Employee wellness: holistic trends for healthier, happier employees

Ensuring that it is easily accessible to everyone no matter where they work - onsite, remote or a hybrid of both, is just as important.

Whether you're on the lookout for a sound wellness programme or you're re-evaluating the one you currently have, keeping up with the latest trends that are transforming this arena, will help you make more informed decisions. Here are a few trends that have been gaining some traction of late:

Holistic wellbeing

Health and wellness, in the traditional sense, have since evolved. Undergoing even more of a transition since the COVID-19 pandemic, they now encompass every aspect of health such as physical, mental, emotional, social and financial. Many workplaces have responded to this shift in perspective by exploring more ways to facilitate the holistic wellbeing of their employees. Giving them access to counselling, nutrition programmes, financial wellness programmes and virtual fitness classes are only a few ways to achieve these goals.

Adapted workplace design

With the impact of the pandemic, the workplace has changed significantly. Adapted workplace design, an emerging workplace wellness trend, has encouraged organisations to rethink their workplace design to improve the health and safety of their employees. This is something quite necessary according to a study that shows 68% of employees globally, do not feel completely safe working on-site. For many, their homes have become a part of the workplace, which further highlights the need for employers to look at how to improve their employees' remote workplace. Examples of adapted workplace design include:

• A workplace that is mindful of social distancing at all times.
• Physical comfort and safety at the workplace.
• Shifting to an activity-based (ABW) environment, which gives people the possibility to complete their work tasks in a setting fully optimised to engage in that specific activity, such as distinctive silent, collaboration and learning zones.
• An allocated budget for people to fit out a home office that is conducive to productivity.

Mental health benefits

Wellable's 2021 Employee Wellness Industry Trends Report demonstrates a key interest in employees' mental health. Nine out of ten employers plan to invest more in this area so that they are better equipped to address this part of the wellbeing of their employees. Looking back, the pandemic has had a significant impact on people's working conditions, creating additional stress and anxiety around their work day. The report shows that employees having to work from home (knowledge workers), in particular, encountered feelings of loneliness and sometimes even depression. Working from home has also blurred the necessary boundaries between people's personal and professional lives, resulting in unconsciously engaging in longer working hours, never completely disengaging from "the office", and hence increasing the risk of burnout.

Employees who had to be present at their workplace throughout the pandemic, such as frontline healthcare workers and those directly attending to clientele, were confronted with disease and their own mortality on a daily basis. In both of these instances, as well as the likeliness of people developing post-traumatic stress disorder following traumatic events, the loss of loved ones, and a rise in stress levels has placed an immense amount of strain on people's mental health. There are various ways in which organisations have countered this, for example:

• Access to a 24/7 confidential helpline and subsidised sessions with a qualified psychologist or counsellor.
• A holistic mental wellbeing solution that combines employee assistance programmes and wellbeing apps with all-round wellness and self-care. An example of this is Healthy Company , Discovery's digitally-enabled, comprehensive employee assistance programme and wellness solution that identifies and proactively supports at-risk employees, as well as those who are well, throughout their work life journey.
• Mental health coaching, which helps fight the stigma around mental health.

Incentivising wellness

Incentives are an essential part of a well-rounded wellness programme, with investment in incentives trending among employers in 2022. The Vitality Health Tracker For Healthy Company serves as a good example of this. It provides a platform to incentivise physical activity and employee engagement, and offers access to tools and benefits to track activities. Employees are given weekly exercise goals tailored to their fitness level and health check goals aligned with their unique health profile. They are rewarded for getting active and engaging in healthier behaviour that promotes their overall wellbeing.

Employee financial wellness

Financial wellness is the financial health of a person which involves having good expense management with as little money-related stress as possible. In a Close Brothers Asset Management survey, 77% of employees shared that money worries impact their work lives. Maintaining sound financial wellness, has a positive effect on a person's professional and personal life. Correct management increases productivity, reduces absenteeism at work and leads to a healthier and happier lifestyle.

Employee financial wellness programmes aim to educate employees through financial counselling, digital solutions and financial wellness tools. To further demonstrate this, is the Discovery Wellness Experience - an interactive wellness screening for employees that assesses financial wellbeing, focuses on improving financial education and literacy, offers life event linked advice, articles, videos and budgeting tools. Employees can also receive debt counselling or assistance with debt management services through Discovery's support line and Healthy Company Coaches. These coaches are registered professionals and include clinical psychologists, medical professionals and social workers with extensive experience.

Many employee wellness trends have been shaped by the global events of the past few Covid-laced years, with technology filling in many of the gaps left by traditional models. Implementing these trends is by no means a replacement for medical professionals, but offering supplemental or preventive care will certainly have a positive effect on your employees' overall wellbeing, as well as your organisation's ability to acquire and retain high-quality talent.