"With a bit of assistance, they’ll be able to make their health & wellbeing support more effective and cost-efficient, with benefits to recruitment, retention, engagement, and productivity."
- Debra Clark, Head of Wellbeing at Towergate Health & Protection
Of those surveyed (500), 44% of employers offer the same employee benefits regardless of age, lifestyle or risk profile whilst 40% provide the same benefits regardless of gender. Yet over three-quarters (76%) of employers say they’ve had requests for targeted support.
54% of employers have received requests from different age groups for specific support whilst nearly half (49%) of employers have received requests for gender-specific benefits. Notably, 70% of employers stated that they would like to target their employee benefits to different demographics in the workplace, but they found it ‘too complicated’ to achieve.
Towergate Health & Protection highlighted that benefits are constantly evolving with new services added and existing support expanded. Less than five years ago, support for neurodiversity, fertility, eldercare, and menopause wasn’t available but now it’s considered mainstream.
“It may seem surprising that three-quarters of employers are asked for targeted health & wellbeing support, but four in ten employers don’t provide this. The reality is, however, that knowing how and where to direct benefits spend is a complex matter that requires expertise,” explained Debra Clark, Head of Wellbeing at Towergate Health & Protection.
She said: “Benefits are constantly being advanced to offer more specific support for more specific needs. This is a good thing for employees and employers alike, but both are likely to need some expert guidance to navigate the system.
“Employers shouldn’t be put off by the idea of targeting support more specifically to their employees. With a bit of assistance, they’ll be able to make their health & wellbeing support more effective and cost-efficient, with benefits to recruitment, retention, engagement, and productivity,” Debra concluded.
This research follows worrying statistics released by Barnett Waddingham claiming that 64% of businesses in the UK have seen a rise in absenteeism due to mental health-related issues – affecting employees across all age demographics.
Employers have observed mental health services popularity is highest amongst younger employees, with 69% believing these resources are well-utilised by those aged between 25 and 34. However, mental health-related issues are most prominently observed within the same demographic, with 51% experiencing a significant impact – compared to decreasing concerns from older employees.
Despite the prevalence of poor mental health in the workplace, less than half (44%) of employers actively collect data on incidences of anxiety, and the same percentage (44%) of depression. Slightly more (46%) collect data on stress-related disorders. Barnett Waddingham believes this lack of data collection hinders efforts to accurately assess the scope of the problem, identify employees at risk, and implement effective support measures.
READ MORE: Employers are a critical part of the ecosystem
Notably, Group Risk Development (GRiD) reported that the most popular methods of measuring staff appreciation for employee benefits were informal feedback and feedback/suggestion boxes – either physical or email – for employee benefits-related feedback (46%), followed by formal staff surveys (45%), employee benefits forum/working group/employee liaison group (40%), and online activities that measure clickthrough rates on certain topics e.g. on company intranet (39%).
“We know that communication and appreciation are inextricably linked, as employees tend to value benefits more highly when they have a good understanding of what is available. It’s good to see so much measurement in place but this must go hand-in-hand with communication,” explained Katharine Moxham, Spokesperson for GRiD.
