The Evolution of Workplace Wellbeing (and How to Keep Up)

Posted on by Wellbeing
Reading time: 3 min

Workplace wellbeing has enjoyed quite the glow-up these past few years – evolving from simple EAPs (Employee Assistance Programmes, for the uninitiated) to incredibly intuitive personalised employee wellbeing solutions. 

But why the evolution?  And what does the future of workplace wellbeing have in store?

Before the pandemic hit, employee wellbeing was something of a tick-box exercise for many organisations; another ‘to do’ to strike off the list, rather than a valuable investment worthy of real time and attention. And then the whole world was plunged into a crisis, and we started to see the real cost of poor mental health – and poor mental health support.


Evolving Employee Wellbeing Support For the Future of Work


With record numbers of people experiencing mental ill health as a direct result of the pandemic, a shift towards conscious wellbeing in the workplace, and the creation of people-centric cultures, was inevitable.

Pre-pandemic, mental ill health was already having a huge impact on businesses – costing the global economy US$ 1 trillion each year, with 12 billion days lost to depression and anxiety alone.. Since the start of the pandemic, the number of people showing symptoms of depression has doubled. 

Savvy employers realised early on that the only way to support their teams was to acknowledge the erosion of their employees’ wellbeing, and to implement impactful wellbeing solutions and support. Solutions that actually spoke to their people’s pain points.


Personalised Wellbeing Solutions are Needed – and Expected 


While EAPs still have a place, that place should be within a whole ecosystem of wellbeing support measures – because, as we’ve said a thousand times before, one size will never fit all.

Encouraging your people to look after their wellbeing is a no-brainer; it makes for happier, more productive, more engaged employees. But not all employees know how to do that; nor do they always have the resources or finances to act on that encouragement.

The shift in focus that has come about over the past couple of years – from purely physical wellness, to physical, mental and emotional wellness – has placed a different set of expectations on employers. Your employees need support with their social connections; their sleep; their sense of purpose. They need support with home working, home workouts and healthy nutrition. Ultimately, they need a system that supports them as an individual, in all of their many nuances.


The Economic Impact on Wellbeing


As well as poor mental health affecting the economy, the economy is heavily affecting wellbeing.

With worries about job losses and job security after two years of lockdowns and shut downs, presenteeism is rife. Remote workers in particular are finding it hard to step back and switch off – even when they’re sick – because the boundaries have been blurred, and people are concerned about losing their livelihoods.

Employee wellbeing is evolving to accommodate this change with the introduction of ‘wellness hours’, ‘wellness days’, or ‘wellness breaks’. New to the concept of wellness time? In short, employers give their people a certain number of hours in the week, days in the month, or weeks in the year to focus on their wellbeing; this time can be used for anything from taking a yoga class or spending time with friends, to taking a nap or spending time in meditation. 

Always ones to practice what we preach, wellness hours are something that all of our colleagues at BetterSpace are encouraged to embrace. How our people choose to spend that time is entirely up to them, but they log it against one of our six pillars (sleep, exercise, nutrition, community, meaningful activity or stress management), and have our complete range of wellbeing resources at their disposal.


Need More Employee Wellbeing Resources at Your Fingertips?


The world of work has changed, and will continue to change, to meet the needs and expectations of today’s workforce.

Employees are far more attuned to their personal wellbeing than the worker of 20, 10, or even 5 years ago. The pandemic prompted many of us to look inwards and assess what work means to us, what wellness means to us, and what an undeniable impact an unhealthy or unsupportive working environment can have on our wellbeing.

Employers are under more pressure to meet the needs of their workforce, and it can be difficult to know where to start. So if you want to talk to some friendly folk who live and breathe employee wellbeing day in, day out, get in touch with the BetterSpace team.

We can even arrange a free demo to show you what we’re all about!


ABOUT BETTERSPACE

BetterSpace is the employee wellbeing platform putting control where it belongs: in the hands of the individual employee. Our groundbreaking solution has been developed with medical and domain expertise and is aligned to our Six Pillars of Wellbeing. BetterSpace empowers your workforce to understand and fulfill their mental health needs. 

This approach has achieved engagement rates of 94%, compared to the average usage rate of 2-18% for Employee Assistance Programmes and 10-40% for points solutions.

Want to know more? Schedule a product demonstration with us today.

Workplace wellbeing insights