Despite only 24% of business leaders claiming poor employee mental health and wellbeing as a key issue disrupting businesses right now, supporting health and wellbeing is seen as a major priority (64%), third only to business performance (80%) and staff retention (66%) – this is according to a the Healthy Hybrid report by Vitality.

This may be due to pressure from employees, with 69% of UK office workers saying they would like their employers to do more to support their health and wellbeing needs. Additionally, 82% of employees believe employers now have a greater responsibility to offer health and wellbeing support post-pandemic.

Highlighting the necessity for a ‘healthy hybrid’ approach, 45% of UK office workers would be prepared to leave their job for another employer that prioritises health and wellbeing as part of a hybrid working approach.

Businesses prioritise health and wellbeing to boost productivity 

There’s a clear business case for a ‘healthy hybrid’ approach, with 69% of business leaders seeing increased productivity as a main benefit of introducing health and wellbeing policies. Additionally, 52% believe that hybrid working is the most supportive environment for productivity.

Another key motivating factor to implementing or evolving health and wellbeing policies is to improve staff recruitment and retention.

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These benefits align with possible resolutions for the biggest issues disrupting businesses. In fact, when asked, 60% of business leaders stated that skills and labour shortages was the biggest issue facing businesses, and the third biggest issue was talent retention and attrition (48%).

Health and wellbeing support to match employee needs is a challenge 

There has been a shift towards more flexible working practices with four in 10 businesses introducing a formal hybrid working policy since the pandemic. Additionally, 70% have given employees more flexibility to work in a way that supports their health and wellbeing.

Despite this, 52% of businesses surveyed find it challenging to tailor health and wellbeing support to meet the needs of different people within their business. With over a quarter (28%) of businesses not currently measuring health and wellbeing within the workplace, it may be that employers lack significant data on their employee base to understand how to support them.