Third of employees complain employers do not offer any wellbeing programmes

Over half of employees would choose a company that cared about their wellbeing, over one that pays 10 percent more, a new survey claims. According to the research by Reward Gateway, over 22 million British workers, or seven in 10 employees (71 percent), have felt stress or financial strain in the last five years, however, a third of workers said their company currently offered no programmes and just 29 percent of respondents said that their company currently offers a physical programme. The findings also suggest a disparity of opinion between employee and employer. While over half (51 percent) of employers agree that their company shows they care about employees mental, physical and financial wellbeing, only 14 percent of employees say that their company couldn’t do more to show they care. But employers too would benefit from taking a more proactive approach to wellbeing, as more than half (52 percent) of UK employees agree that they would choose a company that cared about their wellbeing over one that pays more.

The initiatives that are in place could also be sitting idle due to communication issues as another discord can be found in the fact that almost 1 in 2 (48 percent) employers think their company communicates the solution they have well, but almost a third (29 percent) of employees don’t know what programmes their company currently offers.

Lucy Tallick, Head of Wellbeing at Reward Gateway said, “Employee wellbeing is not about crisis management and fixing problems. It’s about helping your people live better and feel better by facilitating sustainable lifestyle changes that really make a difference.

“Employers should take into consideration that everyone has unique desires and needs, and, in order to gain buy in, it’s much better to give the employee solutions that provide choice and flexibility. By creating an inclusive programme, you’ll also hugely increase your engagement.”

Doug Butler, CEO at Reward Gateway said, “Wellbeing is a crucial part of employee engagement and, as the research shows, companies are struggling to implement the wellbeing initiatives that their staff need.”

Health and Wellbeing Week 2017 takes place next week.  (23^rd -27^th October),