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The COVID-19 pandemic has truly reshaped the way organisations and their employees approach work. As businesses navigate the transition to the ‘new normal’, those with robust employee health and wellbeing benefits will be best placed to attract and retain the top talent in the market, while enhancing their employee’s organisational performance.
Australia has done relatively well in containing the spread of the pandemic compared to many other countries, however, a recent survey by group insurer Metlife (1) shows our overall health and wellbeing has taken a significant hit in recent months. Some key concerns raised by Australian employees in the survey include:
While the statistics paint a somewhat grim picture, they present an opportunity for employers to respond and deep dive into the needs of their greatest assets - their employees.
Honan works with some of the world’s leading organisations in designing and coordinating their Employee Benefit programs. Partnering with these organisations over the past year has shown us the importance of supporting employees’ physical and mental wellbeing and the powerful engagement, productivity, and trust this fosters between employer and employee.
The days of simply providing office lunches or onsite yoga sessions are numbered. Increasingly, there is an expectation that leading organisations should play a more active role in supporting the overall health and wellbeing of their employees.
Employees are looking for organisations to demonstrate care and support outside the traditional financial benefits, to help keep them happy, healthy, and engaged in their work lives. This can be established by designing a holistic wellness offering that provides access to benefits promoting physical health, mental wellbeing, and lifestyle support services, which can be integrated into both the physical office space and remote working environments.
Health and wellbeing programs that can be customised and tailored to employees’ needs will be an essential part of an organisation’s overall health and wellness benefits proposition. More and more, we expect to see standard ‘wellness webinars’ replaced with relatable, customised experiences, targeting the unique demographics of an organisation to create more impact. Nutrition consultations, 1-1 mental health coaching, skin checks, and health screenings are some great examples of initiatives that can be tailored to each employee and form part of a holistic wellness offering.
The pandemic forced organisations and employees to adopt new technologies at an unprecedented pace. Employees expect technology to be the default option for most things in life and benefits are one of them. Digital employee wellbeing platforms will play a key role as an increasing number of companies look to bolster their employee wellbeing propositions.
At Honan, we partner with leading providers in the digital wellbeing space, while allowing employees to seamlessly engage with a range of the latest benefits when and where it suits them. Check out the powerful insights from our most recent global partner, CircleIn!
Honan has a team of experts ready to assist you in developing the right employee wellness program tailored to your company’s unique needs. We have recently launched our Honan Wellness Hub – a platform where you can discover the different Health, Wellbeing, and Employee Support Benefits we can incorporate into a custom program for your organisation and where you can catch up on the latest insights on our Wellness Blog, all in one place!
Explore the industry-leading benefits here, and feel free to reach out to our team at any time to understand the possibilities for your organisation.
Head of Client Service – Global Benefits
1 Metlife Survey: 2020 Employee Benefit Trends Study (EBTS), Key findings from the MetLife Australia 2020 EBTS. https://www.metlife.com.au/about-us/thought-leadership/Employee-Benefit-Trends-Study-2020/
