As employee wellbeing becomes more prominent in workplace agendas around the world employees should ideally continue to become much happier, but are they?

With one in eight employees showing poor levels of wellbeing across emotional, physical, financial, and social scales, and only one-third of employees reporting that they enjoy good emotional wellbeing- it’s important for employers to be aware that employees may not always voice their dissatisfaction at work and could be suffering in silence. 

Whether you’re a large organisation spread across different geographical locations or a small company gradually building up its workforce, businesses led by employers who bring employee wellbeing to the forefront are heading in the right direction.

One way that this is being executed is by proactively implementing frameworks and benefits to support employees. Even global organisations such as the World Health Organisation have implemented their own Healthy Workplace model that covers a range of topics including the impact of employee health on the organisation, however, businesses seem to fall behind.

Organisations need to adopt similar frameworks and models to their workplaces in order to ensure that your best people are thriving.

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What do wellbeing frameworks and benefits offer employees?

Businesses often fail to establish strong wellbeing initiatives because they lack a clear wellbeing framework that acts as the foundation.

Before you get carried away with Mindful Mondays and Fun Fridays, it’s important to set up a framework and ask yourself some serious questions about what you’re trying to achieve.

This doesn’t mean that you have to overlook enjoyable activities that your employees will love, however, it will give you a clear rationale on why it’s important to be carried out.

Employee benefits are no exception. Once you have the right framework to guide your decision-making process, you can incorporate wellbeing benefits into your framework that offers employees the additional support they need to thrive.

A well thought out workplace framework can help your business:

• Increase workplace satisfaction
• Prioritise wellbeing activities
• Align wellbeing with business strategy

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What should wellbeing frameworks and benefits look like?

It’s important to understand that when it comes to wellbeing frameworks and benefits, there’s no cookie-cutter approach, however, there are common principles that could help you come up with a plan that’s right for your employees.

For instance, when you’re implementing a particular wellbeing initiative it’s important to think about how you can measure the desired outcomes to make sure that you’re in line with national or other benchmarks.

It’s also important to understand that when it comes to wellbeing there are several aspects that employers need to consider, including:

• Mental, physical, and financial health
• Working environment
• Culture, leadership, and values
• Internal communication
• Rewards and employee benefits

It’s important to have a framework that addresses all aspects of wellbeing since employees could be going through difficult times stemming from different issues. It’s also a good way to make sure that they have the tools and resources to avoid any issues in the future.

When employers take clear and deliberate steps to establish frameworks and benefits, employees have the confidence that their wellbeing is a business priority instead of just being something that’s nice to have.

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Final thoughts on wellbeing frameworks and benefits

Healthy employees create healthy organisations. 

In the past employee wellbeing was limited to employees’ physical health and insurance. Today, wellbeing is constantly evolving and is making a bigger impact on employees’ lives than ever before.

The importance of having the right strategies in place to help your best employees remain and thrive within the business cannot be overstated.

As an employer, it’s important to take proactive steps to make sure that your employees have a supportive workplace that makes their wellbeing part of the agenda rather than an afterthought.

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