The Rise of Employee Wellbeing: How Companies Are Investing In Their Most Valuable Asset

Guest post written by Klara Debeljak,, nutritionist, an active listener of the Wellbeing Designers Podcast

The tide is finally turning on employee wellbeing.

After long being treated as a nice-to-have perk, a growing number of companies are recognising that employee wellbeing is a fundamental part of their business performance and success.

For all of its terrible consequences, the COVID pandemic played a significant role in accelerating the adoption of wellbeing policies. Today more corporations are not only appointing wellbeing leaders at the C-suite level, but also starting to dedicate serious funds to this area.

The way businesses are approaching the topic varies, however, there are also some clear commonalities that are emerging. The first two seasons of the brilliant Wellbeing Designers Podcast with Reka Deak, who spoke to several pioneers and leaders in employee wellbeing provided valuable insights into some of the key trends and challenges in this space:

1 – Wellbeing as a business strategy

Companies that are at the forefront of employee wellbeing treat it as an essential element of their long-term plan and a driver of growth. They also integrate health and wellbeing needs into all of their work processes, rather than consider it a standalone component that is tackled outside of the “core business”.

2 – A shift from benefits to the way we work

In the past, employee wellbeing was often synonymous with employee benefits. Now, the focus is shifting away from these, and towards changing the culture and the way we work. 

Optimising the work environment so that it’s conducive to positive wellbeing behaviour, providing flexible working, manager training on employee wellbeing, empowering employees with skills that help them manage their workload – these are just some of the areas that companies are now focusing on to help their employees improve wellbeing.

This, of course, requires a systemic change, which needs time, a full management buy in, and is much more challenging to achieve than offering employees access to a new mindfulness app.

3 - Global wellbeing framework with local adaptation

With major international companies, the overall employee wellbeing strategy is typically set at a global level. 

However, the way this is then implemented across their different office locations, is up to the local teams. This is important as it not only enables businesses to respond to the specific needs of each office, but also to take into account cultural nuances and maximise the impact of the wellbeing programs.

4 – Data and measurement matter

Companies that are serious about investing in employee wellbeing put a premium on their work being informed by the latest research on this topic, and consistently measure the success of their wellbeing initiatives, to understand what’s working and what’s not.

That said, establishing the true and long-term impact of wellbeing initiatives remains a challenge, and measurement is for now still largely confined to annual employee surveys and assessing retention, absenteeism and healthcare cost.

5 - Role modelling by the leadership is key

The change starts at the top, and without genuine buy in and role modelling of the relevant wellbeing practices by leaders, achieving significant change is difficult.

When it comes to leadership buy-in, one of the challenges is that the perception of employee wellbeing in the company often varies considerably between members of the leadership and their coworkers further down the company chain. Leaders tend to be much more optimistic about the status of their employees’ wellbeing than the employees themselves, which can then hinder their willingness to further invest into this space.

Beyond these common trends, one of the questions that doesn’t yet have broad consensus and that many businesses appear to be wrestling with is – how far does the employer’s responsibility for their employees’ wellbeing go?

Yes, wellbeing is a complex issue, but should companies really be investing into helping their employees optimise personal factors such as nutrition, sleep and exercise, or is this the task of an individual? Does the company’s responsibility simply start and end with providing an optimal work environment?

Opinions on this issue vary notably, with cultural differences, a company’s history in employee wellbeing and other factors all playing a role.

And while the debate is raging, one of the possible answers might be this:

Sure, as a company, helping your employees optimise personal elements of their lifestyle might not be your responsibility, but given the enormous impact that all of these factors have on your employees’ performance, it is most certainly in your interest. 

If your employees have a very poor diet, they will inevitably feel more tired, more irritable, their brain won’t be able process information as fast, and they will struggle more with memory and concentration. They will also be less resilient to stress and at a greater risk of mental health challenges.

For example, research shows that an unhealthy diet is associated with a greater risk of depression, and that employees with a poor diet are 66% more likely to see reduced productivity at work. 

Similar implications are true for poor sleep, insufficient exercise, a lack of stress management practices and poor social wellbeing.

Surely this is something that businesses would want to prevent and do what they can to not only make sure their employees feel well and live a fulfilling life, but can also perform at their best in the workplace.

Or as Nick Davison, the former Head of Wellbeing at John Lewis Partnership so eloquently said in Reka’s podcast when talking about different dimensions of wellbeing, and where the employer’s involvement starts and ends:

“Those boundaries with an employer and employee are blurred in places. But I think what we should do, is recognise that employers have a role to play in providing opportunity, providing education and promoting some of those positive proactive choices, rather than just living with poor outcomes, because no one bothered to say anything.”

References:

• Lassale, C. et al. (2018) Healthy Dietary Indices and risk of depressive outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies, Nature. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-018-0237-8

• Merrill, R.M. et al. (2012) Presenteeism according to healthy behaviors, physical health, and work environment, Population Health Management. Available at: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/pop.2012.0003

About the author:

Klara Debeljak is a Certified Nutrition Coach and the Director of nutrition consultancy Nourishi. After many years in the corporate world, Klara established Nourishi following her own health struggles and managing to overcome them simply by changing her nutrition. She now helps other busy professionals do the same, so that they can improve their own wellbeing, resilience and performance. She also supports companies in developing and optimising the nutrition aspect of their wellbeing programs, in a way that they empower their employees and help them achieve real, sustainable change. You can learn more about her work at www.nourishiconsulting.com