employees to benefits that may have previously been under-utilised, for example, employee assistance programmes (EAPs), counselling services and health cash plans, all of which can be implemented and sustained on a smaller budget.
3) Take a holistic approach
A holistic approach to staff wellbeing can reap rewards without much outlay – consider simple initiatives such as providing free fruit, encouraging walking meetings and healthy catering options. A recent report from Reward & Employee Benefits Association (REBA) in association with Punter Southall Health & Protection, showed that 60% of employees said free fruit was their favourite wellbeing initiative.
4) Fine tune employee communications and engagement
Introducing health and wellbeing as a regular discussion point can help employees become more aware of what services and benefits are available. Robotham says: “Wellbeing should become an integrated theme in how employers talk to people, so it becomes part of a business culture over time. An employer can have the best benefits and wellbeing programmes in the world but if people aren’t connecting to these, then, actually, it’s not a good investment.”
Weaving storytelling methods into communication campaigns can also be a powerful engagement tool. “Quite often you connect to a topic when you hear someone talk about their personal experience,” explains Robotham.
In summary a thorough understanding of the workforce demographic will help to effectively target employee needs and reduce benefit spend. Existing services can be promoted to produce clear, easy-to-follow pathways for staff.
This article was supplied by Bupa.
Supplied by REBA Associate Member, Bupa
Bupa's purpose is helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives and making a better world.
