New research by British Safety Council reveals some significant differences in the way employees and their employers view workplace wellbeing and what is needed to support it.
The ‘Keep Thriving’ survey, commissioned by British Safety Council with YouGov among 4017 employees and employers, shows employers consider their approach to wellbeing to be more ‘embedded’ in their own organisation than employees, and consistently report offering more wellbeing measures than employees say they can access.
While employers clearly recognised the importance of workplace wellbeing, with six in ten (60%) saying it is either ‘important’ or ‘very important’ to their organisation, they are also more likely to describe their wellbeing strategy as being ‘embedded’ (27% compared with just 20% of employees), while employees are more likely to say there is no strategy at all (21% compared with 16% of employers).
In organisations that consider wellbeing very important, nearly two-thirds (65%) also had a formal definition in place, and where wellbeing is only seen as moderately important, just 19% had a definition.
A perception gap also existed between employees and employers’ when it came to some provision of wellbeing support. For example, while 49% of employers say they offer flexible or remote working just 40% of employees say it is available to them. And on burnout prevention, while 26% of employers report providing support, just 14% of employee say they have it.
The survey also asked employees to rate their overall wellbeing both in and out of work. Close to half (47%) described their wellbeing in work as ‘moderate’, with over a third rating it high or very high (36% combined), and just one in five reported their wellbeing at work to be low or very low (18% combined). Importantly, where strategies were said by employees to be more ‘embedded’ and mature, employees reported higher wellbeing. In these cases, 8% said it was very high and 61% high.
Commenting on the ‘Keep Thriving: Future of Workplace Wellbeing’ survey findings, Mike Robinson, Chief Executive of British Safety Council said:
“We know that when done well, supporting people’s wellbeing at work not only helps them thrive and cope with change it also leads to a happier, more motivated and more productive workforce. But as we have also found, some significant differences exist between how employees and employers perceive not only what support is on offer but also the maturity of that provision.
“This matters because, as our survey shows, when wellbeing strategies are more embedded and mature, levels of wellbeing are also higher. Which makes it all the more important that we help organisations to develop effective, measurable wellbeing strategies which are fit for purpose for their workplace.”
The gap between employee and employer perceptions was greater in some regions than others.
For instance, London saw the highest proportion of employees in the net ‘high’ category for levels of workplace wellbeing (42%) and the lowest net low share (14%), and it also had the highest proportion of employers reporting mature workplace wellbeing strategies, which was also in line with employees’ views. In the North East however, while employers still mainly reported having either ‘operational’ or ‘embedded’ wellbeing strategies and also placed a high importance on wellbeing, employees rated workplace wellbeing strategies lower and reported the highest share of net low wellbeing (27%) and one of the lowest net high scores (27%).
There was more agreement between employees and employers when asked what policy changes or interventions would make the biggest difference to improving workplace wellbeing.
Legally binding obligations such as minimum leave or workload limits came top for both employers (29%) and employees (40%) and a legal duty to assess risks to wellbeing also received significant support (23% of employers, compared with 28% of employees), while voluntary certification or accreditation scored lower (15% of employers versus 12% of employees).
Some differences emerged when size of organisation is taken into account. Large ones, with 250 or more employees, were the strongest supporters of legally binding obligations (36%), while small companies, employing ten to 49 staff, placed the strongest emphasis on tax incentives or financial subsidies for wellbeing programmes (35%), as did micro-business whose highest priority was also tax incentives or subsidies (29%).
Mike Robinson added: “While this research does not identify one single way forward, it does show that both employers and employees would welcome more clarity, direction and support from policymakers and regulators, possibly even legally binding obligations or better incentives and support.
“The big message coming through these survey findings is the need for clear communication between employers and their staff, to close the gap between perceptions in the levels and types of support and ensure that wellbeing strategies work for everyone. In meeting the real wellbeing needs of our employees, we will be better able to deal with challenges we face now and in the future through wider economic and technological change.”
To download the survey report, click here: Keep Thriving: Future of Workplace Wellbeing | British Safety Council
To view the full data tables from YouGov, click on the links below: