Nearly half of workers say that wellbeing benefits make the employer more attractive
More than 80% of employers believe that wellbeing has grown in importance over the past 12 months.
Despite the fact that more than 80% of employees spend some portion of their week working remotely, many are still experiencing burnout, according to a new study conducted by Alight.
The study revealed that employee wellbeing benefits and programs are becoming increasingly important for U.S. workers. In fact, more than 80% of employers believe that wellbeing has grown in importance over the past 12 months alone.
According to Alight, wellbeing is an even more significant factor when searching for new roles. According to the study, nearly half of workers say that wellbeing benefits and programs make the employer more attractive to potential workers.
Despite the increased importance of wellness programs, only 21% of employers consider themselves to be leaders in the space and roughly half said they plan to make additional investments in wellness programs over the next 12 months.
Alight found that the primary reason employers are looking to invest in employee wellness programs is to improve company culture. Eighty-four percent of workers who received personalized health and wellness communications said they were valuable. Yet, only 31% of employers currently use employee data to create personalized communications.
Additionally, the study found that 86% of employees value having an all-inclusive health and wellbeing platform. Well-designed health portals benefit employers too. According to the Josh Bersin Company, companies that provide a good wellbeing platform are 2.2X more likely to exceed financial targets and 5.4X more likely to have low annual health care claim costs.
Related: How investing in a health and wellness program benefits your employees and your business
As companies continue to emphasize mental, physical, social and financial wellbeing, Alight recommends making the employee experience as personalized as possible.
Alight encourages employers to use personalized messaging, recruit wellbeing ambassadors, invest across all levels of the organization and provide employees with incentives that are valuable to them, through a wellbeing marketplace.