EAP’s and gym memberships most popular wellbeing benefits

The importance of a workforce that is both mentally and physically healthy has been well documented. The benefits wellbeing can bring an organisation are plentiful; from reducing absence and improving morale to increasing productivity and engagement, there are few better methods to improve business performance than to have a happy and healthy workforce.

The Reward & Employee Benefits Association (REBA) has released a new survey looking into Employee Wellness in 2016. The main finding of this survey was that Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) and discounted or free gym memberships were the most popular wellness related benefits offered in the workplace this year. 86.8% of organisations surveyed offered EAP’s whilst 72.2% counted gym memberships amongst their benefits scheme with mental health support coming in at 59%.

The report also illustrated the emergence of wellness in the workplace with 29.8% of organisations reporting having a defined wellness strategy whilst a third (30.5%) have plans in place to introduce a wellness strategy in the year 2016. A further 34.7% plan to introduce a wellness strategy in the ‘next few years’.

Debi O’Donovan, director of REBA, suggested that whilst traditional methods such as EAP’s and gym memberships currently dominate, there has been a significant rise in other health and wellbeing initiatives rising up the rankings (on-site massages, wearable wellness devices & wellness apps) as companies begin to realise the value a well-defined wellness strategy can bring. Indeed, financial education and advice is something that many organisations are looking to introduce to their wellness programmes, with 17% reporting that they have plans to introduce this in 2016; the most out of any area of wellbeing.

To download a free copy of the full report, please click here. Alternatively, if you would like some advice or assistance with your wellbeing programme then give us a call on 01454 808658 and one of our friendly and experienced team will be happy to help.