Growth of organizational well-being strategies
Organizational well-being strategies have grown beyond employee walking challenges by broadening focus areas and initiatives to address employee well-being more holistically. The American Psychological Association’s 2022 Work and Well-being Survey asked respondents if the way employers support mental health will be an important consideration when looking for future work, and 81% agreed that it will be.1 The data also revealed that a number of workplace factors are contributing to mental health issues, such as compensation to keep up with inflation and certain groups experiencing discrimination.1 Reasons such as those are why Marsh McLennan Agency (MMA) supports clients in taking a holistic approach to developing, implementing, evaluating, and enhancing their organizational well-being strategies.
Approach to employee well-being via four dimensions
MMA’s approach focuses on four dimensions of well-being, which include physical, mental, social, and financial.
- Physical Well-being: focuses on the ability to maintain a healthy quality of life that allows you to get through daily activities without undue fatigue or physical stress.
- Mental Well-being: focuses on the ability to understand ourselves and cope with the challenges life can bring.
- Social Well-being: focuses on feeling connected to others by building a healthy, diverse, supportive, and sustainable community within an organization.
- Financial Well-being: focuses on effectively managing our economic lives and feeling comfortable and secure with finances and financial planning.
The ability to focus organizational initiatives within all four dimensions aids in the development of healthy workplace cultures and employee populations. However, many organizations are putting the strongest emphasis on mental health, as our physical, social, and financial well-being all impact our mental health and well-being.
Leadership focus on employee mental health and well-being
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, workplaces have had to shift and establish a “new normal,” which has resulted in leaders also having to shift focus towards addressing employee mental health issues and concerns. The 2023 Mercer Survey found that organizations were taking more steps than in prior years to encourage healthy and sustainable workplace behaviors, along with offering personalized support to employees. The data showed that 67% of organizations were focused on expanding access to behavioral health care by providing enhanced EAP services.2 Additionally, the data showed that respondents were offering or planning to offer the following:2
- 62%: online resources like apps, articles, classes, etc.
- 35%: manager training to recognize employee behavioral health issues and steering to appropriate resources.
- 26%: employee training to recognize peer behavioral health issues and steering to appropriate resources.
- 25%: behavioral health anti-stigma communication campaigns.
- 23%: specialty vendors to supplement existing vendors and broaden access.
At MMA, we’re equipped to provide clients with support in these areas by bringing in subject matter experts in health and clinical management consulting.
MMA Well-being Your Way
To best support clients in managing the health of their employee population, MMA provides clients with various capabilities through Well-being Your Way (WYW). This approach to organizational well-being encompasses several tools, resources, and solutions that support clients in developing or further enhancing their well-being and clinical management strategies. To call out a few items available via WYW:
- Resources: Well-being Your Way is an online platform accessible 24/7 to clients that houses health and well-being focused playbooks, toolkits, communication campaigns, program resources, and more!
- Trainings: Mental Health First Aid Training for managers and employees that teaches participants how to identify colleagues struggling with their mental health, along with ways to provide appropriate levels of support.
- Vendors: MMA has many ways to support clients in identifying appropriate vendors for implementation:
- MMA Vendor Innovation Council: subject matter experts (SMEs) identify best-in-class 3rd party well-being and clinical/specialty vendors
- Shortlister: our partnership allows SMEs to leverage the digital platform to research vendors and conduct RFIs/RFPs.
- Consultation: provided by health and clinical management consultants to determine vendors most appropriate for your organization and population health goals.
- Data Analytics: MMA also has multiple ways to support clients via data analysis:
- Proprietary Analysis: focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion, along with social determinants of health and mental health prevalence.
- Planning & Analytics for Total Health: data warehouse and data analytic expertise by our health management consultant, clinical consultant, and data analyst, along with leadership oversight by our chief medical officer.
- KPI Dashboard: in partnership with our health management consultant, we have a well-being-focused dashboard that supports clients in the setting and tracking of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) most important to them.
Contact us to learn more about how our subject matter experts can support your organization in developing or enhancing its holistic well-being strategy.
Sources:
1. “Workers appreciate and seek mental health support in the workplace,” American Psychological Association, accessed September 8, 2023, https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/work-well-being/2022-mental-health-support.
2. “Health & benefit strategies for 2023 survey report,” Mercer, accessed September 8, 2023, https://www.mercer.com/en-us/insights/total-rewards/employee-benefits-strategy/2023-benefit-strategies-report/#mktoForm_71437.
