Well-being

A strategy and a responsibility

As the line between work and life blurs, providing a robust suite of well-being programs focused on physical, mental, financial, and spiritual health is becoming a corporate responsibility and a strategy to drive employee productivity, engagement, and retention. While organizations are investing heavily in this area, our research reveals there is often a significant gap between what companies are offering and what employees value and expect.

MANY major organizations are rethinking their reward and development programs to include some version of holistic, end-toend well-being programs, which are now both a responsibility of good corporate citizenship and a key element of an enterprise talent strategy. This investment responds to the needs of workers, companies, and corporate leaders, and is being addressed by a growing number of well-being resources and tools.

We first wrote about the “overwhelmed employee” in 2014. While the issue of highly stressed workers is not new, the relentless pace of business today has made the problem worse.1 Driven by the always-on nature of digital business and 24/7 working styles, studies now show that more than 40 percent of all workers face high stress in their jobs, negatively affecting their productivity, health, and family stability.2 Hourly workers might complain of inflexible schedules, while white-collar workers often complain of an endless stream of emails and messages that make it impossible to disconnect from their jobs. In some countries, individuals are working more hours and taking fewer vacations than ever. And, according to Deloitte’s millennial survey, a majority of surveyed millennials in 19 out of 30 countries report that they do not expect to be “happier” than their parents. In response, the digital well-being market is exploding.

More than $2 billion in venture capital has been invested in this area over the last two years, creating a flood of online videos, apps, and tools to help assess, monitor, and improve all aspects of health.

Well-being emerges as a strategic priority

The corporate wellness marketplace began decades ago with a highly specific focus on employee physical health and safety. Today, however, the definition of wellness has expanded dramatically to include a range of programs aimed at not only protecting employee health, but actively boosting performance as well as social and emotional well-being.

These now include innovative programs and tools for financial wellness, mental health, healthy diet and exercise, mindfulness, sleep, and stress management, as well as changes to culture and leadership behaviors to support these efforts.

Propelled by these innovations, the corporate wellness market—including health care programs, screening, assessment, education, and apps—has reached nearly $8 billion in the United States alone, where it is expected to hit $11.3 billion by 2021.

And as the market has grown, so has leadership’s understanding of the critical role these programs play in defining an organization. For example, two thirds of organizations now state that well-being programs are a critical part of their employment brand and culture. Yet despite increased corporate attention and investment in well-being, our research indicates that companies must do a better job connecting wellbeing programs with employee expectations. As the chart below illustrates, substantial gaps remain in many areas between what employees value and what companies offer to their employees.

It is our view that expanding well-being programs to encompass what employees want and value is now essential for organizations to treat their people responsibly—as well as to boost their social capital and project an attractive employment.

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