Employers and employees do not agree on workplace wellbeing priorities – as 51% of employees believing stress and anxiety wellbeing should be the number one, then depression and burnout.
Contrastingly, only 33% of employers – including line managers – believe stress and anxiety should be the number one priority – followed by men’s health, then women’s health.
The difference in opinion has been revealed through a survey by Legal & General Group.
When the results were broken down by the age of respondents, significantly more younger employees want to see stress, anxiety, depression and burnout prioritised than their older peers.
The insurance firm believes the findings suggest employers might not always be involving employees in the design of wellbeing programmes.
Vanessa Sallows, Claims & Governance Director, Legal & General Group Protection, said: “It’s becoming increasingly understood that wellbeing must focus on fixing work and the work culture, as opposed to only focusing on fixing the individual.
“This is about considering all aspects of wellbeing, including mental wellbeing support, in a way that joins the dots between culture and purpose; good work and management practices; employees feeling listened to and valued; support from providers in the shape of a vast array of prevention, early intervention and vocational rehabilitation services.
“Without this, there’s a risk that the disparities highlighted in our research will only grow. As an industry, we need to help employers join the dots, helping also link this joined up strategy to key business goals, such as productivity, recruitment, retention, and even the ability to attract investment as wellbeing becomes a part of ESG metrics.
“This necessitates a different way of informing wellbeing programme design and implementation; balancing the traditional route of what employers think is best – primarily informed by competitor programmes – with data that zooms inward, focusing on the work, work culture and workforce.”
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