New wellbeing research

New wellbeing research sponsored by Generali UK and reported in Reward magazine underlines why it’s so important for employers to get a better understanding of workplace wellness.

Regardless of how an organisation defines ‘wellbeing’, the research highlights that it clearly is a concern for employers. Nine out of ten (89%) said that their senior management team is committed to the wellbeing of their staff and 88% of respondents said they believed staff wellbeing is ‘important or very important’ to the overall success of their business.

Yet despite this, less than half (47%) have a formal corporate wellbeing strategy in place.

So what’s stopping employers from getting to grips with wellbeing? The biggest barriers to building a wellbeing strategy, according to the research, are ‘justifying return on investment’ (57%) and a lack of senior management commitment (31%).

The findings certainly confirm that there is much that organisations like IHC can do to help raise awareness of the variety of solutions and services that are available to help employers create the right strategy to support the wellbeing of their people.

Key findings from the research include:

• Mental health issues, musculoskeletal issues and work / life tensions were cited as the biggest risks to wellbeing in the workplace.
• 57% of those surveyed improved the way they communicated the wellbeing benefits and services available to their staff to help mitigate risks to their wellbeing.
• Respondents said the two biggest advantages of offering wellbeing benefits were a more engaged workforce (81%) and a more productive one (47%).
• Only 41% of respondents offer group income protection to all their employees. A further 21% only offer it to selected staff.
• Three quarters (77%) of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that financial wellbeing should be part of a broader wellbeing strategy.
• The most common benefits offered to some or all staff are childcare vouchers (83%) and a pension above the auto enrolment minimum contribution (80%).

Want to find out more? Read the full report here or talk to IHC about how you can invest in your workforce’s wellbeing.