Health and wellbeing are increasingly important both to employers and employees. The Brief looks into the latest developments.
This may come as a surprise, but it seems your employer cares more about your physical and mental health than you do.
A survey of employers by the specialist insurance broker Towergate Health & Protection found that, of four pillars of health and wellbeing (mental, physical, financial and social), employers were most concerned about the physical and mental health of their staff, with 52 per cent saying they were worried about their employees’ physical health, and the same proportion highlighting concerns about staff’s mental health.
Forty-six per cent of employers said they were concerned about the financial health of their staff, and 41 per cent said they worried about their social wellbeing.
However, when asked which aspects of their health and wellbeing employees themselves would rank as the most important, the largest proportion of respondents (49 per cent) identified support for financial health and wellbeing.
Just 24 per cent said their employees would value support for their physical health and wellbeing, 21 per cent for their mental health and wellbeing, and a mere seven per cent for their social wellbeing.
Numbers game
This is indicative of the numbers game on which insurance, and workplace initiatives which either rely on it or share some of its characteristics, is based.
If a business employs 100 people and sees ten of them struggling with physical health problems and a further ten with mental health issues, this is potentially a serious problem for the employer, which could face significant staffing problems through absence or compromised performance.
However, for the 80 staff who have neither current physical nor mental health concerns, particularly if they are younger and have not yet seriously contemplated their own mortality, it is unlikely that either issue would be a day-to-day priority. Money, however, is the primary reason that people go to work, and is therefore the area in which most staff are most likely to look to their employer for support.
Enlightened self-interest
Whatever staff’s individual priorities, in an era of record NHS waiting lists and patchy mental health provision, there are hard-nosed business reasons for employers to take an interest in their staff’s wellbeing, to engage in initiatives that support this, and in many cases probably to consider providing health insurance as a benefit. Victorian mill owners began employing on-site doctors as much to keep the looms running smoothly as for philanthropic reasons.
Wellbeing apps
Nowadays, beyond the staples of health and medical insurance, employers have a wide range of wellbeing initiatives from which to choose. One of these, GoJoe, was founded by two ex-lawyers, Will Turner, who previously worked as a senior in-house lawyer for the British Olympic Association, and Phil Steele, a former partner in Brabners’ highly regarded sports law practice.
Active in more than 150 countries, it is an app that was developed on the premise that social connections drive better health. It uses gamification and social accountability to motivate and inspire users to achieve better physical, mental and social health, with the aim of helping businesses address challenges and rising costs relating to employee wellbeing.
The app offers users virtual team-based challenges, a weighted points system across 50 different activities, live tracker maps and the ability to train virtually alongside celebrities and professional athletes. At a more mundane level GoJoe also provides employee assistance programmes and health insurance from a central platform.
The start-up business, whose clients already include some of the world’s largest professional and financial services businesses, has recently secured a £2.4 million investment to develop its global corporate offering.
Offsite activities
Wellbeing initiatives do not, however, all have to involve apps or insurance companies. Olliers is a criminal defence firm – arguably one of the most stressful practice areas in a profession that has historically been seen as high-pressure across the board.
It offers staff the opportunity to participate in fortnightly wellbeing activities to allow for relaxation outside of work, all of which are free to staff, and many of which take place during office hours. These include visits to local museums and sites of interest, taking part in the regional Law Society’s annual quiz, country walks and even “puppy yoga”.
David Abbott, the firm’s head of corporate social responsibility and wellness, said, “Criminal defence is, of its nature, a stressful occupation, as we are dealing with clients who are going through what is often the most difficult time in their lives, and who, as a result, can place heavy demands upon us as their advisers. We have therefore taken specific initiatives to protect colleagues’ health and wellbeing.
“The positive impact for the firm of these initiatives is that there are good relations between management and staff and between colleagues. We consider that colleagues are happier, more well and therefore more productive.
“We believe that the in-house wellness events programme promotes good mental health and helps relieve stress.
Colleagues clearly appreciate the opportunity to enjoy non-work-related activities in the firm’s time and at its expense. It creates opportunities for social interaction between colleagues in a non-work setting at a time when working from home can easily result in isolation and loneliness, and so improves cohesion amongst colleagues.
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