19 March 2024
Wellbeing support key to standing out from the 68% of large employers looking to recruit
Research1 from Towergate Health & Protection has found that 59% of employers increased the number of people they employed last year and 56% intend to increase their workforce this year. The numbers are even greater for medium and large companies, with 71% of both saying they increased employee numbers last year, as well as 61% and 68% of medium and large companies, respectively, saying they are looking to increase the headcount this year.
With this level of competition in the employment market, openly and robustly promoting the health and wellbeing support available through the company will be key to attracting new talent to the business, and to retaining valued existing employees, according to Towergate Health & Protection.
Debra Clark, Head of Wellbeing at Towergate Health & Protection, says: “Most job specs concentrate on salary and may include benefits, but health and wellbeing support is so much more extensive. ‘Benefits’ is often taken to mean a pension and possibly some level of healthcare for higher management, but full wellbeing support is now so vital in the employment market. The term ‘benefits’ alone can undersell what a company is really offering and we’d encourage employers to expand on this if they want their remuneration packages to work hard for them.”
A complete support programme will cover all four pillars of health and wellbeing: physical, mental, social, and financial. It is no longer enough to support just one or two of these key areas.
Debra Clark comments: “A full programme will provide full support for employees, to help make them healthier, happier, more productive and more loyal.”
Post-pandemic expectations
Post pandemic, expectations are so much greater in terms of health and wellbeing support. Potential employees are now often much more selective about the employment package they will accept, and in a sellers’ market, they are in a position to be choosy.
Adapting to the workforce
Ever wider needs among the workforce mean it is vital that employers embrace much broader thinking in terms of the support they offer. Health and wellbeing support can now be much wider, including gender-specific support, neurodiversity, addiction, eldercare, nutrition and fitness. It can also be more carefully targeted to meet the needs of particular risk profiles and age demographics.
With a quickly growing workforce comes the issue of ensuring that wellbeing support evolves and adapts to fit the demographic. It becomes more important than ever that an employer has a good understanding of the needs of employees and how best to meet these. Finding new and varied ways to convey messages will be critical to ensure that all employees are met with the right information, in the right way, at the right time, such as via employee benefit platforms.
Debra Clark concludes: “Attracting and retaining the right talent will be a struggle for many businesses this year. We believe that a full health and wellbeing support programme is one of the best ways to stand out from the crowd and to be an employer of choice.”
1 Research conducted by Opinium on behalf of Towergate Health & Protection among 500 HR professionals, January 2024.