New research has shown that UK businesses are not equipping themselves with the tools to demonstrate the value of their wellbeing offering.
The figures, from financial protection specialist Unum, reveal that many HR departments are not measuring the health and wellbeing of their staff, nor the take-up and impact of wellbeing offerings such as flexible benefits packages. Four in ten employers do not monitor the health and wellbeing of their staff, while 27 percent do not monitor take-up rates for health programmes and – of employers offering flexible benefits – over a third (37 percent) are not measuring take-up rates. As a result, many admit that they struggle to gain buy-in for wellbeing investment from within their organisation. Two thirds (66 percent) say they do not feel they have the necessary “ammunition” to make the case for wellbeing internally within their organisation.
In addition, less than a third of staff (32 percent) have access to a benefits statement to demonstrate what is on offer to them and the value of that package. Two thirds of employees are therefore unaware of the benefits their employer has set up and invested in for them. Linda Levesque, HR Director at Unum, commented: “There’s no question of the value of workplace wellbeing, which has a proven and tangible impact on both employee engagement and the bottom line. But delivering health and benefits packages is not a one-off job. Only by tracking the take up of benefits and taking feedback from across the business – employees, the HR team and the board – can a company see the full potential of its benefits package.
“The same applies to talking about benefits. Research we have previously conducted has shown that failing to tell staff about the benefits on offer is costing UK companies £2.7bn every year, through increased staff turnover and sickness absence – so having a clear strategy for communicating really is crucial.” Unum has created a free online tool to help businesses understand the quality of their wellbeing provision, and how they measure and communicate what’s on offer. It takes less than five minutes to complete and will give you some advice on how to improve your workplace wellbeing.
[1]Unum and Cass Business School, ‘Money Talks’ – 2013
