Company culture prevents increased wellbeing activity

An independent survey of 1,600 employees and HR leaders, carried out this March, found wellbeing expenditure increased in 2020, but only 36 percent of HR leaders expect to spend more in 2021.

Of HR managers with a wellbeing programme in place, 43 percent rated employee productivity as “very good’”. This is compared to just 18 percent in organisations without a strategy.

The study, Coping after Covid from Westfield Health, found that although 84 percent of HR leaders say wellbeing support is becoming more important, 59 percent are unable to do more in this space because company culture prevents it.

The report also reveals that companies in the north of England spend an estimated 17 percent less on employee wellbeing per head than those in the south. When it comes to the impact of spend on productivity, the south of England benefits from an extra 30 percent in productivity than the north.

When it comes to implementing wellbeing strategies, HR leaders said the reasons for doing so are:

• To boost employee morale (58 percent);
• To increase performance (46 percent);
• To improve engagement or productivity (45 percent);
• To improve staff retention (39 percent);
• To reduce absenteeism (34 percent).

However, while the majority of businesses (94 percent) with a wellbeing strategy say productivity is at least good, an estimated 320,000 businesses have wellbeing programmes that are not fulfilling their potential.