Employee wellness programmes are initiatives that improve the health and wellness of employees. These initiatives are diverse, and may range from fitness activities and health assessments, to catered meals, health coaching and mental health support.
Wellbeing is complex and multifaceted—and for employee wellness programmes to be effective, organisations need to address the different dimensions of employee wellness. These include:
Physical wellness relates to the physical health of employees, such as their energy levels, fitness levels, sleep hygiene, and diet.
Emotional wellness refers to an individual’s ability to regulate their emotions. When employees are emotionally healthy, they are able to navigate difficult situations, communicate effectively, and establish positive relationships at the workplace.
Social wellness is achieved when employees feel supported and connected, and have developed positive relationships with their coworkers.
Spiritual wellness at the workplace isn’t associated with religious practices; rather, it relates to helping employees discover a sense of meaning and purpose in their lives.
Financial wellness relates to an individual’s financial stability. Employers can bolster the financial wellbeing of employees by equipping them with the knowledge and resources they need to reduce their financial stress, and achieve greater security.
Insights on employee mental health and burnout
Insights on APAC employers and their corporate wellness strategies
Corporate employee wellness programs contribute to company performance and healthcare cost savings
Organisations typically offer a combination of targeted initiatives as part of their employee wellness programs. These include:
Health screenings refer to medical tests or procedures that assess an employee’s likelihood of having a health condition or disease.
A variety of health assessments—ranging from basic health examinations to comprehensive checkups—may be conducted. Basic health screenings typically involve a physical examination, along with blood and urine tests. Employees who are smokers may also be required to undergo a lung function screening.
Following the examination, employees will receive the results of their health assessment, and may be directed to treatments or resources they require.
You’ll also receive aggregated health data about your employees. Using these insights, you’ll be able to identify trends and potential health risks among your workforce, and implement strategies that can improve employee wellness at your organisation.
Group fitness classes offer a wide range of benefits. In addition to providing a good workout, these classes also create opportunities for coworkers to come together, and interact outside of work. For employers, fitness classes help to foster a healthier workforce and boosts productivity.
The types of fitness activities you implement may vary, depending on the amenities available at your organisation. On-site fitness classes can be a great option for companies with indoor venues like conference rooms, or access to spacious outdoor grounds.
If these amenities aren’t available at your workplace, or if your organisation has a sizable team of remote employees, a good alternative would be to offer reimbursements for gym or fitness centre memberships.
Reimbursing your employees’ gym or fitness centre memberships is another way to encourage physical activity. This option lends itself to companies that aren’t able to provide on-site fitness classes—such as organisations that operate remotely.
One benefit to offering fitness membership reimbursement is that it allows for personalisation, as employees can choose the activity they prefer—whether it’s joining yoga classes, personal training sessions or a running club.
Supporting employee nutrition brings a host of benefits. It helps to improve the health and wellbeing of your employees, and reduces the likelihood of illness caused by poor nutrition. This leads to a lower rate of absenteeism, and increases productivity at the workplace.
There are a plethora of options that employers can consider. Think on-site cafeterias, subscriptions to healthy snacks, installing healthy snack vending machines, providing discounts for healthier meals, and more.
And it doesn’t have to be a costly measure. Improving workplace nutrition can be as simple as purchasing healthy food items or snacks in bulk to stock up your office pantry.
With telehealth services, individuals can access medical care through tools like video conferencing platforms, mobile apps and remote monitoring systems.
Such services optimise access to healthcare, as it eliminates the need for in-person visits. It enables your employees to schedule appointments easily, and attend remote medical consultations from their homes—without the inconvenience of long commutes or waiting times.
Health coaching refers to coaching sessions with a wellness expert. It aims to help employees improve poor health behaviours, and make positive lifestyle changes. The sessions can be conducted either one-on-one or in a group setting.
A key benefit to health coaching is that it can help individuals address a wide array of issues. A health coach will begin by assessing multiple aspects of an employee’s life—including his or her mental health, relationships, personal difficulties, and health goals—before conceptualising a plan to help them make lasting lifestyle changes.
When employees are committed towards cultivating these habits, they can then achieve the health outcomes they seek—whether that’s managing chronic conditions more effectively, boosting their physical fitness, improving work life balance or enhancing their mental wellbeing.
Rather than adhering to traditional ways of working, employers are increasingly adopting flexible work arrangements. This includes remote or hybrid working arrangements, compressed work weeks, flexible working hours and job sharing arrangements.
Such arrangements are critical for fostering diversity. Through implementing flexible work arrangements, you create a more supportive environment that caters to the needs of employees across different life stages, responsibilities and backgrounds. This helps your organisation attract and retain a diverse workforce.
Smoking cessation programmes are initiatives that provide employees with the support and resources they need to quit smoking.
These programmes utilise a variety of treatments and tools, ranging from educational sessions like workshops and seminars, to peer support groups, nicotine replacement therapy, counselling and other personalised treatments.
Keep in mind that other factors—such workplace policies, and how smoking cessation initiatives are implemented—can impact the results of your smoking cessation program.
For instance, conducting smoking cessation programs at a workplace setting—as opposed to a clinic setting—can improve cessation rates. Additionally, implementing policies that support smoke-free workplaces can increase the effectiveness of your programme.
When employees face financial pressure, it can adversely impact their mental and physical health. This takes a toll on their performance at work.
