Building wellbeing and resilience in the new normal

One of the clearest outcomes from the events of 2020 has been to push wellbeing to the top of priority lists. A few years ago, many employers did not have a documented wellbeing strategy, whereas now our research shows that a majority of Asia Pacific employers are planning to make wellbeing a key differentiator of their value proposition.¹

While the focus on wellbeing continues to grow, and many employees now say that they see a genuine interest from their leadership in the health and wellbeing of employees and their families, stress and anxiety continue to be challenges given the pandemic and economic uncertainty. In addition, many organisations continue to struggle with rising costs and operational disruption.

The question for employers is clear: How do we maintain employee wellbeing and build resilience in a post-pandemic world?

Keeping up with the competition

While employers look to build effective wellbeing programs fit for their purpose, at the same time, many are keen to understand what their peers are doing. Innovative and effective wellbeing benefits can be powerful attractors of talent, and leading employers do not want to be laggards in this regard.

Based on conversations with business leaders and HR professionals, in general we see organisations are at different levels of maturity in their approach to wellbeing.

Levels of corporate wellbeing

• Focused on programs in one or more pillars of wellbeing
• Lack of cohesive or overarching strategy
• Often vendor-focused

• Programs and practices aligned and integrated across facets of wellbeing
• Linked to employee experience and personalised to moments that matter initiatives/ESG

• Wellbeing programs and practices embedded in organisational values/mindset
• Linked to work experience and career
• Connected to inclusion and diversity, Total Rewards, future of work and other sustainable human capital initiatives/ESG

While much has been written on wellbeing best practices, this paper will highlight what many companies may miss, or get wrong.

To read more about building a successful wellbeing program fit for the new normal and questions to address, please complete the form on the right to access the full article.