Research by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has today (9 April) revealed that when small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) invest in health and wellbeing benefits it has a noticeable improvement in employee productivity.
According to the study, three in five (60%) SMEs polled said that investing in health and wellbeing initiatives had a ‘high’ impact on boosting the productivity of staff, while 22% rated having them as ‘critical’ to maintain high productivity.
However, the same research also found that while wellbeing perks strongly affected performance, just one in five organisations were aware of what their legal responsibilities were around communicating their benefits to employees on their first day in the job.
To combat this, the ABI has launched a campaign to encourage wider knowledge about benefits communication with regard to new members of staff.
The Association wants to encourage all SMEs to create what it has called a ‘Day One Statement’ – a written statement of particulars that should set out all the details employees need, including hours of work and holiday entitlement. Since April 2020, this has become a legal obligation for businesses.
Commenting on the research findings and in announcing an online toolkit SMEs can access to help boost staff wellbeing a productivity, Charlie Campbell, ABI manager, health and protection, said: “Keeping up to speed with new legal requirements can be difficult, especially during a pandemic.”
He added: “But Day One Statements are not just a legal requirement – they are an opportunity to boost wellbeing and productivity at a time when employee health has never been more important to ensuring a healthy and productive workforce.”
The ABI has come up with five steps business owners can take to improve the health and wellbeing of staff, including checking policies are up to date and providing benefits statements at least every year.