How to maximize employee wellbeing

1.  Focus on wellness

“Motivating employees to exercise and eat healthily often has a bigger impact than investing in private medical care,” Ben Wells, of Buck Consultants, an HR consultancy, believes. The number of companies with a “wellness” strategy almost doubled to 40 per cent in 2007-08, the consultancy has found.

Unilever, the consumer products manufacturer, recently took initiative to improve the health of employees.  Unilever took steps to post calorie counts next to meals, gave nutrition advice, and offered free gym access.  “Healthier employees are more engaged, committed and put in discretionary effort following our investment in them,” Alan Walters, HR director at Unilever, said.

2. Respond to workers' needs

“Employers should be thinking about how employees and their families are affected by the recession,” Annette Cox, associate director at the Institute of Employment Studies, said. “About 20 per cent of people in our survey said that they don't sleep because they are so worried about financial problems. What kind of person is going to be presenting themselves for work the next day?”

Managers should guide their employees to the needed help, for example, occupational health or consumer credit counselling services, she said.

3.  Communicate Clearly

“Surprising numbers of people don't take up health insurance benefits or pensions because they find them complicated and difficult to understand,” Ms. Cox said. Ninety per cent of employees at one company did not select a pension plan because there were too many to choose from, Mr. Wells said. The company is reducing the options from ten to three. 

Companies should not be afraid to convey bad news, such as losses in a share scheme, Mr. Wells added. When something bad happen use it to grab people’s attention and say: ‘Invest now because assets are cheap.’

4.  Offer lifestyle benefits

When times are hard offer employees various choices, for example, working flexibly.  By doing so, this makes people feel they are in control, Claire Kelliher, a senior lecturer in strategic human resource management at Cranfield School of Management, said. “Being able to choose when and where they work helps people to manage their workload and has a positive effect on stress levels,” she said. Offering additional holiday as unpaid leave as a way of avoiding redundancies is also very popular, Ali Gill, chief executive of Crelos, an HR consultancy, suggested.

5.  Combat inertia

“People are generally apathetic about doing the right thing, particularly saving for the future,” Mr Wells said. Unilever now offers blood pressure checks on its factory production lines. “Before, people used to have to go off-site and that was a barrier,” Mr.  Walters said.

6.  Mental as well as physical health

Line managers have the biggest impact on mental health, Ben Willmott, employee relations adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), said.  Managers should be trained to spot signs of depression, such as a drop in performance, moodiness or lack of focus. Uncertainty is a huge source of stress, Ms Kelliher said. “If not in a position to reduce it, managers should discuss things are uncertain for them, too.”

7.  Get high level commitment

Wellness initiatives will not sustain themselves if there is no commitment from upper level management.  “You need sustained buy-in from a high level if you want to be successful.” Mr. Walters said.  

8.  Be involved

Employers are now moving towards a more paternalistic approach to their employees’ finances.  Ten years ago companies did not take responsibility for their employees' finances Mr. Wells said. “The rationale is that secure employees equal focused and productive employees.”

9.  Tailor your offering

With an aging population, parental ill-health is a problem for many mid-career professionals, but is largely neglected by employers, Ms Kelliher said. Age also plays a part in the kinds of benefits people want. “Generation X and Y are not that interested in planning their retirement, but baby boomers are likely to want to research their options in detail,” Mr Wells said.

10.  Make benefits make business sense

Health benefits offer a tangible return on investment. “Run pilots first, so that you can assess the impact a programme has on reducing absence and increasing productivity,” Mr Willmott said.

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Posted by: suhujitha on 2009-05-13 14:09:15

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