Only one in five companies in the United Kingdom are confident that they have the correct wellbeing policy in place, according to Edenred’s 2015 Wellbeing Barometer.
Edenred sales and marketing director Andy Philpott said there is a large gap between the support that HR practitioners believe will make a difference to wellbeing and what their workplaces actually offer.
This approach to wellbeing is despite the fact that most HR professionals believe there is a link between employee wellbeing and organisational performance, with 97% agreeing. Almost 64% said that HR policy is critical in improving employee wellbeing.
Philpott added, “Without a strategic approach to wellbeing, backed by investment in the right areas, the majority of organisations will fail to make any real difference to employee health through their current approaches.”
Separate research from AXA found that while 68% of small business owners worry that productivity will be impacted if employees are absent for more than 4 weeks, 30% said they had no plans in place for managing employee sickness.
AXA also discovered that only 14% of SMEs offered employees private medical insurance and 18% had an occupational health scheme.
AXA PPP Healthcare SME director Glen Parkinson said: “Busy SME owners need to think about developing a system for managing employee absence to help mitigate unexpected costs, such as recruiting temporary cover and potential business losses due to the loss of a skilled worker.”
