The Three Pillars of Employee Wellbeing: A Guide for Employers

Committing to employee wellbeing is no longer a nice-to-have. It is a performance strategy. Give people the tools, resources and autonomy to look after themselves and they bring their whole selves to work: more focused, more committed, and genuinely feeling cared for by their employer. The payoff is real, from reduced stress and absence to sharper focus and greater productivity.

Wellbeing, however, has more than one dimension. It rests on three pillars: physical, mental and financial. None stands alone. Each supports, and can undermine, the others, which is why they need to be treated as one connected picture rather than managed in silos. In this article we look at each pillar in turn and what employers can do to strengthen all three.

Physical wellbeing

Physical health encompasses everything about your body and inside it, including your organs, muscles and bones (musculoskeletal system), immune system, reproductive health and more.

Often we immediately think about the importance of physical exercise and diet, which are of course very important, but we shouldn’t overlook areas like rest and recuperation, including most crucially, sleep!

Our physical wellbeing can also be affected by our mental wellbeing. For example, high levels of stress can flood the body with adrenaline and cortisol which is fine in small doses, but when it’s prolonged, it can overload the body and cause all manner of physical ailments.

The cost of poor physical health

Poor physical health can have a negative impact on a business in two ways.

Most obviously, an employee might not make it into work. But even if the employee is able to overcome pain, discomfort or extreme fatigue to make it into work; it’s unlikely they’ll be performing at their best. They may clock up hours, but they might have little to show for it!

The DWP’s Keep Britain Working report found that poor workplace health costs the UK economy £85bn a year, with £21bn of that lost through presenteeism.

The biggest causes of workplace absence

Sometimes the biggest causes of workplace absence are the most mundane. For example, the CiPD found that minor illnesses such as colds and flu were the biggest cause of short-term sickness (up to 4 weeks). Meanwhile, musculoskeletal issues were the second biggest cause of long-term absence (four weeks or more) – secondly only to mental health.

Impact on mental and financial health

It’s of course true that anyone suffering from a physical ailment will struggle to be at their most enthusiastic. Depending on the health issue, they might spend limited time outside or with other people. For short periods this is manageable, but for prolonged periods it’s much tougher and that’s when it can impact on mental health.

Long-term physical health issues can also impact people financially. Statutory sick pay does not cover a person’s full wage, and only lasts for a limited period.

Research by Vitality found that one in three UK families could be pushed into financial hardship within three months, if they were unable to earn for a prolonged period.

What can employer’s do?

The world of work can have a major impact on the physical health of employees, so it’s important that employers do all they can to look after their staff. After all, people spend much of their week working and that time can be spent building healthy or unhealthy habits.

Here are a few things that can help keep them healthy:

• Workspace ergonomics: make sure staff have appropriate seating and screen set-ups that promote good posture and minimal eye strain.
• Health & safety protocols: all workspaces should have appropriate health and safety standards – it’s not just a box-ticking exercise, so take it seriously.
• Access to preventative healthcare and reactive healthcare: company health insurance or group health cash plans can provide everything from fast GP access and diagnostic scans through to prompt inpatient and outpatient treatment when it’s needed.
• Little things that make a difference: encouraging walk and talks (in place of seated meetings where appropriate), promoting the joys of leaving the desk at lunch, providing healthy snacks and any other small changes you can think of.
• Extra perks: Cycle to work schemes and discounted gym memberships also encourage healthy physical activity.

As we have seen, though, physical health rarely stays in its own lane. When the body struggles for long enough, the mind usually follows, which brings us to the second pillar.