UK: Business 'bunker mentality' risks health and wellbeing of workforce

• 39% of employers say their prime aim is to have a productive and flexible team 
• A further 30% say they want maximum productivity for headcount
• 19% of employees think their boss creates a stressful workplace
• 29% of employers admit they could do with improving work/life balance.

Britain’s businesses risk jeopardising the health of their workforce if they retain a “bunker mentality” focused solely on profit and productivity, rather than the health and wellbeing of their staff, according to new research released today by Aviva.

39% of employers questioned in Aviva’s annual Health of the Workplace study claim their prime aim is to foster a highly productive and flexible team.  This emphasis on profit over “softer values” was also highlighted as nearly a third (31%) say they are looking for maximum productivity for head count.  

This “task focused” approach is having an adverse effect on employees’ health. Nearly half of employees (47%) say that they feel much tenser at work than in their home life. Only 10% say they are more stressed at home. The situation is not helped by the fact that although 50% of employers consider themselves to be good role models, 45% admit to being stressed at work. The knock-on effects on employees’ health and wellbeing are clear as one in five (19%) say they think their bosses create a stressful environment. 

While over a quarter of employers (29%) admit they could do with improving their employees’ work/life balance, the research also highlights some positive behaviours. More than a quarter (27%) of employers say that their main priority is to create a motivated team who enjoy working together and 25% say that their number one priority is achieving a friendly company with a good work/life balance. 

Company size plays a key role in business priorities. The smaller the company, the more important work/life balance is thought to be, with half of companies with less than nine employees, citing this as their number one priority for the business. This falls to just 12% for companies with over 100 employees.

Encouragingly, overall workplace morale appears to be moving in the right direction.  Only 2% of employees say they don’t find the workplace friendly and one in four feel they work for a friendly company with a great social life. 

With 46% of employers saying they hold regular social events for their staff, they are by far the most common way to help build team spirit. But, there is evidence that some employers’ well-intentioned morale-boosters may not be having the desired effect. Over half (52%) of employees are less than enthusiastic about going out with their wider team, bringing into question the value employers get by funding these events. One in five employees openly admit that they don’t like socialising with their colleagues. A further 15% feel obliged to show their face, but don’t really enjoy it.

Although nearly a third (30%) of employees agree that their boss ensures that they have a good work/life balance, the research suggests that further improvement is needed.  

Dr Doug Wright, principal clinical consultant at Aviva UK Health comments: “The latest Aviva Health of the Workplace study suggests that while employers are making some very positive moves towards creating a healthy workplace environment, the overwhelming priority is still on financial performance. In the short term, this strategy can sustain a business through a difficult trading period, but it will undermine business performance in the longer term by damaging staff morale and allowing conditions like stress to flourish.

“It’s particularly worrying that employers currently see themselves as role models despite admitting to suffering punishing levels of stress themselves – especially considering a manager’s behaviour has an inevitable knock-on effect on their staff.  And, while it’s good to see employers opting for social events, they would be wise to consider if they might be better off investing in wellness initiatives that support the mental and physical wellbeing of their team as well as building team spirit.

“Businesses need to balance their financial priorities with efforts to improve the health, wellbeing and morale of the workforce. At Aviva we understand fostering wellbeing in the workforce is a key focus for employers, but many do not have the tools or insight to enable them to do this effectively. We’ve developed MyHealthCounts for Business to respond directly to this need.”

Unique in the market, MyHealthCounts for Businesses is designed to help companies with 250 or more employees manage their health and wellbeing provision. Utilising the innovative Q Score² system that underpins Aviva’s individual MyHealthCounts service, MyHealthCounts for Business provides employers with valuable insight that helps them  gain a clearer understanding of the health of their employees. It also offers them a range of tools to help them tackle their company’s key health risk areas and encourage their employees to take pro-active steps to lead a healthier lifestyle.

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MyHealthCounts for Business PDF (1.70MB)

For further information contact:
Amber Chable, PR and Communications Manager, Aviva UK Health
Telephone: 023 80359 383        
E-mail: amber.chable@aviva.co.uk

Notes to editors:

¹ All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from PoLLAB Research. Total sample size was 200 employers, 200 GPs and 1,000 employees. Fieldwork was undertaken in April 2010. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted.

About Health of the Workplace 4
Now in its fourth year, Health of the Workplace is an annual study that canvases GP, employer and employee opinion on topical issues. The report’s goal is to uncover important issues relating to health in the workplace, understand current debates and suggest solutions which will help both employers and employees.

² Aviva is working in partnership with Roadtohealth to provide MyHealthCounts. 

Q Score is a trademark of Roadtohealth ltd.

• Aviva is the world’s fifth largest* insurance group, serving 53 million customers across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific
• Aviva's main business activities are long-term savings, fund management and general insurance, with worldwide total sales of £45.1 billion and funds under management of £379 billion at 31 December 2009 
• We are the largest insurance services provider in the UK and one of the leading providers of life and pensions products in Europe  
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* based on gross worldwide premiums at 31 December 2008

** Source: ABI data released May 2010