Here's how firms are revving up their wellness programmes

Employees can get a room for power naps, fitness programmes, and lunch-and-learn sessions.

With Singapore’s workforce clocking in an average of 44.9 hours of work in a week “long-hours office culture”, the city’s companies are implementing tailored wellness programmes to combat insufficient sleep, stress and potential burnout.

At risk management and advisory firm Willis Towers Watson, employees are able to take a break in their wellness room for a short massage or power nap in between work. “We encourage work-life integration by allowing colleagues the ability to work from home when required. We also organise in-house badminton matches, weekly pop-pilates, yoga and Zumba classes in the office for colleagues to participate after work,” Pheona Chua, senior consultant for corporate health & well-being at Willis Towers Watson Asia, told Singapore Business Review. 

“Many large firms also provide employee assistance programmes to support employees with all rounded mental well-being initiatives. Mid and smaller firms typically organise lunch-and-learn sessions and a series of support group workshops that are highly effective in smaller groups,” she said. “When we consider programmes to an individual’s needs, they typically respond with higher level of engagements which boost productivity level. This leads to a reduction in absenteeism and turnover rates.”

According to a survey conducted by Willis Towers Watson in 2018, firms with effective and tailored health and wellbeing programmes in place are two times more likely to outperform their peers, 50% more likely than competitors to report lower turnover rates, and are seeing fewer days of unplanned absences per year.

“Some companies have employed an in-house mindfulness and meditation coach to ensure the welfare of their employees. Some firms have also included an on-site meditation room or sent their employees on workshops with external coaches,” Ling Xiang Lee, Robert Walters Singapore’s manager for sales & marketing, industrial, technology and services, noted.

Robert Walters Singapore provides insurance coverage that allows employees to pick and choose the kind of wellness benefits workers want, such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and healthier meal options. These little perks are said to have cultivated a positive work environment with higher employee engagement and improved productivity at the firm.

Along the same lines, Robert Half launched its own wellness programme “It’s Time We All Work Happy” in 2018, comprising five key initiatives touching on health and physical wellbeing, flexible working arrangements, and social responsibility.

“This includes the provision of a weekly personal trainer for group staff workouts, discounted health club memberships, the option to leave work at 4 p.m. on Fridays, a monthly allotment of time to enjoy lunch with your family, free health checks, and quarterly charitable initiatives,” Mathieu Imbert-Bouchard, managing director of Robert Half Singapore, said. “Exercise classes, such as relaxation and meditation can be part of a company’s wellness programme which can better equip employees to cope with stress.”

But like with most employee-geared initiatives, wellness programmes are not cookie cutter, with younger workers perhaps being more receptive to digital solutions whilst baby boomers may be contented with employers providing them with free fruits every week at their workplace, Chua noted. So where should businesses start with coming up with their own wellness programmes?

According to Chua, a baseline assessment is always the key foundation to building any well-being programme.

This sentiment was shared by Amitabh Deka, head of wellbeing solutions and Aon Care at Aon South Asia, who explained that baseline assessments include attention to the programme scope and objectives in light of the available resources, the organisation’s vision, and the current state of employee health.

“The most common means of getting a baseline assessment is health risk assessment as it focuses on lifestyle risk. Companies can develop their own questions or adapt it from public sources,” Chua said. “However, companies do not usually do that as that will mean the HR team will need to consolidate the report and analyse it thereafter. And most of the time, they either do not have the bandwidth or the relevant knowledge in doing so. That is also the reason why many companies are engaging professionals to do it.”

Whilst Imbert-Bouchard noted that there is no standard practice across Singaporean companies, some efforts have been made to move into that direction.

Inter-generational segmentation
Deka also observed that a popular approach some firms have taken is the inter-generational segmentation. “At Aon, we refer to employees aged up to 35 years as ‘Young Guns’, those between 36 to 50 years as ‘Sandwich Generation’ and ones above 50 years as ‘Silver Heroes’,” he said, stressing that these workforce generations unsurprisingly differ predominantly in life values, motivation triggers and health status.

“For instance - young guns are perceived as ambitious, but they have been noticed to take downtime to reinvigorate themselves, were found to be physically fit and socially active, and their wellbeing needs are around emotional and financial wellbeing. The sandwich generation find themselves either insecure or accomplished, often preoccupied with meeting their commitments, with a dip in physical activity and sleep but increase in stress. They often fall prey to lifestyle diseases,” he explained.

Meanwhile, silver heroes are more likely to achieve purposeful living but tend to struggle with activity limitations due to ageing; pain, mobility and sleep are key health issues for them.

To Deka, successful wellbeing programmes respect the inherent diversity that a multigenerational workforce presents with. “No doubt it is complex to manage, but it is a challenge worth investing in. Weaving the varied needs and drivers of an intergenerational workforce begins right at the initial step of crafting a wellbeing programme- during identification of objectives and establishing the baseline,” he noted.

Businesses may even look to mobile apps to support employees. “Mindi and headspace are a few examples of these popular apps available in this space. Such apps provide quick and small bit-sized ‘on-the-go’ meditation exercises that are suitable for busy executives who do not have the time to attend fixed sessions organised at the workplace,” Chua added.

But simply implementing a workplace wellness programme though – no matter how effective – is not enough to ensure that all employees’ health and wellbeing needs are being fully met, Ling underlined.

A 2018 report by PwC echoed this, noting that workplace health programmes have been shown to be more effective with strong and consistent support from company leaders. This is because management support can generate and preserve the programme resources, increase its legitimacy and provide role modelling.

“Team leaders and senior managers must have regular one-on-one contact with team members in a confidential manner, to keep up-to-date on how each individual is feeling and what challenges they may be facing both at work and in their personal lives. This will allow managers to adapt their organisation’s wellness initiatives and working environment to help make their team members feel more supported,” Ling added.