Looking at the emotional, social, financial, and physical wellbeing, 1 in 7 employees in WTW’s Global Benefits and Attitude Survey Switzerland 2022, are doing poorly in all areas. Singles with kids, women, low income, and wholesale & retail workers are at most risk.
While financial, physical, and emotional wellbeing have remained relatively steady since before the pandemic, the social wellbeing has deteriorated by 9% over the past two years.
The social wellbeing also plays an important role when taking care of one’s own mental health, e.g., employees with high social wellbeing are more likely to take actions that address their mental health. This seems important as one third of the participating employees report anxiety or depression, with 1 in 10 showing severe symptoms. There is a clear linkage with lifestyle risks, more days lost and a retention risk for employers.
Therefore, for employers, there is an opportunity to improve the resources they provide to support mental health through social networks which appear to be key to those who report improvements in mental health. Digital tools also seem to play an important role. Employees with mental health issues report more difficulty accessing care than those with physical health issues but virtual care enables employees to get the help that they need for their mental health. Employees with anxiety or depression use mental health apps and online forums, but there are significant opportunities to promote their use further.
Overall, workers have higher levels of wellbeing when employers provide a work environment that ranks high on fairness and dignity. An organisational culture that embraces wellbeing (which includes supportive managers, tools, and resources) is strongly linked to better employee outcomes. Better wellbeing is also associated with higher levels of engagement, and with lower presenteeism and burn out proportions.
If you want to learn more about WTW’s Global Benefits and Attitude survey 2022, please reach out to your WTW consultant.
