Dive Brief:

• Promoting good health at work is nice, but companies should focus on raising productivity, reports Xerox. Its recent study, Working Well: A Global Survey of Workforce Wellbeing Strategies, found that increasing productivity moved up from fourth place in 2014 to first place, surpassing attracting and retaining employees and staff engagement as company goals.
• The study found that wellness is more than about one’s health; it also includes physical, mental and financial wellbeing. Companies are expanding their wellness programs and addressing the negative effects that financial problems and other stressors have on one’s wellbeing, says Xerox. 
• While only 33% of respondents have a culture of wellbeing in their workplace, 83% want a wellbeing culture in the future. At least 74% view wellbeing as an important to employees and a useful tool for recruiting and retaining staff.   

Dive Insight:

CEOs and top executives must buy into the idea of creating a culture of wellbeing in the workplace and fully support it. The study found that 52% of respondents cited leadership support as critical to wellbeing programs compared with 43% in 2014.  Having data to show direct correlations between wellness and higher productivity can help get senior management onboard.

With financial issues being a major cause of job stress and decreased productivity, companies might do well to include education and advice on money management in their wellbeing initiatives.