Almost half of employees in Britain have not been asked by their employer for their views on their health and wealth, research suggests.
A social media poll by Health Shield, the cash plan and wellbeing provider, found that 48% of workers have not been asked by their company about those issues or their happiness.
The poll also found that 16.5% of those employers that do ask about employee wellbeing only do it via a once-a-year survey, while more than half (55%) said they are not fully aware of the employee benefit and wellbeing services to which they are entitled via their employer.
Of those that were aware of the support available (30%), over half (55%) said they would miss these benefits and services if they were gone.
Jennie Doyle (pictured), head of marketing at Health Shield, said the results of the poll suggest that many employers are still taking a “traditional one-size-fits-all, top down and disjointed” approach to benefit and wellbeing programme communication, if they are communicating at all.
She said: “Considering wellbeing provides the foundation for employee engagement, this hit and miss approach is a concern, especially during the current economic downturn.
“It’s vital that employers gather the employee insights they need – through actually talking to employees via various means, from line manager meetings through to regular physical, mental and financial wellbeing assessments available via various platforms. Through such insights, employers can better tailor integrated care pathways. They can also communicate in such a way that helps individuals understand relevance. It’s this that will ensure usage and value; in turn bringing advantages to people and to business.”
Health Shield has published a paper How to engage your disparate workforce: 3 ways HR Managers can improve benefit and wellbeing communication which includes tips on making better use of existing resources, together with a worked example. The White Paper is available here.
