Why are only half of Australian employees happy with wellbeing support at their workplace?
I was curious what sits behind this headline statistic in last weekโs article in HRD Australia magazine. After all, if thereโs some โsecretโ to increasing employee satisfaction with the financial wellbeing programs my clients offer, I want to know!
The article was based on a 2023 survey of 2000 employees in Australia and New Zealand by Sonder, an early intervention safety and wellbeing platform. You can read the article here: https://lnkd.in/ga_RCMW8.
My first conclusion – ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐, ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ปโ๐ ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐ผ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐.
33% of employees say they have no idea what support is available, about 40% have some understanding and only 20% feel they truly understand what support is available and how to access it.
I then downloaded the research report from Sonder, as I always like to go to the source to get a deeper understanding. It provided a lot of information about how to make wellbeing part of your Employee Value Proposition โฆ well presented and useful if youโre in HR โฆ but wasnโt what I was seeking.
I did glean a few useful insights though:
โข 49% of employees โoften or always had feelings of burnout or exhaustionโ
โข only 50% of managers agree they have been provided with sufficient support and training to effectively support their teamโs wellbeing
So my second conclusion – ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐
And lastly, ๐๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐น๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐, rather than add to the sense of overload they feel!
P.S – just in case you were wondering, the survey confirmed the prevalence of financial stress: 42% of those surveyed often or always experience worries about being able to meet normal living expenses.