New Vitality research* has revealed that 52% of employees believe that their workplace health and wellbeing initiatives are little more than a ‘tick-box exercise’.

This comes despite nearly two thirds of employees reporting their employers provides access to formal health wellbeing benefits and services (63%), health and wellbeing support tools such as apps, online resources and employee assistance programmes (65%), and training for things like stress management (64%).

Yet despite this widespread offering, only 60% of employees believe their employer genuinely prioritises employee health and wellbeing, and just over half (57%) believe that the health and wellbeing support available to them actually matches their needs.

55% of employees also said they would like more personalised support and 61% said they would engage more if interventions were tailored to what they need. The results from Vitality’s research suggest this isn’t an investment issue, but rather a gap between the support employers provide and whether it addresses the real need of their employees.

For employers looking to boost employee productivity, this is a vital gap to address. Three quarters of employees (76%) say better health and wellbeing support would make them more productive at work. Couple this with insights from Vitality’s Britain’s Healthiest Workplace report, which found the average UK employee losing 49.7 days of productive time annually due to absenteeism and presenteeism linked to poor health**, and the connection between productivity and health and wellbeing becomes even clearer.

Gary Impett, Director of Corporate, VitalityHealth, said “When more than half of workers describe health and wellbeing support as a tick-box exercise, it raises an important question: are organisations measuring the impact of what they offer, or whether it’s actually making a difference? The message from employees is clear. They don’t want more wellbeing initiatives for the sake of it. They want support that feels relevant to their lives and will actually improve their health.

“This matters because employee health isn’t just a health and wellbeing issue, it’s a business performance issue. The right interventions, the ones which are specific and personal to the needs of your employees,  have the potential to improve productivity, engagement and resilience, but only if employees genuinely value and use what’s being provided.”