Prevention is Better than Cure: Wellbeing at Work

1. From themselves – as they face growing sickness and absence costs which damage performance, productivity, growth and reputation.
2. From employees, who now expect their employers to help support their personal wellbeing.
3. From legal and government policies which require organizations to recognize their own impact on their employees' health in order to help with the government's objectives of getting more of the working age population back into the workplace.

Measuring the Cost of Employee Ill Health

All employers have a duty of care to their employees but when times are tight and budgets are being squeezed, many might think that investing in employee health is a luxury rather than a necessity. [2] However, this could not be further from the truth. The average level of employee absence is eight days per employee per year, with an average cost of £666 per employee per year. [3] This does not include the indirect costs of absence, such as overtime payments to cover a colleague's absence, or employing and training a temporary worker to replace the absent colleague in the short-term, which can bring the cost to over £1000 per employee per year. It stands to reason, therefore, that investing in a fit, motivated and productive workforce makes good business sense.

Health management expert Ron Goetzel states that with an investment of $100 to $150 (approximately £70-£106) per employee per year in health and wellbeing support, an employer can expect an average return on investment of around $3 for every $1 invested. [4] This amounts to a 200% return on investment per employee per year. However, Goetzel warns that these returns are not typically realized until two or three years into the wellness program, so wellbeing initiatives should be recognized as long-term investments, not short-term wins.

The Most Common Wellbeing Issues

Although the most common causes of short-term absence for employees are minor illnesses such as colds, flu and stomach upsets, the two most common self reported causes of employee ill health are musculo-skeletal disorders (MSDs) and stress. MSDs (particularly back pain) are a leading cause of long-term sickness absence in the UK, while a similar picture is found in the USA, where MSDs account for 33% of lost working days per year. [5] However, many organizations can combat this through simple measures such as effective training in manual handling and providing ergonomically designed workstations.

Stress is the other major problem facing both businesses and employees. In the UK, estimates from the HSE revealed that approximately 15.4 million working days were lost in the UK in 2017/18 due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety. This equates to an average of 25.8 working days lost per affected case, making stress the largest contributor to the overall estimated annual work days lost from work-related ill health. [6] During times of economic change, fears over job security and financial wellbeing, stresslevels are likely to rise dramatically.

During a downturn, fears about job security can also give rise to the issue of presenteeism - people may be working longer hours than ever before in order to secure their job and avoid the next round of redundancies – all these anxieties can lead to significant stress. [7]

While responsibility for managing wellbeing lies principally with the individual employee, managers and leaders still have an important role to play in supporting and promoting good physical and emotional health.

The Benefits of Workplace Wellbeing Initiatives

An increasing number of managers are acknowledging the improvements they have seen in their teams, departments and organizations following the introduction of wellbeing initiatives. By supporting employee wellbeing, employers may see improvements in:

• Retention of existing employees, which can be greatly enhanced by wellbeing initiatives. Employees who are happier, healthier and have more energy will feel more supported by, and committed to, the organization, which leads to improved morale and job satisfaction. Employees who value and respect the fact that their employer cares about them and will therefore be less likely to seek alternative employment.
• Organizational reputation and image, leading to better recruitment prospects. Wellbeing initiatives can be highly beneficial to employers who are trying to recruit new talent. As the popularity of wellbeing initiatives grows, it will become increasingly difficult for employers to attract the best talent unless their wellbeing offerings are up to scratch.
• Quality and quantity of production, as a result of reduced absenteeism. People who are happier and healthier at work perform better, leading to improvements in productivity and bottom line profits.
• Business costs – there will be less sick pay, a reduction in overtime payments or payments to temporary staff to cover employee absence. There may also be a reduction in insurance premiums.
• Reduced levels of job accidents and injuries, and compensation claims.

So How Do You Promote Wellbeing in Practice?

Promoting wellbeing at work involves educating employees and managers alike of the importance of protecting wellbeing, and deciding on the most appropriate initiatives to help do so. The main steps in promoting wellbeing at work are as follows:

1. Identifying the level of need within the organization and the impact of sickness/health-related issues.

2. Deciding on the focus of the wellbeing initiative(s).

3. Defining the target audience.

4. Setting objectives i.e.the overall purpose of the initiative.

5. Deciding on the type of intervention. Many organizations offer a dizzying array of initiatives to support the wellbeing of their workforce, for example:

• in-house occupational health provision (access to professional medical staff such as GPs and/or nurses)
• private healthcare and insurance
• free/discounted gym memberships
• smoking cessation clinics
• free fruit and healthy options in staff restaurants
• counseling services
• 'cycle to work' schemes
• employee assistance programs (EAPs)

However, organizations don't need to spend a fortune on employee wellbeing: even those with limited resources can still promote wellness at work through cost-effective solutions such as:

• encouraging flexible working or giving employees more choice over their working hours
• keeping an eye on employees' working habits – making sure they are not working long hours or coming into work when they are ill (if someone is consistently working long hours, they could be a prime candidate for time management training)
• sending out promotional emails with health/wellbeing tips
• adding health-related information to their intranet, including online health assessments
• including health tips in employee payslips
• creating wellbeing library, with books on healthy eating and nutrition, exercise DVDs and relaxation CDs
• providing comfortable, quiet areas where people can take a break
• ensuring managers set a good example by taking their lunch breaks, arriving and leaving on time, and taking all their annual leave allowance

6. Identifying resources required.

7. Creating a realistic budget.

8.Securing buy-in by presenting the business case.

9. Involving the right people.

10. Promoting/communicating the initiative.

11. Putting the plan into action.

12. Evaluating and measuring success.

It is important to remember that there is no off the shelf, one-size fits all approach to managing wellbeing at work. Different initiatives will suit different workplaces: any measures implemented should be appropriate to that particular organization's situation and available resources.

Top tips for promoting workplace wellbeing

Encouraging people to take the first steps towards improving their wellbeing can be a real challenge. The biggest obstacle is likely to be getting people out of their bad habits and into healthier ones. Organizations can do this by:

• educating all employees on the importance of looking after their own wellbeing
• making it easier for them to adopt healthy habits e.g. by providing access to healthier food options, nutritional information, opportunities to take physical exercise, counseling services, relaxation/stress management techniques
• giving people more control over their workload, helping them plan their work through effective time management techniques and allowing them to work more flexibly
• communicating effectively – letting employees know what is going on in the organization to avoid rumor-mongering and gossip which can cause unnecessary anxiety and stress

Conclusion

While work can have a positive impact on our personal health and wellbeing, an increasing number of organizations are discovering that by managing employee health rather than sickness through workplace wellbeing programs they are likely to reap significant rewards. Wellbeing programs can significantly help to cut the costs associated with poor employee health, including absenteeism, poor performance and productivity. Healthy and well motivated employees will have a positive impact on the productivity and effectiveness of a business, as improved wellbeing improves employee motivation and engagement, which in turn improves performance, increasing productivity and profits.