“Employers want more value from health and wellbeing investments”
Vitality’s Director of Corporate Business, Gary Impett, explains how growing employee expectations and budget pressures are prompting employers to seek greater value from solutions.
From economic uncertainty to evolving employment legislation and rapid technological changes, organisations are navigating a complex set of challenges.
At the same time, employee expectations are shifting; 86% of UK workers said that being able to work flexible hours was an important factor in their working lives, with 78% citing connection to a company’s mission and purpose as key[1].
For Vitality’s recently appointed Director of Corporate Business, Gary Impett, helping employers navigate these competing demands is critical.
“Businesses are grappling with a range of challenges,” Impett says. “I’m speaking to businesses that know they need to prioritise workplace health and wellbeing but have an eye on the bottom line like never before,” he adds.
As Gary sees it, scrutiny on budgets and return on investment will only continue.
“Over the next 12 to 18 months, I think there will be an even greater focus on value for money due to economic uncertainty in the marketplace”
Gary Impett, Director of Corporate Business, Vitality
Against this backdrop, employers will increasingly be focusing on how health and wellbeing investments can support business performance and employee engagement, rather than operate as standalone perks.
Growing employee expectations
Over the years, employees have become more conscious about their health and wellbeing – and are increasingly turning to their employer to play a more proactive role in supporting them in the workplace.
According to Vitality’s 10 Years of Britain’s Healthiest Workplace report, 63% of employees believe that their employers should be doing more to support their health and wellbeing[2]*.
“Employee expectations have shifted significantly since the pandemic – and that change has remained,” Impett explains.
“We spend a significant portion of our week at work, and employees increasingly expect their employer to support them with any health and wellbeing challenges they may face,” he adds.
When it comes to the types of workplace health initiative on offer, 45% said that mental health support was the most useful intervention, with 40% selecting private medical insurance[2].
Meanwhile, 27% said that health initiatives like run clubs, healthy eating and gym memberships would be most useful when it came to support for employees[2].
External pressures impacting the health landscape
Alongside changing workforce expectations, external pressures are continually evolving and intensifying.
The Keep Britain Working report, authored by Sir Charlie Mayfield, highlighted the costly impact of economic inactivity caused by ill-health[3].
According to the report, ill-health is now one of the most significant drivers of economic inactivity; 2.8million working-aged people are now economically inactive due to health conditions – 800,000 more than in 2019[3].
Whilst the causes are varied, timely access to healthcare continues to be a challenge and NHS waiting lists remain a concern for employers, according to Impett.
Gary Impett, Director of Corporate Business, Vitality
“Long waiting lists are impacting employees at work who can’t get treatment and might need it – and this could result in a huge amount of lost productivity,” Impett adds.
He points to the 10 Years of Britain’s Healthiest Workplace report, which found that lost productivity due to ill-health was estimated to have cost the UK economy £860 billion over the past 10 years, between 2014 and 2023[2].
In 2023 alone, the report found that the average UK employee lost the equivalent of 49.7 days of productive time due to absenteeism and presenteeism[2].
The impact of ill-health, both at an individual and organisational level, is prompting many organisations to take a more proactive approach, investing in early intervention and broader health and wellbeing support.
Putting prevention at the heart of health and wellbeing initiatives
It is often said that prevention is better than the cure and Impett points to Keep Britain Working, which has a strong focus on preventative measures.
What stands out for Impett, after 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, is how focused traditional health and wellbeing benefits are on insuring risk, rather than preventing ill-health from arising in the first place.
“Across industry, government, and society, we are starting to see a shift; an awareness that we must do more ‘upstream’ to address the causes of illness, rather than simply react when it is too late,” he says.
“At Vitality, our core purpose has always uniquely been to make people healthier and to enhance and protect lives – prevention is key to this.
“There’s good alignment between the recommendations laid out in the Keep Britain Working Review and our focus on prevention, early intervention and supporting our members to be healthier,” he adds.
A win-win for employers and employees
Delivering a more preventative approach to health and wellbeing is not always easy. Getting people to change their behaviours and habits – which are often significant drivers of poor health – can be difficult in practice.
“It’s why at Vitality we take a different approach,” says Impett, highlighting the Vitality Programme, which encourages employees to adopt healthier habits that stick, through a clever combination of nudges and incentives.
“By rewarding members for proactively engaging in their health and wellbeing, we see much stronger positive habit formation over time and tangible health improvements,” he adds.
It is a win-win for both employers and their staff; organisations reap the benefits of healthier and more productive workforce and employees feel supported and healthier on a personal level.
Unlocking greater value from health and wellbeing investment
With budgets increasingly under scrutiny, employers are no longer thinking about what they are offering, but what value it delivers.
“As employers look for more value from their investments, this is where integrated solutions that combine private medical insurance with preventative health and wellbeing, behaviour change and benefits can provide value,” Impett says.
“At Vitality we take a different approach”
Despite a challenging economic environment, Impett explains that this moment presents a significant opportunity for employers wanting to move the dial on health and wellbeing.
Integrated health and wellbeing solutions can give employers a competitive advantage, satisfying the needs of their workforce, attracting, and retaining top talent and helping them to stay healthy.
At the same time, integrated solutions can give employees access to private medical insurance, everyday care services – including virtual GP services, physiotherapy, and mental health support – and rewards and benefits in one place.
Not only does this help employers maximise the value of their investment, but it also gives employees access to the support, rewards, and benefits that they want and need.
[1] State of Hybrid Working, United Kingdom, Owl Labs, 2025
[2] 10 Years of Britain’s Healthiest Workplace: the changing face of the UK at work, Vitality 2025
* Vitality and Opinium, 2024. Based on a snap survey conducted by Vitality and Opinium in October 2024 of 2,000 UK employees.
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