How healthy competition is reigniting employee engagement
Helping staff to get physically active can bring benefits for employees and businesses alike, writes Claire Blain, Vitality's Director of Corporate Retention and Engagement
Today, businesses are under growing pressure to do more with less – juggling rising costs, hybrid work, and the need to keep talent engaged. While many invest in wellbeing programmes, employee engagement remains low. So how can companies close the gap between offering support and employees actually using it?
There are many reasons for this 'participation gap' – from poor communication to a lack of accountability. The shift to hybrid and remote working has also brought flexibility, but fragmentation. Without the social reinforcement and a sense of shared purpose, employees may feel less compelled to take part in activities that promote their health – even if they know it’s good for them.
Growing staff expectations and must-have work perks
That’s not to say that employees don’t care about their health and wellbeing whilst at work. Indeed, we know that employees are increasingly looking to their employer to play a more active role.
'Products like private medical insurance can increasingly provide a ‘one-stop-shop’ package of benefits, with wide appeal to employees'
Claire Blain, Director of Corporate Retention and Engagement, Vitality
According to findings published in Vitality’s ‘10 years of Britain’s Healthiest Workplace’ report, almost two-thirds of employees now want their employer to do more to support their health[1].
Meanwhile, younger generations entering the workplace are prioritising their physical and mental health far more than in the past. Whilst benefits like private medical insurance (PMI) are also increasingly seen as a must-have employee benefit.
Investing in the right wellbeing support
Getting it right when it comes to investing in workplace wellbeing solutions is therefore critical, especially when HR teams are under pressure to demonstrate ROI on wellbeing spend.
The good news is that products like private medical insurance can increasingly provide a ‘one-stop-shop’ package of benefits, with wide appeal to employees.
By offering a broader range of everyday healthcare benefits – such as virtual GPs, access to physiotherapy and Talking Therapies – alongside clinical and healthcare support, workplace PMI plans can resonate a lot more with employees.
Getting employees engaged and enhancing value
As PMI products evolve, we’re also seeing a greater emphasis on preventing illness and helping employees to improve their physical and mental health – wherever they are.
This in turn is helping to unlock higher levels of engagement, by giving employees access to benefits they can use 24/7 and integrating them into their everyday life.
A great example of this is Vitality’s new digital-first Employee Challenges initiative.
Find out more about Employee Challenges from Vitality:
Designed to allow businesses of any size to roll out activity-based challenges to encourage employees to get active, Challenges drives even more participation and helps to build a sense of community, particularly where hybrid working is prevalent.
Whether it’s a step challenge between departments or a company-wide push to reach a shared goal, Employee Challenges taps into the power of gamification and social accountability to drive real behaviour change.
And because it’s built on the Vitality platform, it integrates seamlessly with the broader health and rewards ecosystem. The more employees move, the more they benefit from all of the rewards in the Vitality Programme – seeing even more value gained for businesses and their people.
And the results show that it works, with participants increasing their pre-challenge step activity by 37% and 95% of those who became more active saying they were likely to maintain their levels of activity into the future.
This can lead to the formation of healthy habits like walking more, which benefits everyone. We know from our data that highly active and engaged Vitality members have 28% lower healthcare costs and increase their life expectancy by up to five years[2]. In turn, the improved health metrics of employees with Vitality Health Insurance equate to an additional 2.5 days of productive time per employee per year[1].
At a time when many businesses are looking to get the most out of their workplace wellbeing benefits, a bit of healthy competition through initiatives like Employee Challenges alongside wider PMI cover can be the key to get staff more engaged and more active – a win win for all.
Related: 5 tips to get staff active - The mental benefits of physical activity
Vitality Business Health Insurance
Thinking about taking private health insurance for you and your employees? With Vitality business health insurance, you can:
- Support your employees’ mental and physical health - with award-winning private medical insurance.
- Help them stay healthy and performing at their best - with expert tools, tailored to their health and wellbeing needs.
- Keep them engaged and motivated - with discounts and rewards from our top brand partners.
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