Globally, one in four employees have health issues, are worried about their finances, plan to work into their 70s and are disengaged
(1).jpg)
Despite companies investing heavily in wellbeing, employee engagement with programs remains low.
The Global Benefits Attitudes Study shows that 50% of Australian employees with current financial concerns indicated that their worries keep them from peak performance.
In fact, one in four global employees have health issues, are worried about their finances, plan to work into their 70s and are disengaged.
Moreover, a further Willis Towers Watson survey, the Asia-Pacific Benefits Trends report, revealed that employees were expecting further benefits from their organisations in the health and wellness space.
It found 74% of employers were considering behavioural or emotional health management programs, while 55% were looking at activity-based wellbeing programs and 50% of employers identified lifestyle risk management as their key area of investment.
Through a new index launched by Willis Towers Watson, employers will now be able to gain insights into the effectiveness of their employee health and wellbeing programs.
Lesley Brown, Asia Pacific leader, employee surveys and insights at Willis Towers Watson, said there was a need for a tool that would help build employee wellbeing, as well as measure and benchmark improvements in workforce productivity.
“We have developed our Employee Wellbeing Indicator to support this,” said Brown.
The tool measures the current wellbeing of employees in physical, psychological, social and financial terms and identifies the areas of concern that will impact productivity.
The Employee Wellbeing Indicator is designed to help companies identify areas of strength and high performance, pinpoint where they need to focus to build employee wellbeing, productivity and overall business performance and track progress over time.
The 2018 survey window for employers to participate in the Employee Wellbeing Indicator starts 22 October and runs until 30 November.
“We are looking to go beyond traditional health programs and employee engagement surveys,” added Brown.
“This is an integrated solution that uses consumer-grade software, underpinned by robust research methodologies. Individual company results will also be benchmarked against Australia’s most comprehensive national norm.
“The Global Benefits Attitudes Study showed that employers need to look at programs that leverage the workplace environment and promote the use of new technologies.
“These are both strongly linked to more positive attitudes by employees about their company’s wellbeing efforts and to health management.”
