Why Employee Wellbeing?

The 2008, the PriceWaterhouseCooper government report into Employee Wellbeing Programmes, defined Wellness in the workplace as having three components.

1. Health and Safety: Driven by government policy and statutory requirements and implemented via HR in day to day business.
2. Managing Ill Health: 'Reactive' interventions including absentee management programmes and Occupational Health. This will continue to be a drain on resources for all companies, yet a very real cost and one that will never go-away completely. However:
3. Prevention and Promotion: Interventions designed to prevent and promote healthy activity.

In this study, they found that for everyone £1 a business spends on a wellbeing programme, the return on investment can vary from £2.67 to £34 per person, depending on the industry and the type, implementation and management of the wellbeing programme.

The benefits gained were a reduction in overtime payments; temporary recruitment; permanent staff payroll; recruitment costs; and legal costs/claims, amongst many more.

“If, as an organisation, you really care about employee wellbeing, now is the time to make it a pillar of your strategy, you need sustained buy-in from a high level if you want to be successful.”

Absence costs an average of £666 per worker per year, according to the CIPD, so health benefits offer a tangible return on investment. The reputation as a good employer and a good company to work for is a very powerful tool in the recruitment market place of the demanding corporate world. The consequential reduction in staff turn-over represents huge savings on recruitment and HR costs, as well as keeping morale high within the camp.