Take action to avoid an employee wellbeing crisis

14 May 2021 11:35 AM

In this article, we share recent research on employee wellbeing as well as activities available during Employee Wellbeing Week (17-21 May) from Edenred, our Employee Benefits framework supplier.

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the wellbeing of employees on a scale never seen before. From health concerns to money worries, fatigue due to being ‘always on’, juggling working life and caring commitments, and reduced social interaction.

Employee wellbeing has been high on the agenda for HR professionals throughout the pandemic. However assessing the full extent of the problem has been difficult.

A recent Edenred research report based on a survey of 2,000 UK employees has shed some light on the magnitude of challenges businesses now face:

• 29% of employees said the benefits their employers provide to meet wellbeing needs are inadequate
• employers saw decreases in pre-pandemic levels of physical wellbeing (34%) and happiness at work (33%)
• 21% of employees think employer support for financial wellbeing has fallen short, but 51% of businesses said this was an area they were least likely to measure the impact of
• 25% of employees flagged mental health as their biggest concern in 2021

With restrictions slowly lifting, and the successful rollout of the vaccination programme helping to return the UK to some form of normality, there is light at the end of the tunnel. But unless employers have a clear plan to support their employees’ wellbeing, they may find that their colleagues struggle to return to pre-COVID-19 levels of productivity.

Employee Wellbeing Week (17-21 May)

To help support staff even as lockdown eases, Edenred is running a week-long celebration of all things employee wellbeing to public sector organisations currently using its mylifestyle online platform. Available for free using the Employee Benefits framework, activities will highlight how staff can improve their physical, mental and financial wellbeing simply by engaging with the platform.

What’s happening?

• yoga sessions with Blessed Yoga
• high-intensity interval training (HIIT) classes with Revoola
• food intolerances webinar with YorkTest
• healthy eating talk with Benenden Health
• 5 prize draw competitions Including Muscle Food and LRG Fitness
• a wellbeing special of Boost Magazine
• themed wellbeing email campaigns highlighting the best wellbeing retailers on the platform
• wellbeing themed communications toolkit to raise awareness amongst employees

Find out more

If you are a current customer and want to find out more about Employee Wellbeing Week and how to promote it to your staff, please speak to your Edenred account manager.

If you would like more information on the mylifestyle platform, you can visit the framework page.

Don’t forget, you can find a full list of all the commercial agreements we offer, alongside details of how we can help you build policy considerations into your procurement, in our interactive digital brochure.