Companies are increasing focus on employee wellbeing: study
CONCERNS Companies have identified rising benefits cost as an obstacle in delivering wellbeing benefits
NEW DELHI: Companies in India are beginning to take a more holistic view of employee health and wellness, going beyond physical well-being to include emotional and financial, according to the India Health and WellBeing Study 2018 released by Willis Towers Watson , a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company.
While a majority 66% of employers have already taken, or will take steps in the next three years to develop a mental health strategy, 59% are planning to offer programmes to support chronic behavioural health conditions; currently offered by only 8% of employers.
Similarly, 63% already have or are developing a strategy to improve financial well-being and 13% are considering it in three years’ time. Towards this, 50% companies are planning to deliver customised or personalised messages to help improve financial planning as compared to only 6% today.
All round steps being taken, including family outreach, but an overarching health and wellness strategy is largely missing
The study found that in 2018, over 80% of the organisations have taken at least one action in the following areas - health risks or condition management; weight management, physical activity and nutrition; and, managing employee stress and mental health. While 61% have taken at least one action to improve the n financial well-being of employees in 2018, it is a concern that almost half of the surveyed organisations still do not have a formally articulated health and well-being strategy.
Rohit Jain, head of India, Willis Towers Watson said, “It is immensely encouraging to observe this increased focus on employee health and wellness. However, to translate this into all round well-being, enhanced productivity, and ultimately improved financial performance, companies must develop a coherent and holistic health and wellness strategy encompassing all four aspects – physical, emotional, financial, and family.”
Drawing attention to another interesting finding, Jain added, “The number of employers recognising the role of family in the overall well-being of an employee and in turn their productivity, is noteworthy. It is heartening to see that almost one in four organisations are beginning to engage the employees’ family in one way or another.”
Some of the initiatives include inviting family members to participate in various programmes and activities (27%) organised by the companies; focussing communication to reach/involve family members (24%); and, redesigning employee assistance programmes to better address emotional and financial well-being for employees and dependents (44%).
TOP LIFESTYLE CONCERNS
Companies in India identified rising benefits cost and the lack of actionable data, appropriate technology, and employee engagement as the top four challenges in delivering health and well-being programmes.
Furthermore, employers ranked lack of physical activity (62%), and stress (55%) as top concerns about their employees’ lifestyle (See Annexure 2), followed by obesity (43%), poor financial well-being (27%) and tobacco use (25%).
Although tobacco use was identified as a lifestyle concern by 25% of the employers, organisational initiatives are more prohibitive than interventional, with only 8% of companies currently offering tobacco cessation programmes.
Companies are moving towards segmentation and increasingly embracing technol- ogy. Organisations are gradually moving away from one size fits all, evolving a more segmented and targeted approach with 60% of organisations planning to target individuals based on their health risks by 2021.
Technology is also being increasingly leveraged.
One in three organisations already have a formal technology strategy in place and a similar number have developed a dedicated portal as a hub for health and well-being programmes. Over the next three years, 67% of the companies will be using web and mobile-based lifestyle behaviour coaching programmes and 58% will be sponsoring the use of wearable devices for tracking physical activity or nutrition.
EFFECTIVE AND TAILORED COMMUNICATION KEY FOR SUCCESS
The study also found that although 82% of the organisations have started to provide regular communication that encourages employee safety and well-being, two in five say poor employee understanding is a barrier.
Sudesh Shetty, Head of Health & Benefits, Willis Towers Watson India Insurance Brokers said, “Organisations must realise that an effective communication strategy that is segmented, creative, multi-channel and sustained over a campaign period is absolutely critical for employee participation, engagement, and eventually the success of any health and well-being strategy.” When Jack Ma, the co-founder and executive chairman of the Chinese technology conglomerate, Alibaba Group, recently announced his retirement, there were two most prominent underlying questions in nearly every news report. While one of them was ‘Who would replace Jack Ma?’ the other was ‘What will the new chief executive bring to the table?’although we already know that Daniel Zhang, the CEO of the group who has been handpicked by Mr. Ma himself, will take the job next year, there is still the question of how he will impact the Alibaba Group’s vision. But Alibaba is well-known for its strong organisational culture, and this succession plan seems to have been a long time in the making. And since Daniel Zhang is neither an outsider to the way the company works, nor is he an unknown figure in China’s corporate landscape, Jack Ma’s retirement is much less likely to have any significant negative impact for the company.
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