Key Takeaways

1. Wellbeing 2.0 is here. Wellbeing is now a shared responsibility between the employee and the employer. However, employees are overwhelmed by what is on offer, and employers are wasting time and money on multitude of resources.
2. Economic pressures are mounting. Given the current economic climate, today there is less money to spend but greater employee expectations. The current cost of employees leaving their jobs due to mental health is over $8.8tn, but employers are still needing to justify every penny spent.
3. Focus on ROI. To meet employee demands on expectations with supply in what is financially possible, accurate data to show ROI and provide insights to make informed business decisions has never been more important. Whilst today only 2% of organisations are able to showcase their wellbeing ROI, there will soon be a huge markup and technology will be increasingly critical in this.

The 2020s have been characterised by heightened uncertainty and economic turbulence for workers and employers alike. The disruptions from rising inflation, waves of layoffs and the shifting sands of remote and hybrid work versus the return to office life have made the wellbeing and mental health of employees a hot topic for business leaders everywhere.

Against these undercurrents, recognition of the value of a properly defined and executed wellbeing strategy has been matched by a rise in investment – and in a plethora of disparate solutions and initiatives designed to meet fast-accelerating market demand.

As we reach the mid-20s, the focus is now shifting toward what James Owen Lewis, Global Human Sustainability Leader at Deloitte, called ‘Wellbeing 2.0’, during a panel discussion on 21 November 2023.

“Until now, wellbeing has been focused on the employee taking responsibility for achieving a work/life balance. The shift to Wellbeing 2.0 recognises that work is a determining factor that shapes the employee’s wellbeing. It acknowledges that wellbeing is a shared responsibility.”

Measure, Learn, Adapt

The growth of a market for wellbeing solutions has been supported by a macro view of the economic value it represents. As Tonia O’Connor, Former CEO of Tone It Up, Chopra Global and a member of the Betterspace board of directors, pointed out early in the discussion, “59% of workers say they do not feel engaged with their jobs. That represents $8.8 trillion lost to the global market each year… it’s 9% of the global economy.”

In the UK alone, “recent McKinsey research showed that, just in the UK, the cost of failing to address wellbeing could be quantified at some £370 billion,” added Aon’s Simon Cresswell, principal wellbeing consultant.

But even as the panel agreed that wellbeing is not a luxury, but a must-have, the focus has shifted to understanding how effectively wellbeing budgets are being deployed…and how well communicated the benefits of the range of initiatives are communicated to employees.

This is apparently not straightforward. James Owen Lewis chipped in that “only less than 2% of companies possess consistent, clear data to inform decisions on the effectiveness of their wellbeing initiatives.”

The implications of this are crystal clear: in an economic environment where all budgetary spends could come under increased scrutiny, a lack of accurate, consistent actionable data is a problem that must be solved urgently.

This is where Betterspace comes in. By bringing together all your wellbeing initiatives and benefits into a single hub solves this data blindness problem.

Individual Solutions to Wellbeing

The second major takeout from the discussion centred around the shift in thinking from a “one size fits all” approach to a much more individualised take on wellbeing strategies.

Communication is imperative, emphasising the need to clearly articulate the value and purpose behind each initiative. Mark Whitehead, MD at Accenture and their executive sponsor for Mental Health, highlighted, “Lots of things tell people what to do – very few of them explain why these techniques work – but when this happens, it really resonates.”

This communication needs to be bidirectional, as well. By studying the take-up of, engagement with and impact derived from these initiatives, organisations can then overlay that data with a good understanding of the key personas within their workforce. This creates a more nuanced picture of what’s working – and for which team members. But just as important, it will highlight those stakeholders whose needs may otherwise be falling through the cracks of a blunter, aggregated view.

Finally, this is empowered by making effective discovery available. As Simon Cresswell, senior wellbeing consultant at Aon, observed: “Delivering a consumer-grade experience for discovery, enhanced by technology, is pivotal.

Tailoring initiatives to individual needs, coupled with seamless, tech-enabled experiences, is crucial in creating a meaningful impact.”

Again, then, the data-driven hub approach of Betterspace is a perfect fit – and the results show in the overall adoption and engagement with that hub amongst the platform’s clients – and their employees.

What’s your Wellbeing Debt?

Culture improvement doesn’t happen overnight.

If we are going to be able to unblock the trillions of dollars falling out of the global economy, to re-engage over half the workforce who feel disconnected from their work, to ensure Leaders Connect Series Addressing uncertainty that, as employers, we are not “making things worse for our employees,” then we need to do more than just provide a poorly communicated smorgasbord of wellbeing options.

We need a data-driven, consumer grade experience that can demonstrate the effectiveness of those initiatives, that makes them discoverable and accessible for the employees who need them, and that reduces the strain placed on HR teams running them. We need to start paying back the wellbeing debt – and to do so empowered by a leadership-led safe and open culture.

Betterspace in Action

Betterpace started working with a leading sports company in the UK 12 months ago. Since then they’ve integrated Betterspace as the single source of trust for all of their wellbeing programs. Not only that, they’ve experienced…

How can we help?

1. Personalised Wellbeing Marketplace for employees to choose from a large options of solutions suited for individual goals and needs.
2. Data Driven Insights to highlight the wellbeing investment ROI and enable leaders to make better informed business decisions to drive results.
3. The Centralised Hub for all wellbeing benefits that can be integrated to the HRIS/ERP solution (whilst maintaining confidentiality), improving discoverability, giving consistency and accuracy when comparing data, and to boost time and cost efficiency for both employees and employers.