Why companies need to focus on employee wellbeing

A warm welcome to our blog. You may be wondering if the investment in wellbeing programs would be worth the cost for your business. In this article we help you identify the benefits of investing towards employee wellbeing and give you tips on how to implement them. 

Wellbeing programs are a preventative measure that make your business proactive towards the negative effects of bad employee health. As Richard Branson famously said “take care of your employees and they’ll take care of your business”. As you will see, the reasons to pay attention to employee health are plentiful, so let us jump right in. 

Good employee health means less costs

Studies show that employee health has cost businesses in the UK around £29 billion a year. About £8 billion a year is lost in the UK economy due to mental health illness alone. It was further studied that for every £1 invested in wellbeing programs, there is a return of £2.20. 

This clearly shows that bad employee wellbeing will cost businesses heavily. Furthermore, an investment in improving employee health returns double the cost. Other than employees taking sick days off, illness, stress or distress will reduce their delivery and morale at the times they are present at work. High stress companies are found to spend 50% more on employee health than other companies.   

Healthy employees are more productive

Good health means energy, creativity and the ability to successfully complete tasks. It also combats absenteeism and presenteeism, the former being the days missed due to ill health and the later being the loss of productivity when an employee is present but not able to be as productive. It is studied that companies gain about 5 dollars from reduced absenteeism for every dollar invested in wellness.      

Nearly 80% of UK employees continue to work when they are unwell, costing the UK economy about £15 billion every year due to presenteeism. This is fairly double the cost of absenteeism. For small businesses, these losses in productivity may stretch their limited resources thin and affect their growth trajectory. 

Good branding and less turnover

A dedication to good employee health shows that your business cares about the wellbeing of its workers. In the current competitive job market, one of the key ways to attract talented and qualified employees is showing that their health will be a priority to the company. Amidst a pandemic and increasing technology, job seekers are increasingly concerned about health benefits and a better work life balance.

A good wellness program contributes towards acquiring and keeping talent as well as lowers turnover costs. About 38% of employees in the UK plan to find a new job this year. The top reasons being worsening work life balance, pay cuts, toxic workplace, reduction of benefits and being furloughed. It has also been found that replacing an employee costs about 20% of their annual income.    

Ways you can support employee wellbeing

Now that we have discussed the importance of a wellbeing program, here are some ways among many on how you can create an environment that supports employee health. 

• Provide access to free health checks or vaccinations.
• Facilitate the availability of healthy lunch and diet foods at the office such as fruits and vegetables.
• Have green areas for employees to get fresh air 
• Hold outdoor meetings occasionally for change of scenery
• Provide exercise or sport sessions or gym memberships 
• Give employees access to external or in house counselling
• Have strong policies against bullying or harassment
• Provide easy access to information on emergency hotlines
• Run trainings on how to improve mental and physical health

Feel free to discuss with one of our experts at AJ Connect on how to hire, retain and support your employees.