EMPLOYEE WELLBEING

• Reduce reactive health costs such as EAP's (employee assistance programs) & PMI (private medical insurance)

energiseYou are the UK’s leading experts in employee wellbeing, and have developed a series of unique and affordable services designed to improve the health, energy & performance of your staff. read more

Energised high performing individuals understand good nutrition, sleep well, exercise regularly, re-energise regularly, have correct posture at their computer and use smart effective strategies to manage workplace pressure.

What is Employee wellbeing?

Employee wellbeing is a key factor in determining an organisation's long-term profitability. Employee wellbeing at work is paramount to achieving higher levels of performance and competitiveness for organisations. Employee wellbeing can play a huge role in staff engagement, productivity and absenteeism. Research shows that healthy staff will perform at higher levels and take fewer sick days. People with higher levels of psychological well-being learn and solve problems more effectively, are more enthusiastic about change and relish new challenges.

Small and medium sized enterprises (SME’s) and multinationals are now beginning to identify the link between employee wellbeing and productivity, highlighting the importance to them of implementing an employee wellbeing programme in their organisation. Almost half, 46 per cent, of multinational companies now have an employee wellbeing strategy, with 97 per cent of these employers wanting to boost productivity and cut ’presenteeism’ , where the individual is at work but not productive¹.

Successful companies that perform well understand the clear link between healthy energised staff and the bottom line. Employee wellbeing is not a nice to have, it is an essential component of any successful, progressive company, giving you a clear competitive advantage to attract & retain the best people. In the current economic climate, getting the most out of your staff is more important than ever.

The switch from reactive to proactive employee wellbeing programs

In addition to the growing trend in companies investing in improving employee wellbeing, companies are also looking to be proactive verses reactive, taking preventative measures as opposed to cure. Previously companies were spending their money purely on reactive employee wellbeing services e.g. PMI (private medical insurance), PHI (private health insurance), EAP (employee assistance program) schemes, Occupational health, in-house doctors e.g. treating people after they get ill or injured. Now there is a growing trend in companies taking a proactive approach to employee wellbeing, with services such as workstation & posture assessments, back massages at work, employee wellbeing workshops on topics such as nutrition, sleep, exercise, stress management and meditation. This proactive approach leads to a healthy, energised, high performing workforce who are sick less often and therefore are in less need of all the reactive employee wellbeing services. Proactive Employee wellbeing programs can be defined as services provided within organisations, focused on the promotion or maintenance of good health, energy & performance rather than the correction or treatment of poor health. They are based on the fact that prevention is more effective than cure.

Employee wellbeing in the UK’s best companies

One group of companies in particular that are taking a very pro-active approach to employee wellbeing are the Sunday Times top 100 Best Companies; there are 3 lists in these awards, the top 100 Best Small Companies, the top 100 Best Medium Companies and the top 25 Best Large Companies to work for. Unlike other business focused rankings, this list is based entirely on employee feedback, measuring workplace engagement to give a true reflection on what employees really think. After all they know better than anyone! There are eight categories to the employee engagement survey, one of which is employee wellbeing. www.bestcompanies.co.uk (the company that runs the engagement survey) have sited employee wellbeing as one of the eight key factors leading to high staff engagement, highlighting its importance.

How employee wellbeing programs work in the UK’s best companies

• Create a business case for your employee wellbeing program
  The best companies understand the business case for their employee wellbeing program. This ensures company directors are on board and understand the business benefits of a healthy, energised, high performing workforce.
• Well tailored & well communicated
  The best companies ensure their employee wellbeing program is tailored to their business needs and well communicated to their staff for maximum response rates, impact and success of the program.
• Directors & managers leading by example
  The best companies ensure directors and managers lead by example by getting involved in the employee wellbeing program and generally taking their own wellbeing seriously.
• Creating a wellbeing culture
  The best companies ensure their employee wellbeing program is ongoing, with consistent monthly or quarterly activities. This ongoing commitment to employee wellbeing becomes a recognised part of the business culture, and helps to create an engaged, healthy workforce.

The cost of employee wellbeing

The total cost of ill health to the British economy is more than £100billion², which could be substantially reduced with the introduction of more employee wellbeing initiatives. The key for all successful businesses is realising the importance of preventing ill health amongst their staff, as well as cure. Many companies still have a way to go with employee wellbeing at work as it is still a growing phenomenon with many companies now just starting to see how an employee wellbeing program can dramatically improve their profits. The statistics below highlight the scale of the problem, and are taken from an ongoing energiseYou employee wellbeing survey:

• 81% spend 6 + hours per day at their computer
• 67% have not had a workstation assessment
• 57% suffer with neck, back and shoulder tension
• 59% rated their stress levels as high or very high
• 79% suffer daily with an afternoon dip in energy levels

How can I improve the health, energy & performance of my staff?

energiseYou employee wellbeing services

Research shows that the best companies to work for outperform the competition because they understand the clear link between healthy energised staff and the bottom line. In the current economic climate, getting the most out of your people is more important than ever.

An employee wellbeing program is not a nice-to-have, it is an essential component of any successful business, giving you a clear competitive advantage to attract & retain the best people.

energiseYou are the UK’s leading experts in employee wellbeing. We have developed a series of unique and affordable services designed to improve the health, energy & performance of your staff.

energiseYou employee wellbeing services include:

¹ according to a November 2009 survey of 1,100 organisations. The poll, by employee benefits consultancy Buck Consultants

² Dame Carol Black, author of the 2008 report on the health of the UK workforce