This was written last August, and I think things are probably worse in the UK, not least because so many local councils and the coalition goverment seem so heartless in their apparently callous - and certainly arrogant - disregard for the voices of the people who are already suffering from the draconian cuts to funding and services, which means fewer jobs, and more stress for those who still have jobs.
Go well
Profit over wellbeing?
Dr Doug Wright reviews some recent research to see if employers are getting better at looking after their employees’ wellbeing as the UK emerges from recession.
When Aviva conducted their third Health of the Workplace report a year ago [1], the outlook looked less than positive with both GPs and employers predicting that stress levels would soar in the year ahead. Worryingly, employee behaviours were already beginning to demonstrate that their predictions might be correct.
Stress levels 12 months ago
Nearly six out of ten workers said that the work environment was making them feel stressed and under pressure. Employees were working longer hours, taking fewer lunch breaks and spending less time on leisure activity. Moreover, instead of turning to their employers for help, they were smoking, indulging in a poor diet and drinking alcohol to help them deal with the stress. The situation was already having an adverse effect on employees’ health and wellbeing, with nearly half of workers struggling to sleep due to work related-stress, and a third suffering from neck and backache.
‘Softer values’ still less important than profit
Twelve months on, although we are officially out of the recession, the economic climate remains a challenge and businesses continue to focus on their bottom line like never before. This year’s Health of the Workplace report [2] revisited the work environment to find out whether business leaders were still preoccupied with profit and productivity or if they had started to acknowledge the importance of employee health and wellbeing too.
It looks as though things could be moving in the right direction, with more than a quarter (27%) of employers saying that their main priority is to create a motivated team who enjoy working together and 25% saying that their number one priority is achieving a friendly company with a good work/life balance.
However, the emphasis on profit over ‘softer values’ is still key with 31% of business owners saying they are looking for maximum productivity for head count creating difficult working conditions for their workforce.
Nearly half of the 1,000 employees (47%) say they feel much tenser at work than in their home life, with only 10% say they are more stressed at home. The situation is not helped by the fact that although 50% of managers consider themselves to be good role models, 45% admit to being stressed at work themselves. The knock-on effects on employees’ health and wellbeing are clear as one in five (19%) says they think their bosses create a stressful environment.
Some positive signs but…
There are positive signs however, with nearly a third (30%) of employees agreeing that their boss ensures that they have a good work/life balance. Overall workplace morale appears to be improving and as part of this, almost half (46%) of employers say they hold regular social events for their staff.
There is evidence however, that some employers’ well-intentioned morale-boosters may not be having the desired effect. Over half (52%) of employees are less than enthusiastic about going out with their wider team, bringing into question the value employers get by funding these events. Perhaps surprisingly, one in five employees openly admits that they don’t like socialising with their colleagues and a further 15% feel obliged to show their face, but don’t really enjoy it.
Who you work for and how big they are
Employee wellbeing does appear to be dependent on who you work for with company size continuing to play a key role in business priorities. The smaller the company, the more important work/life balance is thought to be, with half of companies with less than nine employees, citing this as their number one priority for the business. This falls to just 12% for companies with over 100 employees.
In the short term, this strategy of ‘profit over people’ can sustain a business through a difficult trading period, but it is likely to undermine business performance in the longer term by damaging staff morale and allowing conditions like stress to flourish.
Businesses need to find the right balance and, while it’s good to see employers opting for social events, they would be wise to consider if they might be better off investing in wellness initiatives that support the mental and physical wellbeing of their team as well as building team spirit. [3]
Workplace wellness
Interest in workplace wellness is growing and it comes as no surprise that Buck Consultants’ third annual global wellness survey, Working Well: A Global Survey of Health Promotion and Workplace Wellness Strategies [4], predicts that the fastest-growing components of wellness initiatives around the world, mainly technology driven tool such as web portals, are expected to increase 100% or more over the next three years.
Our research underlines the need to foster employee health and wellness and introduces a programme that not only gives employees the ability to take charge of their health requirements, but also rewards them for doing so.
Recent product development means that in addition to the range of wellness focused benefits now available as standard on many health insurance policies, there’s a whole range of occupational health services available to complement private medical insurance schemes These include health screenings, employee assistance programmes and workplace wellness initiatives.
With evidence that employers are increasingly recognising the value of keeping their employees healthy and happy in the workplace, we believe that 2010 could see a welcome return to the supportive workplace environment that has been eroded by the difficult trading conditions of recent years.
Dr Doug Wright
Dr Doug Wright initially trained in medicine and followed a career path that included hospital and community-based roles. He completed his training as a GP and worked as a principal in a partnership for four years before joining Aviva in 1998. His most recent focus has been on developing better ways to assess an organisation's health care needs through health risk assessments and claims analysis. Then ensuring that clinical services are integrated with other processes and funding vehicles so that employees and employers achieve optimal outcomes.
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