We find ourselves facing a growing mental health and wellness crisis – and it is manifesting in the workplace. A recent YouGov poll revealed that 35% of adults were experiencing high or extreme levels of pressure at work, with 20% requiring time off due to poor mental health caused by stress in the last year. Meanwhile, PA Consulting’s new survey of 4,000 respondents found that less than one in five would rate their mental health as ‘very good’, with three quarters saying they would like their employers to do more on workplace wellbeing.
Mental health is clearly a complex picture, with financial concerns, social issues, and geopolitical pressures all contributing to our overarching sense of wellbeing. Most Brits report that the recent cost-of-living crisis has negatively impacted their mental health, with a quarter struggling to sleep because of financial worries. Economic pressures can compound feelings of social isolation – something that has long been recognised as increasing the risk of depression, anxiety, and other mental health difficulties. Rising global instability, from climate change to international conflicts, are putting further pressure on the population’s mental wellbeing.
Wellness investments lack desired impact
Against this backdrop, the need for effective wellness interventions is clear. Yet current investments simply aren’t having the desired impact. PA Consulting’s research found that 78% of individuals plan to continue investing in wellness, but only half are satisfied with the results they’re seeing across a range of areas, including sleep, diet, and physical wellbeing.
Employees are increasingly dissatisfied with their wellness and are in need of more targeted support. This is, in part, recognised by workplace leaders: 69% of HR professionals agree that wellbeing is on senior leaders’ agendas, according to the CIPD’s latest wellbeing report. However, this figure has waned since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and only half of organisations report taking a strategic approach to employee wellbeing. The lack of strategy is being felt by employees on the ground, and indicates that, like employee-led interventions, employer initiatives are not having the desired effect.
How should employers respond?
Employers must pivot their approach if they want to deliver more value to their people. While some determinants of mental health are beyond a workplace’s control, there is still plenty employers can do to support wellness. It is important to get this right: as well as simply being the ‘right thing to do’, improving employee wellbeing is shown to have a substantial impact on business outcomes. Research by Harvard Business School has found that a meaningful increase in wellbeing yields, on average, a 10% increase in productivity. Recent research by Gallup backed this up, finding that employees who strongly agree that their employer cares about their wellbeing are 71% less likely to suffer from burnout, and with 15-20% of turnover costs estimated to be due to burnout, that could create substantial savings.
Measure the baseline
As a first step in designing an effective wellness strategy, organisations must focus on truly understanding their peoples’ needs. This can be best achieved through workplace wellness assessments, allowing leaders to identify which areas of employee wellbeing are supported in the organisation, and which need improvement. This is something that employees are already calling for, with two thirds of our survey respondents wanting employers to offer wellness assessments.
Develop an evidence-based strategy
A second vital preparatory step is for leaders to agree on the problems that need to be solved and ‘what good looks like’. This includes having a clear understanding of which components of wellbeing to prioritise, and engaging with the latest research to ensure that interventions are based on evidence – not on what your competitors are doing, or what is touted as best practice. As the CIPD recommends, evidence-based practice is crucial to ensure that decision-making is grounded in facts, rather than based on outdated views, short-term fads, or natural bias. Only then can leaders be confident that their wellness strategy should reach the goals it set out to achieve.
After implementation, it is equally important to periodically measure any statistically significant differences in wellness outcomes. This can give employers insight into whether their interventions are having the desired impact, and where they may need to adjust or pivot. This should include key continuous measurement of wellness outcomes including employee assessments of wellbeing, uptake of offerings, and employee feedback on investments, as well as business metrics such as turnover, sickness rates and productivity.
What could an employee wellness offering look like?
When developing a wellness offering, organisations would also do well to consider consumer trends as a data source that informs their strategy. For example, our research reveals three key insights into consumer expectations and preferences for health and wellbeing:
Make it holistic
Firstly, there’s a shift in people looking for more ‘stackable systems’ that cover a broad spectrum and provide a holistic approach to wellbeing. Employees want the freedom to access support for the areas most important to them in a simple and accessible way. To address this, organisations can consider partnering with service providers that offer integrated support with sleep, movement, nutrition, and mental, financial, and social wellness in one platform.
We have seen some success in the market with this approach. For example, law firm Linklaters introduced the BetterSpace app as a staff benefit, which advocates a holistic, evidence-based approach, built around six different pillars of wellbeing. After trialling the platform, 70% of staff reported improved mental health literacy, 81% discovered a resource that they would continue using, and 91% wanted the firm’s relationship with BetterSpace to continue.
Make it personalised
In today’s world, personalisation is also a big draw in developing appealing employee wellness offerings. The research shows that 9 in 10 consumers are interested in having at least one health and wellness product or service that is tailored to their specific needs. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, consumers are looking for personalised recommendations based on their real-time data and own wellness goals.
One way that employers can achieve this is through implementing 1:1 wellness coaching. For example, financial services firm Synchrony relies on wellbeing coaches who partner with employees to create personalised wellness strategies, based around their strengths and values. However, to maximise the benefits of a personalised approach, employers must also address concerns around trust. Employees will want assurance that their data will not be accessible to, or used by, employers in a traceable way.
Make it inclusive
Another key trend is the importance of inclusion in the workplace, and this must flow through to any wellness offers. Our research highlights that over a third of consumers (37%) desire more inclusivity, particularly for those with accessibility needs.
This means recognising the different challenges faced by employees: for example, 24% of men rated their mental health very highly in our research, compared to just 13% of women, with similar differences observed in ratings of nutrition and physical exercise. Workplace wellness offerings work best when they consider the different needs of these groups. Opt-in and opt-out options on stackable benefits will enable employees to select offers best suited to their needs.
Wellness is complex and influenced by a number of interlinked factors – some of which employers simply cannot change. However, many of the current wellness initiatives adopted by employers and employees alike are missing the mark, highlighting the need for a strategic re-think. To truly support their people, employers should adopt wellness strategies that are more evidence-based, holistic, personalised, and inclusive. Companies that do so will better be positioned to address the diverse needs of their employees and foster a more effective work environment. This shift not only stands to enhance employee wellbeing but can also drive organisational success.
David Knies, Charlotte Townsend & Siana Byfield
David Knies has over 30 years’ experience, and leads PA Consulting’s work across wellness, sports, fitness, and consumer health. He helps world-leading companies and early-stage disruptors create new platforms for growth, and is based in PA’s Boston Studio. Siana Byfield and Charlotte Townsend are people & change experts at PA Consulting, where they specialise in culture and building high-performing teams. Leveraging this expertise, combined with their backgrounds in Occupational Psychology, Neuroscience, Mental Health First Aid, HR and Inclusion, they design and implement wellbeing initiatives within PA Consulting and with clients.
