Have you stopped for a moment to think about your employees’ needs – like really think about them? Do you know how many working parents you have in your workforce, or how many employees are caring for elderly parents? Or even the number of employees who live alone? If you have, that’s fantastic. You’ll have a good idea of the unique needs of your workforce, know that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to well-being programmes, and you’ll have an understanding of how to better support them. If you haven’t done this yet, don’t worry – there’s still time.
COVID-19 has changed the what, where and how of business operations but it has also provided the opportunity for HR teams to reflect on the workplace well-being support that’s available for their colleagues. With many workplaces now taking a blended model of home and office working in the future; engagement, retention and productivity need to be considered together, and the Whole Health of employees needs to be top of the agenda.
Employers have a duty of care towards their employees, and there’s a lot to be gained from offering support for them across every area of their life. When it comes to thinking about your employees’ Whole Health it’s important to understand that everything in their life which makes up their world - family, friends, work-life balance, access to care, finances and home environment – is all connected.
How exactly can implementing a Whole Health culture in your workplace help you achieve success as a business?
With the Whole Health of employees linked to work performance and this in turn affecting how the business performs, keeping employees as engaged, motivated and optimised as possible is key. After all – happy employees are not just better for business, they also have fewer sick days and typically have higher productivity.
The Whole Health of employees should be front and centre of the company health and well-being strategy and the overall corporate strategy. Why not begin by aligning managers KPI’s to employee Whole Health? For example, set a target for X% of employees to complete a health risk assessment. As an employer you’ll benefit from valuable insights into the unique demographics and overall health of your workforce and you’ll be able to set goals and plan for what you’d like the future health of your employees to look like.
The results will also allow you to identify groups of employees who are calling out for specific well-being support – whether it’s mental health support or the need for more flexible working. By listening to your employees and identifying well-being hotspots and actively offering access to solutions or support will leave them feeling valued, knowing that their employer understands their needs and has their Whole Health front and centre.
Cigna’s latest report Health and Wellness in Workplaces: What works? shows that well-being programmes focused on employees’ individual needs yielded higher returns on investment than those offered to the entire workforce. Well-being programmes that are grounded in a solid understanding of how health and well-being issues manifest in each unique workplace often have the most impressive results. Understanding organisational risk factors and workforce health profiles plays a diagnostic role in helping employers pinpoint the specific underlying drivers of ill-health and reduced well-being.
So, what are you waiting for? As we begin to make progressive steps in returning to normal life post-pandemic, now is the perfect time to take the necessary steps to better meet the needs of your employees in an ever changing world. It’s time to embed a Whole Health culture within the workplace. Your employees will thank you and your top line results will, too.
