Bangkok--13 May--FRANCOM ASIA
More and more Thailand-based companies are budgeting for new programs and technologies to provide a multi-faceted and holistic approach to employee Health and Productivity (H&P), according to Willis Towers Watson's 2015/2016 Staying@Work Survey. Seventy eight percent of Thailand-based companies have put aside sufficient budget to add new H&P programs that are critical for targeted populations and 79% have budgeted to adopt new technologies in the fight to improve employee health and productivity. This is significantly above the global average (42% and 33% respectively).
Nowadays, companies' approach to wellness and good health goes beyond traditional elements such as physical health, exercise and nutrition. Many leading companies also include and integrate other dimensions such as emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, social and spiritual wellbeing.
Both employers and employees believe that creating a workplace of health is one of the leading priorities. In the Staying@Work survey, 92% of Thai employers consider H&P as a core organizational component. Seventy one percent of Asia Pacific employees also consider that employers should take an active role in promoting healthy lifestyles, based on Willis Towers Watson's 2015/2016 Global Benefits Attitude Survey (GBAS). This statement is approved by 80% of Thai employers (72% in Asia Pacific) who foresee an increased commitment of their companies to H&P within the next two years.
Compared to other regions like North America and Europe, the Staying@Work survey reveals that employees in Asia Pacific are more receptive to wellness initiatives offered by employers. This encouraging result appears despite the fact that a large percentage of employees remains highly sensitive about their employers having access to their personal health-related information. Almost one third of Asia Pacific employees say that they "do not trust" their employers getting involved in their health and wellbeing.
"Many employers continue to focus on raising employees' awareness about their health and wellbeing programs, with Thailand-based companies stating their top priority is to boost program engagement," explains Chris Mayes, Head of Benefits – Thailand, Willis Towers Watson.
"Employers need to build employees' trust in areas pertaining to health, especially the use of employees' personal data, so that workers will begin to see their employer as a go-to resource for improving their health and wellbeing. For some employees, improving their health and wellbeing may always be strictly a personal quest. In these cases, employers can play a pivotal role by creating a workplace environment that supports these employees as they tackle health issues on their own," he added.
What are the top Health and Productivity Issues?
In Thailand, like in Asia Pacific and on the world's stage, the three top H&P issues affecting employees' health and wellbeing, from an employers' perspective, are stress (64%), lack of physical exercise (55%) and obesity (45%). The next two causes are poor nutrition (35%) and presenteeism (32%), which is defined as staying at work but not fully productive.
With both lack of physical activity and obesity seen as a significant matter, it is encouraging that 48% of Thai companies to sponsor health and wellbeing affinity groups, with 27% among them to offer weight management programs and 30% offering gym subsidiaries. The same number of Thai companies (30%) offer low-calorie options in onsite cafeterias. By doing so, Thai companies are hoping to fight back on these two key health risks and in doing so create a healthier, more engaged and more productive workforce.
"It's important for employers to recognise that many of these issues are inter-related. For example, research shows that insufficient physical activity, poor nutrition and inadequate sleep are strongly linked with obesity and stress," said Dr. Rajeshree Parekh, Director of Health and Corporate Wellness for Asia and Australasia at Willis Towers Watson. "This linkage is another reason why employers' efforts to address issues on an individual basis could fail to improve employees' health and wellbeing."
Bridging the gap between employers' and employees' views on workplace stress
According to the Global Benefits Attitudes Survey (GBAS), employees' top cause of stress is low pay, while employers consider it as the number 10 on the list of employees' stress factors. Conversely, employers incorrectly rank the lack of work/life balance as the leading source of workplace stress, while it ranks fourth on employees' list. Employers also underestimate the stress caused by a poor company culture that lacks teamwork and accountability.
Disconnect between employer and employee views on workplace stress
"The key here is to look for ways to reduce stress and improve the wellbeing of employees," said Chris Mayes. "With the disconnect between employees and employers views on the role Low Pay plays in causing workplace stress, it is clear that employers must look carefully at the inter-connects between different elements of their Total Reward strategy."
Where next?
With only 45% of Thai companies offering H&P programs with no strategy behind them, there is already evidence that Thai companies are already thinking more holistically and strategically than global counterparts (56% of companies globally have no H&P strategy). But this is only the start of the journey.
"It is important for Thai companies to focus on creating an effective H&P strategy which is customised for critical workforce segments which continuously measures and analyses the effectiveness of their H&P programs," said Chris Mayes. "Currently only 6% of Thai companies reported having such a H&P strategy that aims to differentiate – however pleasingly a further 42% plan to reach this within 3 years."
The starting point for Thai companies needs to be to have a greater focus on measuring and evaluating the impact of their H&P programs on health-risks, costs or employee productivity on a multi-year basis. Currently only 6% of Thai companies do such measurement – quite some distance behind the global result (22%) and even further behind peer companies in the US (39%).
"With Thai companies having the budget to implement new H&P programs and supporting technologies, it would seem sensible to focus first on creating the mechanisms to collect, measure and evaluate program success." Said Chris Mayes.
By 2018, more than half of Thai employers plan to rely on professional services to promote a healthy lifestyle and wellbeing strategy. "Our research shows that employers in Asia have big aspirations," said Dr. Rajeshree Parekh. "The journey to health and wellness is a long one. Building a health and productivity strategy takes considerable effort and organisational resolve. Setting objectives that resonate with employees, and then delivering on the strategy's promises is a journey, not a race."