Why Corporate Wellbeing is All About ‘Me’ - It’s believed that presenteeism is the UK’s biggest threat to productivity.
Guest Author - Hero Wellbeing
A key issue for organisations that want to look after the wellbeing of their staff. In a recent survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) 72 percent of organisations consulted said they had experienced presenteeism over the past 12 months, and a further 29 percent had seen an increase in the issue.
Healthy and highly engaged employees are, on average, up to 30 days more productive and organisations promoting health and wellbeing are 3.5 times more likely to be creative and innovative. Aside from an increase in creativity and productivity, retention and the attraction of talent is also assured when employees feel like their health and wellbeing needs are being catered for.
The provision of employee wellbeing services is vital for employee engagement and creating a positive working culture. Wellness programmes need to stem from a well thought out and measured strategy. The programme should allow for a good balance of company-wide initiatives and personalisation, both in and out of work, and cover a broad spectrum of factors such as physical, mental, social and financial health. Gone are the days of simply offering a free gym membership or a weekly box of fruit to staff. A successful organisation will go on a journey with their teams, which will see education, information sharing, recognition and reward as part of the strategy. This is where personalisation is key and ultimately helps to ensure a successful strategy engaged with by as many of the employees as possible.
Wellness shouldn’t be a universal solution. Every employee’s journey to a healthier lifestyle is unique, and it should be treated as such. Digital platforms enable employers to create and host personalised experiences for employees. The technology can also be used to help connect employees with similar health and wellness interests as well as supporting and rewarding individual progress. Employers can expect to see higher participation rates with a more personalised approach to employee wellness. Technology and digital platforms come into their own when it comes to multi-site, retail and mobile workforce organisations. It allows a company to provide a much-needed solution to the entire employee team, not just those who work in the office spaces.
The key to launching and managing a good and effective wellbeing initiative is ongoing measurement and evaluation - starting before you launch. With the right platformthe company will be able to monitor team engagement, understand what’s popular and what employees would like to see more and (even) less of. This should also be analysed by department, age, gender and even location specific data; to understand the true dynamics of specific populations; remembering a ‘one sits fits all’ approach does not. Health is personal to the individual and so the reporting and monitoring can be done at departmental and functional levels. The dashboard heroprovide offers invaluable insight that enable senior managers to make informed and rational business decisions.
If you’re reading this and thinking you should look at this for your organisation we recommend companies carry out a free employee wellbeing survey. This feedback is invaluable and will help you to shape your strategy. Hero can work in partnership with you to create your strategy and ensure it’s tangible with clear and demonstrable ROI and value on investment (VOI).
Finally, 57 percent of employees in the CIPD report said that they would stay in their job longer if there was more effort put into looking after their wellbeing, and 58 percent believe their work would be of better quality if there were more wellbeing measures in place. We believe it’s important for businesses to act to tackle this growing problem before it’s too late.