- Over half of employee respondents believe work-related stress has taken a toll on their health
- 44% of employers say stress management programmes are most effective. 48% of employees cite flexible working as the key
- Employees say lack of time is biggest impediment to participation in wellness programmes
A report released today by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) finds that stress remains a serious problem in many workplaces—but employers and employees disagree on best way to fight stress.
The wellness effect: The impact of workplace programmes, sponsored by Humana, surveyed both US HR executives with direct knowledge of their company’s employee wellness programme and full-time employees who participate in an employer-provided programme.
44% of employers say stress management programmes are most effective tools to promote health and wellness at their companies, while only 36% of employees say the same. In contrast nearly half of employees (48%) cite more flexible working schedules as most effective against 34% of employers.
Nearly 71% of employees agree wellness programmes can have at least a moderate impact on lowering stress. Yet only 14% of employees participate regularly in a stress management programme.
US employers have been fairly successful at establishing a “culture of wellness”—defined in the report as an array of programmes that support employee health and wellness (eg, improved diet), along with physical and environmental features (eg, relaxing work spaces for breaks). 69% of employees agree that health and wellness is an important part of their organisation’s culture.
However, employee participation in wellness programmes is hampered by lack of time, according to the survey.
Read The wellness effect: The impact of workplace programmes here
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Notes to editors
The employer survey, conducted in October 2015, includes 209 HR executives and managers at US-based companies who have direct knowledge of their company’s employee wellness programme. About a quarter of them work for organisations with between 2 and 49 employees, nearly half have 50-1,000 workers and the remainder have 1,000 workers or more. A wide variety of industries are represented.
The employee survey, also conducted in October 2015, includes 500 full-time workers based in the US, all of whom participate in an employer-provided wellness programme. Respondents are evenly divided between male and female, and each of the three main generational groups (Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials) is well represented. The majority of respondents are university-educated. One in five works for a company with 2-49 employees, two in five work for companies with 50-1,000 employees and the remainder work for companies with more than 1,000 employees.
About The Economist Intelligence Unit
The Economist Intelligence Unit is the world leader in global business intelligence. It is the business-to-business arm of The Economist Group, which publishes The Economist newspaper. The Economist Intelligence Unit helps executives make better decisions by providing timely, reliable and impartial analysis on worldwide market trends and business strategies. More information can be found at www.eiu.com or www.twitter.com/theeiu.
About Humana
Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is a leading health and well-being company focused on making it easy for people to achieve their best health with clinical excellence through coordinated care. The company’s strategy integrates care delivery, the member experience, and clinical and consumer insights to encourage engagement, behavior change, proactive clinical outreach and wellness for the millions of people it serves across the country.
