Legal & General has taken aim at what it called the wellbeing strategy gap among UK SMEs by launching its Be Well Hub.
The hub contains the insurer’s education and awareness material, signposting to embedded value support services and tools to help employers create or update their wellbeing policies.
It also hosts free wellbeing resources for employees, practical ideas, on-demand webinars, a risk audit tool and signposting support.
The hub has been launched alongside L&G’s ‘Be well, Get better, Be supported’ campaign and framework that centres on outcomes first, product second, to help integrate benefit and wellbeing agendas.
L&G said it wants to help companies better integrate the prevention, early intervention and rehabilitation services included with group protection products into wellbeing programmes.
This would make benefits work harder and support wellbeing access, equality and engagement goals in the process.
The campaign is an evolution of its Not a Red Card (NARC) campaign which ran for five years and aimed to raise mental health awareness and remove stigma around mental illness.
No wellbeing strategy
The launch follows L&G’s SME Wellbeing at Work Barometer which found nearly a third (29%) of employers only had an informal wellbeing strategy and 15% did not have any strategy at all.
Jo Elphick, marketing director – group protection at Legal & General, told Health & Protection that while the new hub was aimed at all organisations, it could prove particularly useful for SMEs.
“We know from our research that many SMEs either don’t have a wellbeing programme in place or have a limited offering and that some don’t realise the benefits a good wellbeing programme can have such as staff morale, productivity, retention and such,” she said.
“So, while what we are providing through our Be Well Hub is for employers of all sizes, we feel it will be particularly beneficial for SMEs, with tools they can use to create or update their wellbeing programme, practical ideas for quick wins and implementation as well as free wellbeing resources they can signpost employees to.”
However, Elphick noted SMEs are often time poor, with senior staff juggling multiple roles and so intermediaries had a key role helping them understand which wellbeing initiatives were right for their employees.
“By taking the time to understand the particular needs of an individual business and ensuring the programme provides the right support for their workforce, advisers have an opportunity to add real value by supporting SMEs through their journey and pointing them to best practice,” she added.