Half of employees think that health and wellbeing is nothing more than a tick-box exercise while employees are doubtful about how genuine the interventions are.
This is according to a poll of 1,000 employees from Vitality which found 52% of employees believe their workplace health and wellbeing initiatives are little more than a ‘tick-box exercise’.
This is despite nearly two thirds of employees reporting their employers provide access to formal health wellbeing benefits and services (63%), health and wellbeing support tools such as apps, online resources and employee assistance programmes (65%), and training for things like stress management (64%).
However, just 60% of employees believe their employer genuinely prioritises employee health and wellbeing, and over half (57%) thought the health and wellbeing support available to them actually matched their needs.
A similar number (55%) of employees also said they would like more personalised support and 61% said they would engage more if interventions were tailored to what they need.
Three quarters of employees (76%) said better health and wellbeing support would make them more productive at work.
Gary Impett, director of corporate, VitalityHealth, said: “When more than half of workers describe health and wellbeing support as a tick-box exercise, it raises an important question: are organisations measuring the impact of what they offer, or whether it’s actually making a difference?
“The message from employees is clear. They don’t want more wellbeing initiatives for the sake of it. They want support that feels relevant to their lives and will actually improve their health.
“This matters because employee health isn’t just a health and wellbeing issue, it’s a business performance issue.
“The right interventions, the ones which are specific and personal to the needs of your employees, have the potential to improve productivity, engagement and resilience, but only if employees genuinely value and use what’s being provided.