Wellbeing’s arrival: employers realise that health is key to creating positive cultures

There's a lot to like about the findings of this the fourth annual REBA Employee Wellbeing Research report. And, in this the first year of our sponsorship of the report, a lot to learn.

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First and foremost, employee wellbeing has arrived both as a concept and as a reality. And it is fundamental for building an open, inclusive workplace culture.

Welcome are the findings that over two thirds of respondents’ organisations have introduced a wellbeing strategy and, of those who haven’t, nearly half plan to introduce one this year.

But most welcome is the growing realisation how much mental health matters – nearly half of respondents say they have strategies in place specifically to support this. And two thirds agree that mental health is their board’s biggest wellbeing concern. The continuing chart-topping popularity of employee assistance programmes – 93.6% of respondents’ companies have them – is testament to this concern although the continuing commoditisation of this market means that much of this support is underfunded.

We are, after all, social animals and there’s value to be had in viewing the biopsychosocial continuum that underpins our wellness as ‘one health’ – a notion we’re promoting through our own #Headstrong campaign to encourage employers to give equal weighting to supporting employees’ physical and psychological wellbeing.

It’s an approach that’s based on the notion of good work. This entails creating a positive, supportive workplace culture; rewarding and treating people fairly; giving them the training, resources and support they need to do the job; and providing opportunities to grow and develop.

It also means encouraging employees to lead healthy active lives and, if they should become ill or injured, helping them get the right treatment for an early recovery back to health – and back to work. To learn from the insights and experience of others, I heartily commend the commentaries from experts and practitioners within this report.

Also striking are the findings that wellbeing is becoming techier. Virtual GP services are making their mark, with nearly a third of respondents offering them compared with one in ten in 2016. These valued time-savers put employees in the driving seat for managing their primary care needs and look set to become a standard feature of employers’ wellbeing offerings going forward.

Broadly and generally, employers are doing a pretty good job helping their people to lead healthy, active lives. The direction of travel is good. But it’s telling that, to help them do better, respondents want benefits providers and insurers to work more effectively together.

What’s needed is a more considered approach. One that builds on their experience and know-how to unpack and make sense of the myriad of soft and hard data – from employee engagement scores, turnover and sickness absence to insurance spend on medical care and ill-health early retirement. And that then applies that insight to help employers cut through the complexity and plethora of market offerings to commend an effective plan.

So, let’s not rest on our laurels. There’s much good work to be done.

The author is Chris Horlick, Distribution Director for AXA PPP healthcare