Employers, keep investing in wellbeing

Employee wellbeing has a huge impact on the health of an organization, that’s according to a recent report from Aon. The positive news is that employers are aware!

Speaking exclusively to UNLEASH, Amitabh Deka, vice-president of the Health Transformation Team at Aon, notes that “now 83% of organizations have a wellbeing strategy, up from 55% in 2021”.  This data comes from Aon’s survey of HR and benefits leaders in more than 1,000 companies and across 47 countries.

The report also identified the return on investment (ROI) of wellbeing strategies; Aon found that a 4% increase in wellbeing success leads to a 1% increase in profits.

Beyond this, Aon’s research also found that wellbeing has a positive impact on employees’ intention to stay; great news for businesses’ bottom lines, as replacing workers is very expensive.

The data shows that employees that strongly believe their organization cares for their overall wellbeing are 70% less likely to be actively searching for a new job, plus they are one and a half times more likely to stay with their organization long-term.

Wellbeing also creates resilience, and resilient employees are 42% less likely to want to leave their current employer.

But wellbeing has to start at the top..

Despite the clear ROI on wellbeing, and while  investment “numbers show a positive start, [we] will need investment and support to mature”, Deka tells UNLEASH.

One easy way for employers and HR leaders to drive change is by integrating a wellbeing strategy into other channels of your organization. Companies that consider wellbeing a priority are more likely to have wellbeing integrated into their DE&I, ESG, Health and Safety, and Total Rewards strategies.

But ultimately, for any company-wide wellbeing initiative to be effective, executives and HR leaders need to have bought in.

The catalyst for wellbeing success must be “leadership support”. This is proven by the fact that it is the “increased participation of direct supervisors that has accelerated the prevalence and adoption of wellbeing programs,” Deka notes.

Leadership’s support can’t just be financial, however. People work better under bosses they trust; managers who are perceived as compassionate and wise reap the benefits of a workforce with 86% higher job satisfaction.

Ultimately, one of the most important things an employer can do for worker wellbeing and overall performance is show that they care.