Over three-quarters (76%) of employers now measure the impact of supporting the health and wellbeing of their staff, according to new research conducted by GRiD, the industry body for the group risk sector.1
This represents a significant increase on the 51% who measured this impact in 20232 and shows that employers are recognising the importance of ensuring both their staff and their business are benefitting from offering health and wellbeing support.
GRiD also emphasises that measuring the impact can be a very effective way for health and wellbeing benefits to be changed or tweaked to improve outcomes. Without measuring the impact, it is difficult to establish an improvement (or deterioration) in employees’ health and wellbeing.
Does support have a business impact?
Also significant is the fact that almost all (99%) employers that measure believe that supporting the wellbeing of their staff has a positive impact on their business too.
Of these:
- 43% cited a positive return on investment (ROI)/positive financial impact to the business in offering health and wellbeing support.
- 43% also said that it increased productivity.
- 42% believe that health and wellbeing support engenders loyalty and engagement amongst staff.
- 42% referred to the fact that offering health and wellbeing support is integral to their company ethos and that it helps them fulfil their business objectives.
- 41% said it is a point of differentiation from competitors and supports recruitment and retention.
- 39% disclosed that holistically supporting health and wellbeing helps manage absence, mitigating the number and length of absences, meaning a quicker return to work for staff.
Businesses can see the great advantages in supporting the wellbeing of staff on a number of different levels. That of an improved ROI and increased productivity are immediately tangible and understood in a broad business sense but HR professionals will also appreciate other measures such as having a loyal workforce and the benefits of lowering staff turnover.
Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for GRiD, said:
Businesses that are not measuring the impact of supporting the health and wellbeing of their staff are now in the minority and that could mean they may struggle to keep up with their competitors. Measuring this impact is of course about improving the health and wellbeing of each individual member of staff but there are real commercial differentiators too, and it’s great to see so many companies recognise this.
Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for GRiD
Key challenges in supporting the health and wellbeing of staff
Despite HR professionals reporting the numerous business benefits of supporting the health and wellbeing of staff, when it comes to implementing it, 38% say that they still face affordability challenges in competing with budgets for other business needs, and nearly a third (31%) say they struggle with getting buy-in from the business that such support is necessary.
Building the business case to support staff requires both quantitative and qualitative data. Measuring the impact of existing support is therefore vital in future-proofing budget and resources.
Katharine Moxham concluded:
Support that offers a real and tangible difference to the physical, mental and financial wellbeing of employees, gives the sponsoring employer a huge competitive advantage on many fronts as found in our research. But offering it without measuring it makes it difficult for the business or the HR team to learn, to improve and to stay ahead.
Research:
1. The new research was undertaken by Opinium from 9-16 January 2024 among 500 HR decision-makers at UK businesses.
2. 2023 data was taken from research undertaken by Opinium from 9-22 January 2023 among 503 HR decision-makers at UK businesses.
Joanne is the editor for Workplace Wellbeing Professional and has a keen interest in promoting the safety and wellbeing of the global workforce. After earning a bachelor's degree in English literature and media studies, she taught English in China and Vietnam for two years. Before joining Work Well Pro, Joanne worked as a marketing coordinator for luxury property, where her responsibilities included blog writing, photography, and video creation.
