Wellness counts. Third of staff would consider leaving if they didn’t feel cared for

Measuring the impact of wellness initiatives at work is far from being an exact science. An examination of sickness absence figures for example, must take into account many variables; from the state of health of employees before the outset of a wellbeing programme, to the reasons behind each individual’s days off sick after a health programme has been put in place.  There is though, a growing body of evidence that employers that bother to provide their workers with the tools to improve their level of health and wellbeing do benefit from a more engaged and more productive workforce. The latest bit of research by Unum and ICM finds that employees who feel that they have good workplace wellbeing are 27 per cent more likely to stay with their employer for over five years than those employees who feel they have only adequate or poor provision.

The research, which was carried out amongst people working in the legal, accounting, media & advertising and retail professions found almost a third (30%) of employees said they would consider leaving their job if they didn’t feel cared for by their employer.  A further 26 per cent of workers said poor workplace wellbeing would make them less likely to stay with an employer long-term and 21 per cent said this would make them feel less motivated and productive.

While two-thirds of respondents (66%) thought they were well looked after by their employer, over a third (34%) felt they were only adequately or poorly cared for, and more than a fifth (22%) thought levels had got worse over the last three years.

Although salary and recognition remain key considerations for employees, the research also found that 65 per cent of workers consider a good benefits package highly important, with 62 per cent highlighting financial support through ill health.