Workplace Wellbeing Hub

Wellbeing is a broad topic, so it’s easy to see why some companies are overwhelmed at the thought of introducing or reviewing a workplace wellbeing strategy.

As a starting point, employers should look at the make-up of their workforce and match their wellbeing plan according to the needs of their employees. With wellbeing encompassing anything and everything from the right culture, good leadership, staff having a good relationship with their line manager and feeling empowered, to a comprehensive benefits package, it takes a lot of thought to get it right.

Our 2020 wellbeing calendar is an interactive tool that can help you plan your physical, emotional, sickness absence and financial wellbeing activities for the year ahead, including:

• Awareness dates
• Webinars
• Podcasts
• Useful resources

Part of any wellbeing strategy is making your staff feel cared for and that goes hand-in-hand with spotting the signs of employees who aren’t well, supporting them through illness and, where relevant, helping them to return to work.

If you don’t do it very often, dealing with ill or absent employees isn’t easy - what to say, when to say it, if and when to intervene, how much to communicate, interpreting Fit Notes, staying on the right side of the law - there’s so much to think about.

Unum's rehab experts deal with ill and absent employees (and their employers) all the time, so we’re well versed in how to spot the signs of various medical conditions and how best to act in certain situations. The resources that we have created in this section should help you to be a bit more confident dealing with ill or absent staff.

Our online workshops are designed to help HR and line managers spot the signs of an employee who is struggling with a physical or mental illness or bereavement, and understand how best to support them.

Line managers are on the front line when it comes to a company's employees. They're the ones who know their team, their team's workload and usually their individual situations. It's important for a business to empower their line managers so they're confident in spotting the signs of a struggling employee. While not every manager is going to be comfortable discussing certain issues, knowing what resources are available and how best to support their employee could make the world of difference and may even prevent a situation from getting worse.

Providing staff with employee benefits as part of a wider wellbeing strategy doesn’t have to mean forking out for expensive Private Medical Insurance (although we’re sure most employees would appreciate that!).

In this section, we look at the softer perks as well as traditional health and wellbeing employee benefits that can help show your staff that you care.

What steps can your business take to implementing a workplace wellbeing strategy on a budget? 

In this article we suggest nine ways to get started, including:

• digging into your data (know your numbers and your people)
• finding out what your employees value
• organising a wellbeing committee
• aligning wellbeing initiatives with the business strategy

It’s no secret that the workplace is changing. Where only a handful of companies used to offer flexible working, a large number are now realising this, along with flexible hours, is one of many ways to attract and, perhaps more importantly, retain key staff trying to juggle eldercare and childcare.

But what will the future of workplace wellbeing look like over the next 5 years with the well-publicised ageing workforce? We commissioned this report on the future workforce to find out...