Number of wellness programmes grows by one fifth

There has been a marked increase in the number of businesses providing wellness programmes to motivate and retain staff.

This is according to Buck Consultants' third annual report on employer approaches to managing employee wellness, entitled 'Working Well: A Global Survey of Health Promotion and Workplace Wellness Strategies'.

Half of the 64 major UK institutions surveyed by Buck Consultants had a wellness strategy for their employees in place in 2009, with employee stress the key factor in encouraging bosses to implement wellness initiatives.

Worldwide, the survey analysed responses from more than 1,100 organisations representing 10 million employees in 45 countries.

The survey also indicated that 97 per cent of the UK companies that presently implement a wellness programme said they were motivated by the objective of improving worker productivity and reducing 'presenteeism' (employees that work longer hours in the office to give the impression of productivity but that do not work productively).

Thirty per cent of UK companies that measured employee productivity and presenteeism after implementing a wellness strategy said they had seen a major or fairly major impact and that overall productivity had improved.

On a global level, the research found that 46 per cent of multinational companies have implemented a wellness strategy, a rise of more than one fifth in the past year.

Survey respondents predicted that the fastest-growing components of wellness initiatives around the world will increase 100 per cent or more over the next three years.

These include technology-driven tools such as web portals, online healthy-lifestyle programmes and personal-health records.

Another rapidly growing category includes on-site programmes such as caregiver support, personal-health coaching and healthy vending-machine food choices.

Adrian Norris, managing director of the health and productivity practice at Buck Consultants UK, said: 'Improving the health and wellbeing of employees is not only part of a company's duty of care to its staff, it can be a cost-effective way for companies to improve their productivity and help retain top talent.

'Stress levels are higher in the workplace and the negative impact this can have on motivation, productivity and employee churn is notable.

'Historically, companies have incentivised staff financially, but particularly in the wake of the credit crunch, finding a means to motivate your workforce, improve its wellbeing and thus its efficiency by other means can make a big difference to the financial health of the business,' he added.

While 30 per cent of companies in the UK said there is no current wellness strategy, they do offer numerous existing wellness initiatives in their organisations.

Soft benefits such as gym membership, earning extra holiday and lifestyle-management support are becoming more attractive to employees and more UK companies are viewing them as a supplement to traditional financial incentives.

Norris continued: 'The fact that organisations continue to expand wellness programmes and are taking an ever-more active role in the general wellness of their staff is to be welcomed.

'Despite this lack of measurement, it suggests the intuitive value of improved employee health remains a major motivator for employers.

'Employers also recognise that health outcomes and behaviour changes inspired by wellness programmes are likely to take many years to manifest themselves in the form of measurable savings,' he added.

Sixty-four major UK companies participated in the research, representing more than 350,000 UK employees.

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