How can we actually improve employee wellbeing?

Wellbeing is still the number one priority for both employers and employees 

Employee wellbeing has become a major strategic focus for employers in all industries over recent years. Across the board, there’s an understanding that wellbeing should sit at the heart of every organisation’s people strategy, an output and input of the employee experience, engagement and productivity. Indeed, 77% of HR and reward professionals see it as the most important factor in providing a great employee experience; and it’s now the biggest consideration for employees when selecting an employer (Benefex, Evolution Report). 

Compounded by the worst cost-of-living crisis for a generation, and the continued backdrop of wars and environmental crises, it’s no surprise that employees need support more than ever. People are turning to their employers for help in areas of their lives that would have previously been thought out of scope. 

But while wellbeing is the lens through which employers are assessing their employee experience, developing and executing a wellbeing strategy which delivers meaningful and measurable impact is another thing – especially as employee expectations continue to evolve. Organisations are held back by a lack of data and insights, struggling with low engagement, and finding that their existing solutions aren’t catering to the diverse needs of their employees. 

Four tactics to have in your pocket when the CPO asks how you’re progressing wellbeing goals in 2024… 

1. Insight

Survey employees or run focus groups across the organisation to understand what employees think of existing wellbeing provision and identify critical areas where they need support.  

Although more than three quarters of HR and reward professionals expect to increase investment over the next 12 months, they are increasingly unsure of the best way to achieve positive results. A significant 62% of HR and reward leaders struggle to know what to prioritise within their wellbeing strategy.  

As well as drawing on existing wellbeing data from apps, benefits, and content, there’s great value in asking employees what they think. For example, do people feel supported at work? Is your current wellbeing strategy making a difference? Are employees better able to manage their mental wellbeing because of what’s in place? What do employees think about the current offering? Using a combination of working groups and employee surveys is a way to understand employee wellbeing challenges and needs, and identify opportunities to provide support. 

2. A strategic focus

For example, “we’re going to support employee financial wellbeing as our people continue to navigate the high cost-of-living”.  

Once you’ve identified wellbeing priorities, establish short term (responsive) and long term (preventative) goals – it’s helpful to set 12-month, two-years and three-years goals. Attaching a series of measurable outcomes to each goal will help demonstrate the success of your wellbeing programme. For example, to support the goal of helping employees to improve their emotional wellbeing, you could set a target to increase the number of employees engaging in mindfulness or journaling exercises by 10%.  

Taking on board employee feedback and the organisation’s strategic goals, design a strategy that’s focussed on a few concrete areas of employee wellbeing. For example, a key shorter-term goal might be to support employee financial wellbeing in 2024 as they navigate high costs-of-living. This is quite a common goal that organisations are setting for the year ahead as employees are particularly concerned with their financial wellbeing; 65% of employees now believe that benefits are very important in supporting their financial wellbeing, compared to 53% in 2022. 

Many HR and reward leaders have identified financial wellbeing as a strategic priority for 2024 and are introducing a range of benefits specifically focussed on helping employees navigate high costs-of-living. For example, more employers are introducing discounts that help employees stretch their pay further, salary sacrifice benefits, and insurance benefits that create a buffer against financial risk.  

3. Objectives and key results

Get the right metrics in place so you can measure engagement with, and the impact of, wellbeing-related benefits and services.  

Some organisations are struggling to understand what impact their investments in wellbeing are having, in need of accurate data and insights. Currently, only 46% of organisations are using benefits data to assess the impact of benefits on employee wellbeing. This means that the majority of employers are still in the dark about how benefits are supporting all aspects of employee wellbeing. 85% say they could be using technology and data more effectively to understand their people.  

With the right tools, HR and Reward professionals can demonstrate impact, not just in terms of wellbeing itself, but the knock-on effect on employee engagement, productivity, and retention. Measuring employee benefits engagement, take-up and claims rates not only helps demonstrate success and impact, but also serves as a barometer that can help you identify and address specific challenges your employees are experiencing so you can evolve your strategy faster. 

4. A home for wellbeing 

Create a digital home for wellbeing, using technology to unite the employee experience and bring all elements of wellbeing policy, benefits, and support together in one place.    

The majority of organisations are yet to achieve a unified approach to wellbeing, with different initiatives sitting across different departments, and wellbeing content, policies and apps spread over disparate systems. That disjointed experience means it’s difficult for employees to get the support they need — fewer than 20% of employees are aware of where to go to access workplace wellbeing initiatives, so it’s no surprise that wellbeing engagement is low.  

By creating a single, digital home for employees to access all wellbeing support in one place, employers can connect wellbeing experiences and share the wider context behind what’s on offer. Employees can find what they’re looking for in seconds, supported by content that helps them make the most of the benefits and resources on offer.  

By sharing relevant content, some of our customers have been able to boost engagement in their wellbeing initiatives by as much as 50%. 

Wellbeing investment priorities for this year 

Almost 80% of global employers told us that they expect to increase wellbeing spend in 2024.  To make sure those investments are effective, we recommend two priority areas: 

1. Help people cope better with life 

In their 2023 research, Opinium found that the top five areas of wellbeing people said they needed most help in was tiredness, general anxiety, issues being able to relax, troubles with sleeping and poor eating. Wellbeing investment should focus on better supporting those employees who are at risk of more serious wellbeing issues and who are struggling with managing the basics of their wellbeing. This preventative approach also supports limiting the organisational costs associated with poor wellbeing in the coming years.   

2. Invest in insurance against key risks 

Since the pandemic, there has been a marked increase in employees seeking out preventative benefits that either lessen their chances of falling into a worse wellbeing position, or that kick in should the worse happen to support them. Most insurance benefits are designed to prevent claims, so come with very high quality and easy to access support like mental health nurses, video doctors and expert advice. Benefits like income protection, critical illness and private medical insurance are all extremely worthwhile, valuable, and most importantly preventative measures that all employers should be considering. 

What’s next?  

To help you continue to grow, innovate, and stretch your reward budget further, we’ve put together a guide that explores the five questions we think your CPO will ask you in 2024 – get your copy here.