Leading industry research into Workplace Wellness in the Australian university sector released today

Wellness Designs today released the Workplace Wellness in Australian Universities 2018 report.

An ageing workforce and increasing war for talent are just two key challenges facing the sector that are highlighted in the report.

The report emphasises the business imperative for universities to invest in a more strategic and whole of campus approach to Workplace Wellness.

Wellness Designs recently undertook this extensive research to review workplace wellness in the University setting focusing on how this is being addressed in the leading Group of Eight (Go8) universities.

All universities in the Go8 offered some wellness initiatives. However there was real variability in the maturity, breadth and subsequent impact of these strategies. Key highlights include:

* 5 out of 8 universities have a formal Workplace Wellness strategy

* Top reasons for investing were to improve staff morale/engagement and organisational performance

* Mental health and wellness identified as top health issue

The universities with the most robust, successful strategies had clear management commitment and investment, capability and capacity of key team members, strong governance structures and processes, and the embedding of health and wellness into usual business practices.

Katrina Walton, Director of Wellness Designs, said ‘One of the surprises from the report, is that just over half of the universities had a dedicated role responsible for managing employee wellness. A crucial component for a successful, sustainable strategy is to have skilled and capable inhouse personnel that can action your strategy and be accountable.'

To download a copy of the report, click here.