7 key areas of employee wellbeing

It used to be that companies paid their employees for the work, and that was pretty much the end of their involvement in that employee's finances. But times have changed.

Organisations understand just how badly a poor financial footing can affect their people's health - as well as their work performance.

There are a number of fundamentals to get right here. First, and most obvious, is to pay a decent wage. Here in the UK we have the minimum wage and the living wage too, the latter of which is encouraged to really give staff a livable level of income.

But firms can also be more proactive by offering debt counselling services or running finance workshops. They can also use financial incentives such as running a profit-sharing scheme, or even being flexible in offering a percentage of wage in advance without charge to help staff cover the costs of one-off emergencies.

We all get stressed at times, but persistent exposure to stressful situations can induce anxiety and accelerate burnout symptoms. And none of this is good for the employee or their employer.

The social focus on mental health has thankfully increased over the last decade and it has become less of a taboo topic. And organisations are stepping up and addressing the mental wellbeing of their people as importantly as their physical health.

What can organisations do in this area? You can run mental health training courses for people leaders so they can spot the signs of someone struggling and know how to help. You can bring in outside counselling services too, or focus on other mental wellbeing activities such as meditation or yoga rooms, quiet workspaces and even schemes such as unlimited holidays or mental health days.

When our bodies feel good, our minds feel good too. This makes encouraging healthy lifestyles a no brainer for organisations looking to boost the wellbeing of their people.

Walking meetings, on-site gyms, standing desks and cycle to work schemes are just some of the ways in which businesses can help staff to live healthier lives.

This is perhaps the most obvious way in which organisations look to support their people - their physical health.

Much of the focus on this area of wellbeing has been mitigating accidents and injuries which is, of course, the right thing to do. But more and more we're seeing businesses focus on actually boosting the physical wellbeing of their staff, either through providing good health insurance, offering occupational health support and offering healthy food and drinks.

Good for employees, and great for employers too. As this Harvard study found, employees who turn up to work but aren't fit enough to be there (known as presenteeism) can cost employers two-three times more than direct medical care.

All in all, it's about creating a culture of wellbeing. A place of work where employees can be and feel as healthy as possible, and are encouraged to make healthy choices too.

Some of these schemes can cost money to implement. But there's more than enough research that shows the ROI of wellbeing initiatives more than makes it worthwhile.

Happy, healthy employees work harder, take fewer sick days and are more likely to stick around at your company.

For some more specific ideas on improving the health of your teams, then check out these 51 employee wellbeing ideas.