Are you aware of how much is in your organisational budget for wellbeing?

In January 2021, we created a 5-minute questionnaire for HR professionals, the questions asked about wellbeing initiatives, technological capabilities and wellbeing budgets. In total, 20 respondents took part. 

What were the results of our survey?

A general overview of the results represented a majority of respondents felt happy with the wellbeing provisions in place in their organisation, when asked how they would describe these provisions, the majority of respondents marked them as ‘reasonable’. However, when asked if the wellbeing provisions could be improved, a landslide amount of respondents answered ‘yes’, the main reasons why respondents felt their organisations weren’t doing enough included lack of resources, too many competing priorities within the business and lack of research about what wellbeing technology is available to organisations. 

The final question in our questionnaire asked about the wellbeing budget per head annually for each individual within the organisation, some responded with ‘no knowledge of budget’, yet the majority of respondents ticked the box for ‘£0-£25 per head annually’. 

In 2020, Deloitte’s research said the overall cost of poor employee mental health is averaged at £1652 per person per year in the private sector and £1716 in the public sector.

Across both sectors presenteeism is the largest contributing cost (i.e. coming to work despite poor health and underperforming), followed by absenteeism and staff turnover.

So, why is it that the wellbeing budgets are so low in these organisations?

It is completely unreasonable to spend £1652 to £1716 on wellbeing provisions per person! This is not sustainable, however, nor is poor wellbeing! 

It is impossible to properly care for an employees wellbeing with £0-£25 per head per annum. Organisations must find room in their budgets to properly accommodate the mental health of their people in order for them to work productively. 

How much are companies spending on wellbeing?

According to the Westfield Health ‘Divided Together’ report published in July 2020, companies are still spending an average of £150 a year on wellbeing per employee, with only 14 percent spending £2,000 a head. In the future, 35 percent plan to increase their spending on wellbeing.

This report was based on the responses of 200 HR leaders and 1,500 employees about how they are reacting to Covid-19. The report also found that 94 percent of businesses that have increased the amount they spend on wellbeing, have done so due to Covid-19. Over a third (35 percent) have increased their wellbeing spending, and 72 percent had a wellbeing programme in place.

What were wellbeing levels like in 2020?

In 2020, BITC in partnership with Bupa UK Insurance, surveyed 3,614 employees in the UK in their annual ‘Mental Health at Work‘ report.

The key findings were:

  • 41% of employees have experienced mental health symptoms caused, or worsened by work in 2020.
  • 51% of poor mental health caused by work in 2020 was due to pressure.
  • 76% say colleagues are considerate of their mental wellbeing, and a further 69% believe the same of their managers.
  • Employees are increasingly telling no-one about their mental health issues, 27% in 2019 and 30% in 2020.
  • Men are more likely to keep work-related mental health problems to themselves, 35% of men said this in comparison to 26% of women.
  • 56% of employees now feel comfortable talking about mental health in the workplace.
  • 62% of employees now feel comfortable talking about stress in the workplace.
  • The number of employees who feel that their organisation support their mental health is on the rise, 63% in 2020, compared to 55% in 2019.

What about wellbeing levels in 2021?

In April 2021, the CIPD released their annual report on health and wellbeing in the workplace in 2020-21. Their key findings were:

  • Presenteeism and leaveism are widespread, with many employees feeling like they couldn’t switch off.
  • Employee wellbeing continues to rise up the corporate agenda.
  • HR professionals are concerned about the pandemic’s impact on mental wellbeing.
  • Only 1 in 10 organisations haven’t experienced any absence due to Covid-19.
  • Most organisations use a combination of methods to deter and manage sickness and absence and promote attendance.

Presenteeism and absence have always been an issue within organisations, even before the pandemic, however, the pandemic has added fuel to the metaphorical fire.

Poor wellbeing will not go away on its own, it needs to be carefully managed by the organisation to ensure that all individuals are working at peak performance and their happiness levels are sky high!

How to improve wellbeing on a budget.

A recent article published by People Management, featured an in-depth interview with the HR lead of Heras, Laura Ibbotson. In the article, Ibbotson details how she, alongside the rest of the HR team at Heras, implemented a comprehensive physical and mental health package for employees without the need for financial investment.

Ibbotson states that wellbeing has always been high up on the agenda at Heras, however, with the emergence of the pandemic, this was then projected forward to support the employees during a very difficult time.

What wellbeing initiatives did Heras launch?

  • Wellbeing emails sent to all employees.
  • Wellbeing hubs.
  • Coronavirus check-ins.
  • Qualified mental health first aiders.
  • Confidence to return service (supporting those who return to work after loss).
  • Employee assistance programme.
  • Health app.
  • Family-friendly competitions.
  • Quizzes.
  • Bingo.
  • Listening service.

It is noted in the article that Heras’ choice to improve the wellbeing support in their business was done so promptly, without the need for a large budget in order to see results. Ibbotson urges other businesses to do the same, to be more creative with your wellbeing strategy, as it doesn’t need to cost the earth.

The most integral component is the support of management and HR services in ensuring these wellbeing strategies are implemented and managed constantly, ensuring a happier and mentally stronger team of people.

Are we seeing a shift to wellbeing placed high up on the corporate agenda?

According to the Wellbeing at Work Survey Report 2020-21 by GlassDoor – we are!

The report found that 50 percent of the 400 organisations surveyed offer benefits such as health screenings and health awareness or meditation sessions to their employees.

However, the report highlighted the fact that these organisations only focused on limited aspects of wellbeing.

It can be argued that these organisations are only touching the surface of what poor wellbeing means, most of the time, we are unaware of how poor our wellbeing levels are. We need to look behind the metaphorical mask, behind the brave face that most of us put on to ensure others are comfortable around us, and to persuade ourselves that we have no issue.

Once organisations begin to proactively seek support for their people by using wellbeing technology proven to get under the surface of an individuals brave face, then we can start to see a major shift in wellbeing and productivity levels within organisations.

Wouldn’t that be wonderful!

However, we won’t start seeing these positive shifts until an organisation dedicates a larger budget to wellbeing than that of £0-£25 per person per annum.

What is your organisations budget? Could it benefit from being re-examined? 

Here at Wellbeing with Cari, we believe that everyone should be psychologically safe and feel the joy of peak performance at work. Our mission is to use neuroscience and AI technology to solve the problem of presenteeism by seeing behind a brave face. 

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