Employers know health matters – but are they doing anything about it?

Almost all employers (95%) see a relationship between employees’ health and their work performance, according to the 2018 EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and African countries) Health Survey from Aon. However only 40% of firms say that they have a strategy for health, and just over half (52%) connect their insurable employee benefits with their health strategy.

There’s also still work to be done to better understand the impact that health benefits have at work. Only 36% of EMEA companies believe that they have a clear view of the impact that health has on their firm, suggesting that the remaining 64% don’t understand whether health benefits are delivering value. In the UK, only 20% of companies say that they can evaluate the effect of their benefits.

Among UK employers who do offer health benefits, most are likely to offer physical (77%) and social (70%) programmes. Financial wellbeing benefits are less common, with only 39% offering these at present. However, financial health is UK employers’ biggest area of future focus. Aon found that 40% of employers plan to introduce programmes in the future.

Even the broadest-reaching health programme is only effective with good communications. This is a challenge for UK businesses, with only 4% rating their current practices as excellent, and a quarter saying that they are insufficient or non-existent.

What does it mean for business?

While it’s good to see that so many employers see the benefit of health and wellbeing, Aon’s findings show that this sentiment isn’t always being put into practice. Poor financial wellbeing in particular is increasingly being linked to lower levels of productivity, with staff concerned about how they will make ends meet or losing sleep over money worries. Stress and mental health issues are also on the rise, with 64% of UK businesses saying that this is an organisational health issue for them according to Aon’s findings.

Make sure you are offering the right health benefits to your workforce by talking to your Brunsdon Financial Adviser or by calling 01452 623645.

Source: http://www.aon.com/2018-EMEA-Health-Survey/index.html