Employers are missing the mark on employee well-being programmes by deprioritising what employees need most, according to the latest Wellbeing Diagnostic Survey by WTW, a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company.
It found that while US employers are taking steps to support mental (73 percent) and physical (50 percent) well-being, their lowest priority (23 percent) is financial well-being. On the other hand, financial well-being is the top concern for two-thirds of employees.
That survey looked at 535 employees working at medium and large private sector enterprises in the US, representing a broad range of industries. The 2024 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey (GBAS), also from WTW, drew on a far larger pool of 10,000 respondents and found much the same results. Employers consider financial well-being initiatives as the least needed (19%) even as two in five employees (41%) report feeling financially insecure and identify financial well-being as the area where they face the biggest challenges.
“Organisations that are highly effective at employee wellbeing often report better business outcomes, such as enhanced financial performance and reduced employee turnover,” said Regina Ihrke, equity and wellbeing leader, North America, WTW. “However, there is a disconnect between the wellbeing areas that employers are investing in and what employees are saying they need help with.”
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According to the GBAS, nearly half of US employees (48 percent) struggle with moderate or major issues in at least two areas of well-being and over half (56 percent) report above-average levels of stress. More than a third (37 percent) report experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression.
While the overwhelming majority of employers (91 percent) are prioritising the employee experience as an outcome of their well-being strategies, the emphasis remains on mental and physical health while largely ignoring how an employee’s financial situation is often the source of poor health.
A US-based study published last year found that higher financial worries were significantly associated with higher psychological distress, while other studies have consistently found that financial stress negatively impacts our physical health.
“It’s important that employers focus on getting the right priorities in place to support the varied needs of their workforce as well as creating an enabling environment that promotes the services they make available,” said Jill Havely, managing director of employee experience at WTW.