In contrast, a MetLife study showed that individuals who feel financially secure indicated higher levels of happiness (84 percent vs. 55 percent), engagement (78 percent vs. 53 percent) and job satisfaction (88 percent vs 56 percent).
For employers and HR teams, this underscores the importance of equipping employees with the knowledge and resources they need to achieve financial wellness. This may range from educational workshops, to financial counselling and access to financial software and tools.
Employees are expecting more from their companies when it comes to mental health support, with reducing workplace mental health stigma being one of the key issues they want employers to address.
According to McKinsey’s Health Employer Survey, employers saw reducing stigma as the least important factor on their list of mental health priorities. Yet, a workforce survey indicated that while 70 percent of CEOs say they’re accepting of emotional and mental health issues at work, only 35 percent of employees believe this is true.
These findings highlight the gap between how employers and employees perceive mental health stigma, showing that more can be done to fulfil the expectations of workers.
Additionally, employees seek better mental health benefits. This was one of the key factors identified by respondents in a Paychex study on how employers can improve employee wellbeing.
What employers and HR can do:
Employees are placing increasing importance on their personal wellbeing, as a Deloitte survey on employees and C-level executives shows:
To respond to the shift in employee needs, organisations need to work towards building a positive workplace culture that supports wellbeing.
What employers and HR can do:
The trend towards workplace flexibility is clear. Increasingly, employees want the ability to work where and when they want to, as these statistics show:
What employers and HR can do:
In the modern workplace, employees are constantly on the go. Without sufficient time off to recharge, they could be at risk of burnout.
What employers and HR can do:
The growing uncertainty in the global financial landscape, coupled with the rising costs of living has made achieving financial wellbeing an uphill struggle for many.
Individuals are looking to employers for access to financial wellbeing resources—making financial wellness initiatives an increasingly important component of employee wellness programmes.
What employers and HR can do:
If you’re looking to implement employee wellness programmes, but are unsure about how to begin—this section is for you.
Below, we share examples of how different types of employee wellness initiatives are implemented within organisations.
By implementing ThoughtFull’s employee wellness programme, Focus Global provided their employees with access to:
ThoughtFull stood out with its personalised wellbeing services, which addressed the unique needs and situations that employees faced. This was a critical factor for Focus Global, as our solution helped to fill a gap where other providers couldn’t.
This contributed to a high level of engagement and demand for mental healthcare at Focus Global. The ThoughtFullChat app saw a 69 percent utilisation rate among employees, and 87 percent of Focus Global users said they would recommend the app to others.
The leadership at PDAX was on the lookout for a solution to help employees address stress, burnout and other mental health issues.
They sought a provider that offered an easy-to-use, discreet and secure mental health solution, along with comprehensive services—and found what they needed in ThoughtFull’s employee wellness programme.
Within just four months of implementing our programme, PDAX reported significant results among its workforce. They saw a 39 percent average reduction in depression, anxiety and stress levels, as well as a 43 percent utilisation rate.
StarHub’s HR team sought to implement an employee wellness programme, after discovering that their employees’ well being was declining due to the pandemic.
They chose ThoughtFull for our holistic approach, accessibility and commitment towards employee mental wellbeing, as these were key factors that made us stand out against other providers.
Using the ThoughtFullChat app, StarHub’s employees were able to access personalised support whenever they needed. As a result, StarHub employees reported positive changes in their outlook and behaviour. 53 percent of employees indicated that they were more self-aware, while 47 percent said they’re more proactive about engaging with their mental health.
PharmaCorp makes engaging in physical activity fun and engaging for its employees. The company implemented an organisational wellness challenge, which included friendly competitions, rewards and recognition for participants. Employees were also provided with fitness trackers and wellness apps to track their progress.
ManufacturingCo is a great example of how organisations can support employee nutrition. The company partnered with nutritionists and chefs to create a diverse menu for its staff cafeteria. It also offered nutrition and cooking classes to help employees develop healthy eating habits outside of work.
Deloitte’s HR team implemented an extended sabbatical policy in Singapore, enabling employees to take time off to attend to personal matters. Under this policy, an employee was able to take 12 months off work for caregiving.
Publicis Groupe creates inclusive policies by involving employees in its decision making process. For instance, the organisation reviewed its employee demographics, and sought feedback from employees about their personal circumstances when conceptualising its leave policies.
This enabled the organisation to implement policies that catered to the needs of their workforce—such as providing extra leave entitlements for employees seeking fertility treatments.
FinServe implemented a comprehensive wellness program to promote greater financial literacy among its employees. The organisation also partnered with financial advisors to offer one-on-one consultations for employees seeking personalised guidance.
At United Overseas Bank (UOB), employees are given a choice of staggered start times. In doing so, the organisation is able to attract and retain a larger talent pool, and expand its scope of potential candidates to include caregivers and retirees.
Brand Cellar, a public relations firm in Singapore has implemented a job sharing arrangement. Tasks are divided among multiple team members, giving employees the flexibility of working lesser days each week. This arrangement allows the firm to cater to employees who require greater flexibility in their work schedules, such as caregivers.
Employee wellness programmes are a critical component of workplace wellness. These initiatives can significantly impact the wellbeing of your workforce, helping them to thrive in and out of the office.
In our article, we discussed key topics pertaining to employee wellness programmes, such as:
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