Dive Brief:
- Most employees are positive about their employee-paid health and wellbeing programs, but even so, it appears that an increased focus on personalization would help even more, according to a new national survey.
- The survey, from Welltok, Inc, a health optimization platform provider, and the National Business Group on Health, Whispers from the Water Cooler: What Motivates Employees to Improve Their Health and Well-Being, explored how employees view an employer’s involvement in programs that impact physical and emotional health, social connectedness and financial security.
- The vast majority of 1,000 full-time workers polled at large employers are positive about their employer-sponsored programs. Most (81%) saw a positive impact on their physical well-being. Digging deeper, however, 37% of non-participants did not find the programs "personally relevant" and 20% didn’t even know they were available. Clearly, more personalization and awareness raising has to happen if higher participation and engagement levels are the goal.
Dive Insight:
Michelle Snyder, chief marketing officer at Welltok, said that the survey offers strong indications that a majority of employers providing health and well-being programs can do even better, no matter how high employee participation levels might be. She added it's clear that the same satisfaction drivers don't apply to everyone, another indicator there is room for growth.
The findings strongly bolster the the idea that employers must connect individuals with the right topics and content, as well as create the right support networks, if they want to generate the highest ROI and make employees happier. For example, when it comes to rewards, a huge majority (91%) would engage in healthier behaviors if they were rewarded. Nearly everyone under 35 years old agreed (98%), but the over-55 workers were a bit less (85%) reward-focused.
As other research shows, the "one size fits all’ approach doesn't work when it comes to boosting employee engagement and participation, noted NBGH President Brian Marcotte. Bottom line, personalization matters. And one way to get it working is via emerging engagement platforms and point solutions that leverage data and use predictive analytics to reach people with personalized, timely, relevant and actionable information.