Conclusion
Throughout this study, the overriding sentiment amongst both employers and employees is that wellbeing provision should be delivering more.
Employees feel that employers are yet to fully understand their evolving needs and priorities when it comes to all aspects of wellbeing. And, above all else, they believe that organisations should be adapting their benefits packages to align more closely with their most pressing concerns during the cost-of-living crisis.
Employers, on the other hand, are yet to see the impact that they hoped and expected their heightened focus on wellbeing would create. They haven’t achieved their desired business outcomes – in terms of workforce engagement and productivity, talent retention and acquisition. In many cases, HR and Reward professionals simply don’t know what impact their investments in wellbeing are having, not least because they don’t have the tools and data to track it.
The reality is that many employers are struggling to get to grips with the soaring levels of complexity surrounding employee wellbeing; and they can’t keep pace with the ever changing and expanding needs of employees. As the cost-of-living crisis affects workers all over the world, employees are looking to their employers for greater levels of support across more and more areas of their lives. And understandably, organisations are finding it difficult to understand what employees need and to respond accordingly.
In response to running almost 200 global wellbeing workshops with employers, Benefex created the Wellbeing Progress Index, an acclaimed tool designed to support organisations to audit, benchmark and prioritise items in their wellbeing strategy. Now used by more than 100 global employers, the index is based on more than 200 different research projects that create the evidence base for effective wellbeing interventions in the workplace.
We recommend that every employer we work with uses this index to help them navigate the increasingly complex needs of their people and their organisation – and develop a wellbeing strategy that is effective. However, despite these challenges, there are indications that employees recognise and appreciate the efforts that organisations are making. Most employees feel that their employer is making progress with wellbeing provision and the vast majority feel relatively well looked after.
However, despite these challenges, there are indications that employees recognise and appreciate the efforts that organisations are making. Most employees feel that their employer is making progress with wellbeing provision and the vast majority feel relatively well looked after.
Even more positive is the fact that employers are ready to double down on their efforts, with investment in wellbeing set to rise significantly in the year ahead. HR and Reward professionals are acutely aware of the need to protect and enhance all aspects of wellbeing and the research indicates that business leaders have now acknowledged the direct correlation between wellbeing and workforce productivity.
Employee benefits around the world are becoming the place for wellbeing. Where state and traditional support mechanisms are failing, the benefits an employer offers their people have fast become a way to deliver tangible wellbeing support. The sheer increase in interest in and take up of benefits globally is a signal that the benefits we put in front of our people are making a difference to their lives. They are getting people the physical and emotional support they need, they are buffering against the effects of worsening financial wellbeing and they are reigniting the role of the employee value proposition as a way to retain the best people.
The priority now for HR and Reward professionals must be to cut through the noise surrounding wellbeing, and to identify the most urgent and critical focus areas. Such is the complexity and scale of wellbeing today, organisations have to start taking a more targeted approach, honing in on a number of clearly defined objectives.
Crucially, employers should look to prioritise data and insights within their wellbeing strategies in order to be able to measure engagement with, and the impact of, wellbeing-related benefits and services.
HR and Reward professionals need to work with trusted partners to better understand the needs of their employees and, based on this insight, to develop holistic strategies which position wellbeing at the centre of the employee experience – the common thread running through every touchpoint within the employee lifecycle.
As this research shows, wellbeing provision has evolved significantly over the last two years but the scale of the challenge facing employers is only getting bigger.
