What’s employee wellbeing? 

Simply put, it’s how a job impacts an employee’s health and happiness. With the average employee spending 36.4 hours a week  at work, it’s no small stretch to realise the impact work has on our welfare. 

Covid blurred the boundaries between work and home lives – and employee wellbeing was thrown into sharp relief as a result. In a post-2020 world, it’s no longer a nice to have, it’s a necessity for businesses looking to get ahead of their competition. 

In this blog post we’ll find out why, before diving into the four pillars of employee wellbeing. We’ll then explore employee wellbeing in the workplace initiatives you can put in place today. Implement positive workplace initiatives, and you’ll say hello to happier, healthier employees – and benefits like improved productivity, increased retention and engagement, to name a few. 

Sounds good? Let’s get into it:

What are employee wellbeing initiatives?

Employee wellbeing initiatives can be a perk, a routine, behaviour or tool introduced by a company to improve the health and happiness of its employees. Let’s take a look at some employee wellbeing initiatives examples: 

Positive workplace initiatives impact every part of the employee lifecycle. In today’s day and age, job hunters will prioritise employers they feel care about their wellbeing. They’re also more likely to stay if it’s demonstrated long term. 

Not to mention it’s the right thing to do – employers have a responsibility to protect the wellbeing of the people that work for them. 

What are the 4 pillars of employee wellbeing?

The 4 pillars of employee wellbeing is a framework for HR teams to base their employee wellbeing strategy on. The framework looks at employee wellbeing holistically, considering: 

By taking these 4 pillars into account, the employer is able to support every aspect of the employee’s life – and make a real impact.

It’s worth noting that one impacted employee wellbeing pillar might have a knock-on effect. Think about how worries about money can impact mental health, or how someone struggling with their mental health may not be able to work on their physical health, for example. Conversely, one pillar can have a positive impact on another – take the impact mental health has on relationships, for example.

Physical wellbeing

Taking care of physical wellbeing looks like taking care of the health and function of the body. Long hours sitting at a desk and high levels of stress can negatively impact an employee’s wellbeing. For example, almost one million people in the UK are too sick to work because of back or neck issues. Stress impacts the immune system, and a person’s weight. 

A physically healthy employee will have more energy, be sick less frequently, and have a higher quality of life. Being physically active can have a positive impact on mental wellbeing, too. 

For an employer, that means more productivity, higher morale and improved engagement and retention metrics.

Mental wellbeing

Today, almost one billion people worldwide have mental health conditions. Work can have a serious impact on mental health – over 88% of the workforce report experiencing burnout, and 60% report high levels of burnout. 

Surprisingly, it can have a positive effect too. The WHO reports that decent work is good for mental health; providing livelihood, a sense of confidence, and an opportunity for positive relationships and routines. 

An employee with positive mental wellbeing will be resilient, self-aware, and good at dealing with stress. They’re also more likely to have strong relationships and social wellbeing in the office, too. 
From 2020 onwards, introducing employee wellbeing initiatives for mental health has become a true business imperative. As well as driving key people metrics, it also contributes to a strong Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) strategy.

Social wellbeing

Social wellbeing at work reflects the quality of relationships and interactions your employees have with each other. It’s important to a lot of people; in fact, 77% of UK workers say it’s essential to their job satisfaction. 

Good social wellbeing at work will result in a positive culture, and employees who feel valued, respected and connected to their peers. Social wellbeing and mental wellbeing are closely linked. 

When your employees have positive relationships with each other, they’ll collaborate effectively and produce better work. A positive culture is also key to a good employer brand and a strong employee lifecycle.

Financial wellbeing

A good measure of financial wellbeing is a person’s ability to withstand financial shocks and save for the future. Employers have a huge potential to impact this area of their teams’ lives. After all, they’re responsible for salaries and pensions plus options and other similar benefits.

Employees with good financial wellbeing will understand their compensation packages and will know how to make their salaries go further. Today, with the cost-of-living crisis and rising inflation rates still front of mind, financial wellbeing has a huge impact on attraction and retention. For example, 73% of employees say they’d be attracted to another employer that cares more about their financial wellbeing. 

Now we’ve covered the 4 pillars of employee wellbeing, let’s take a look at specific initiatives to improve them.

What are 5 initiatives to improve employee health and wellbeing?

1) Speak to your teams and do an audit

Let’s start with planning. First of all, you’ll want to find out what your team wants, what they need, and what initiatives will be best for your business. 

Speak to your people first – after all, “you don’t know what your employees are feeling unless you ask them”. Once you’ve got your qualitative data, it’s time to audit your current initiatives. 

Look at your offering as a whole and make sure you’re ticking off all the pillars – are there any that could be stronger? Next, look at the uptake data from each team. Are you paying for anything that isn’t used? Perhaps there’s a particularly high takeup for a pillar you’re not offering much else for? 

You should now have identified some gaps for new initiatives, and some areas you could improve or replace completely. Next up, let’s take a look at some employee wellbeing initiatives examples:

2) Physical wellbeing

Here’s how to improve the physical wellbeing of your team: 

Mental wellbeing

Mental health is different for everyone, and as a result you’ll want a wide-ranging approach to supporting mental wellbeing. Take these employee wellbeing initiatives for mental health: 

Social wellbeing

Cultivating social employee wellbeing in the workplace focuses on creating an environment where healthy relationships can flourish. Social wellbeing ideas for the workplace include: 

Financial wellbeing

Helping your team to take control of their finances is one of the most significant things you can do to improve their wellbeing:

For more financial wellbeing ideas, take a peek at this employee wellbeing initiatives pdf.

How do you promote staff wellbeing?

Employee wellbeing in the workplace should be deep-set in your culture: from the hiring process, to everyday life at work, development opportunities, relationships between your team members and beyond. 

Here are some employee wellbeing initiatives examples to get you started:

In today’s day and age, employee wellbeing isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a business necessity. Employers that get it right will reap the rewards: an improved culture and employer brand, higher business output, and the knowledge that they’re doing the right thing for their people. Now that sounds like job satisfaction to us.

Need help with your financial wellbeing strategy? You’ve come to the right place. Find out about Octopus Money Financial Coaching here.

COMPANY AND TEAM

LEGAL

FOLLOW US

LinkedIn

Instagram

Twitter

Octopus Money Limited is an appointed representative of Octopus Investments Limited which is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered office: 33 Holborn, London EC1N 2HT. Registered in England & Wales under No. 14069098.

Octopus Money is a trading name of Octopus Money Financial Solutions Limited. Registered in England and Wales (No. 10339119). Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our Financial Services Register number is 763630.

As with all investing, your capital is at risk. If you choose to invest with Octopus Money, the value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invest.


Some of our services are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Before you use any of our services, we will outline which of those services are and are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to ensure you can make a fully informed decision.