What does it take to be an employer of choice in 2016?

Well, we all know how that ended (see also Is the tech bubble popping? Ping pong offers an answer).

While there is nothing wrong with any of those perks, and many are great in the right context, they can be seen as sticking plasters covering over more fundamental issues.

Sixteen years on, and the emphasis is on genuine, deep-rooted caring for staff wellness.

We in the UK are just starting this journey with most employers knowing they need to tackle wellness, but not being quite sure where to start.

In our research for the upcoming REBA Employee Wellness Conference on 16 June in London it became clear that an exclusive handful of employers have taken a root and branch approach to wellness.

They ensure it links from Boardroom objectives to HR metrics, across line manager performance criteria as well as to employee benefits such as insurances and financial wellbeing, through to perks such as office fitness and bowls of fruit.

These employers have truly linked physical, emotional and financial wellness of staff to show their workforces they genuinely care. In turn, staff are able to give of their best at work without impediment.

REBA's event research also showed that there are still a huge proportion of employers which offer many good wellness initiatives, but these are still more of a list of options rather than a strategy that truly drives the business.

What struck us, was how many of these employers thought they had achieved good practice wellness, when in fact they were only partway there.

To me, wellness strategies are far less about having the best health insurer in place and offering healthy options in the canteen and far more about managers having the training to be confident in treating all colleagues with consideration and caring. It is about business leaders being good examples of what it is to be well physically and emotionally.

It is about the hygiene factors of paying people enough so they and their families can afford to support themselves, having toilets that are pleasant to use, and working with colleagues who enjoy being together. Once those are addressed, then the fabulous benefits and perks work all the better.

Wellness has become the new total reward. It covers work environment, learning and development, pay and savings, as well as insurances and perks.

So, in 2016, to be an employer of choice employee, wellness needs to be top of the agenda.

Debi O'Donovan is a director at REBA