With the coronavirus pandemic bringing to light the challenges many employees are facing, more and more companies are asking themselves ‘is our wellbeing strategy good enough?’. The wellbeing space is diverse and there are many organisations who promote their expertise, but where do you start to create a framework? Here are my ten top tips to help you create a stellar wellbeing strategy for your workplace.

1. Review what you already have

A good starting point is to review what you already have, and then identify the gaps in your offering. Which areas do you need more wellbeing provision? Do you have the capacity to do this internally? While it is important that it is done on a voluntary basis, by utilising the talent within your workplace, your employees could have an integral part in helping the business. This has been shown to strengthen community and ensure employees feel valued.

2. Don’t guess, ask!

It is crucial to choose benefits that your employees will engage with, so implement things that they will find useful, and ask your employees what types of support they need.  Of course, you will need to identify the gaps as per point 1, but allowing your employees an element of choice will go a long way in helping you create your strategy, while making sure that they feel listened to.

3. Make wellbeing a part of your culture

Wellbeing is no longer an employee benefit, it is integral to the culture of a business. Building a culture is unique for each business due to their inevitable differences, but there are some things that are great for fostering a ethos of positive wellbeing in any workplace. The main thing being to encourage open conversations among colleagues. Many businesses have tackled this by leading directly from the C-suite, talking openly about topics such as mental health, financial difficulty and many more. This has shown to help open up the conversation for the rest of the company.

4. Consider all areas of wellbeing

I like to think of wellbeing as an umbrella term with the four types of wellbeing situated beneath it. The four types are: physical, mental, financial and social/environmental. Too often, the latter two are overlooked, but with 4.2 million sick days being taken off per year due to poor financial wellbeing, it is clear to see why it must be addressed in the workplace. With plenty of literature online about what each one is and how you can be sure they are covered, it is easier than ever to make sure that you know how to provide for each of them.

5. In what areas should you outsource help?

Sometimes the best way to ensure your employees get the help they need is to consult with experts. Assess what you need that is beyond your capability as a business and go from there. There is a lot of noise in the Employee Benefits market, so make sure that you go into this with a good idea of what you want to achieve.

6. Try to cut your losses

When looking at external benefit solutions, try to consider not what you will gain from enlisting their help, but what you are losing by not having them. With the issues of presenteeism and absenteeism being something that so many workplaces are trying to conquer, looking at where and how you currently spend your benefit budget can free up money to allocate to an area that may give a better return on your benefits spend.

7. Communication is key

There is no use having extraordinary benefits if your employees don’t know about them! The trick to employee wellbeing is to engage the disengaged. Make sure there is continual communication of what benefits your employees have access to, and update them when there are any changes. Of course, this should be on a company-wide level, but if you know certain employees could make use of benefits, make sure to sign post these to them.

8. Review, review and review

Again, you can and should do this in a way which involves your employees. Employee needs are constantly evolving and changing, and meeting those needs are much more than a tick box exercise. Using external help, or if you have the capability, find out for yourself what your employees think is working well or what they think they could use more of.

9. Reward and recognition

Reward and recognition is vital in ensuring that your employees feel valued. Anything from a simple well done to a physical reward will be appreciated. It is essential that you include this as part of your overall benefits strategy as it helps foster a culture of positivity and fulfilment.

10. Dare to dream!

Lastly, it is important to remember that we are all human. Our needs are the same and so are many of our wants. Get the basics covered of course, but don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Now is a better time than ever to get creative and try something different to help your employees. And to reiterate once more, always communicate, there’s a chance that someone in your workforce is sitting on something groundbreaking!