Are you interested in fostering employee wellness? Employee wellness will result in better productivity, a happier workforce, but most importantly, help your organization retain the best employees. Here are what some of the top employers in the UK are doing to foster employee wellness.
Ways To Improve Workplace Health and Wellness
In the United Kingdom, health issues play a huge role in workplace productivity, both in terms of absenteeism and presenteeism. In 2019, health-related issues cost UK businesses £92 billion. The average UK business, in 2019, lost 38 working days per employee due to physical and mental health issues. Another year-over-year trend is that lost productivity continues to increase. In 2014, UK businesses only lost 23 days per employee.
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson is a company that has taken great strides in focusing on the health and wellness of their employees. In fact, they were one of the winners for Vitality’s Healthiest Workplace awards in 2019. Some of the major initiatives Johnson & Johnson undertook included:
- Removing the limit on outpatient care so that employees could get the full range of treatments that they needed.
- Building more collaborative workspaces to increase employee’s fitness (walking to meetings, etc).
- Offering programs that let employees focus their energy and become more productive.
In fact, Johnson & Johnson, as a health company, prioritizes employee wellness to have one of the most productive workforces in the world.
NextJump
NextJump is another company that has invested substantially in developing health and wellness programs for its employees. With over 200 employees, this company has offices in London and other cities throughout the world. Its employee wellness efforts include:
- Fully equipped onsite fitness centers with classes and personal trainers.
- Various programs to address stress management.
- Educating employees on a healthy diet and offering free breakfasts and lunches.
Google does a pretty good job of keeping its employees happy and healthy. For example, healthy snacks and meals are part of the workplace environment, which lets employees interact with one another. On Glassdoor, employees report other benefits including fully comprehensive healthcare for the entire family.
Facebook is another company that does particularly well in terms of promoting employee wellness. As a global company, they have taken some of the following measures to increase employee wellness:
- Comprehensive medical coverage for employees and their families.
- Wellness reimbursement to support employees’ healthy activities.
- Second opinion medical insurance to make sure that employees get the best healthcare possible.
The Benefits of Cultivating Employee Wellness
According to Forbes, there are many benefits to cultivating a culture that is focused on workplace wellness. Companies with happy and healthy employees are 21% more profitable, have 20% more sales, and also tend to perform better on customer satisfaction scores. Some of the companies above, including Johnson & Johnson, are also supporting women and their health initiatives, too.