Canadian HR Reporter

24 www.hrreporter.com S P O N S O R E D wellbeing really have an impact on performance? Most definitely, judging by the results of a global survey from Aon. By focusing on improving the perfor- mance of individual and organizational wellbeing, organizations see an impact and improvement on business outcomes. For one, organizations that improve employee wellbeing per formance by three per cent see a one-per-cent increase in customer satisfaction and retention, while those that improve employee wellbeing performance by 3.5 per cent see a one-per-cent increase in employee satisfaction and customer acquisition. When organizations improve employee wellbeing performance by four per cent, they see a one-per-cent increase in company profit and a one-per-cent decrease in employee turnover, found the report Working Well: 2021 Global Wellbeing Survey encompassing 1,648 companies in 41 countries, including 140 firms in Canada. "That's one of the biggest takeaways of the report," says Erin Murphy-Sheriffs, Associate Vice President, health solu- tions, at Aon Canada. "This showcases why it's important to have a strategy in place and also leadership support to achieve these outcomes. "It's all connected. Business success comes from evolving performance. Wellbeing becomes critical to those business outcomes when there's a stra- tegic focus, a measurement plan and key performance indicators." "I believe this is the first time that we've ever seen this linkage in data in Well-being, performance and impact to company performance are all connected, as organizations that improve wellbeing see a significant increase in customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and retention. But wellbeing initiatives provide the most value when employers ensure a comprehensive strategy is in place, says a report from Aon LINKING WELLNESS TO PERFORMANCE T he top conditions impac ting company performance in Canada are stress (69 per cent), anxiety (49 per cent) and musculoskeletal conditions (48 per cent). Mental health and work-life balance are the top wellbeing issues in Canada by some considerable length, chosen by 72 per cent and 69 per cent of respon- dents, respectively. This was followed by burnout (52 per cent), virtual work envi- ronment and working environment or culture (both at 39 per cent). It's a key takeaway: company perfor- mance is at risk due to stress and anxiety, says Murphy-Sheriffs. "The data and the relationship between well-being, performance and company performance just shows the value of having a strategy that's aligned and has organizational and leadership support." Leadership engagement Encouragingly, 79 per cent of Canadian companies say that employee wellbeing terms of wellbeing, performance and impact to company performance." Wellness strategies lacking Another piece of encouraging news is that Canada stacks up impressively internationally. Eighty-one per cent of employers have incorporated emotional wellbeing into their strategy, for example, compared to the global average of 67 per cent. However, while 79 per cent of Canadian respondents say employee wellbeing is important, and 90 per cent have at least one wellness initiative, only 54 per cent have an actual strategy in place while just 16 per cent fully inte- grate wellbeing into their business and talent strategy. Wellbeing performance has a direct connection to a strong and focused wellbeing strategy, while a series of standalone wellbeing initiatives has less impact, finds the Aon report. Initiatives are defined as any wellbeing event, program, tool, workshop, activity, challenge or campaign, while strategy is defined as a long-term plan of action using resources to achieve wellbeing solutions or goals. Wellbeing has become much more than programs, apps, tools and nice- to-have resources to change employee behaviour. Wellbeing is a people and performance strategy. "What we commonly see is that orga- nizations may have a lot of programs or smaller initiatives, but they're not particularly tied to an overarching, b ro a der s trateg y," says Mu rp hy- Sheriffs. Mental health considerations Wellbeing issues pose significant risk to organizations in the form of lost productivity, time away from work and retention. And while it would be easy to think that workplace stress has been caused by the coronavirus pandemic, even before the pandemic, more people around the world were under stress compared to a decade ago. "Sometimes, when there's a lot of smaller initiatives, they may not have as much of an impact because organizations are not measuring the success of the program." Erin Murphy-Sheriffs, Aon DOES

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