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Survey highlights employer investment in wellness

20 November 2009 Breaking News

A growing number of UK employers are deploying wellness programmes to tackle stress in the workplace, according to a survey carried out by national employee benefit consultants Buck Consultants.

Half of the 64 major UK institutions surveyed by Buck had a wellness strategy in place in 2009. Almost all of them (97%) said they were motivated by the objective of improving productivity and reducing 'presenteeism' (employees who stay longer hours in the office to give the impression of productivity but who do no productive work).

Thirty per cent of those who measured employee productivity and presenteeism after implementing a wellness strategy said they had seen a major, or fairly major, impact and that overall productivity had improved.

While 30% of companies in the UK said they had wellness strategy in place, they do offer numerous existing wellness initiatives in their organisations. 'Soft' benefits such as gym membership, earning extra holiday and lifestyle management support are increasingly attractive to employees, and more UK companies are viewing them as a supplement to traditional financial incentives, according to Buck Consultants.

On a global level, the research found that 46% of multinational companies have implemented a wellness strategy, a rise of more than a fifth in the past year. Survey respondents predict that the fastest-growing components of wellness initiatives around the world will increase 100% or more over the next three years. These include technology-driven tools such as web portals, online healthy lifestyle programs, and personal health records. Another rapidly growing category includes on-site programmess, such as caregiver support, personal health coaching, and healthy vending machine food choices.

Adrian Norris, managing director of the health and productivity practice at Buck Consultants UK, said: "Improving the health and wellbeing of employees is not only part of a company's duty of care to its staff, it can be a cost effective way for companies to improve their productivity and help retain top talent. Stress levels are higher in the workplace and the negative impact this can have on motivation, productivity and employee churn is notable. 

"Historically, companies have incentivised staff financially, but particularly in the wake of the credit crunch, finding a means to motivate your workforce, improve their wellbeing and thus their efficiency by other means can make a big difference to the financial health of the business."

The findings of the research are revealed in Buck Consultants third annual report on employer approaches to managing employee wellness, entitled "Working Well: A Global Survey of Health Promotion and Workplace Wellness Strategies".

Worldwide, the survey analysed responses from more than 1,100 organizations representing 10 million employees in 45 countries. Sixty-four major UK companies participated in the research, representing more than 350,000 UK employees.

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