Should family businesses consider wellness programs for employees?

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Mental health distress is affecting 50 per cent of small- and medium-sized employers since the outbreak of COVID-19, according to a recent survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and group insurance provider Nexim Canada.

The study showed that workers are not coping with increasing debt, decrease in customer spending, and the difficulties around managing other employees’ mental-health challenges. A worrying 66 per cent of employers are reporting near-burn-out, and 54 per cent of business owners said their staff are facing mental health challenges (a 19-per-cent jump compared to a similar report in 2020).

Studies like this are the reason why a majority of companies offer health and wellness programs for their employees, even though there can be concerns about cost effectiveness or return on investment in implementing them.

Here, three experts discuss what challenges small- to mid-sized business owners face in structuring health and wellness programs, and how implementing them may be a necessity for the future of all businesses in Canada.

Denis Trottier, Chief Mental Health Officer, KPMG

Should Canadian businesses consider implementing health and wellness programs, and if so, why?

“Absolutely they should because in this world in shortage of labour if you want to attract and retain the brightest and the best we need to be involved in the overall wellness of our employees.”

Are there any cons to implementing a health and wellness program?

“There are cons to implementing if you’re not doing it for the right reasons. The tone at the top is so critical. Leadership needs to be walking the talk and not just bringing in various wellness consultants and not participating themselves.”

What factors should family businesses consider when contemplating a wellness program?

“This is one of the few items in the business that has immediate return on investment, if you think of employee retention, presenteeism, reduction of short-term leave, and reduction of long-term leave. There is a positive return on investment right out of the gate.

Despite your size there are so many free mental-health benefits that you can draw upon for your team. Bounce Back, for example, is a program funded by our tax dollars. It’s relatively new, but it’s right across Canada. Mind Beacon is another tool, an e-therapy tool that is now free for 12 weeks. Movember, for men’s mental health, has amazing tools now. A voice for youth mental health is Jack.org.”

How can businesses evaluate success and set benchmarks for wellness programs?

You put it in your employee surveys. Put questions in there that you can get data on, such as, ‘How open would you be to talking to one of your supervisors about a mental health challenge?’

The other one would be to look at the utilization of your employee assistance program. Compare the utilization to an industry average to see how you’re trending. Review your employee assistance program to see if you compare to industry averages.”

What are potential barriers to implementing a successful wellness program?

“It’s very important that you define your role up front. The role of these Canadian businesses is not to turn their employees into doctors so that they can diagnose each other. Their role is to provide their employees with the necessary tools, so they know where to turn to be able to support each other. To help their employees to build their personal mental-health toolbox so they can care for themselves, their circle of loved ones and their colleagues.”

Jordan Friesen, President, consultancy Mindset Mental Health Strategy Inc.

Should Canadian businesses consider implementing health and wellness programs, and if so, why?

“Yes, absolutely. The return on investment for workplace health initiatives is well-established in Canada and beyond. Specific to mental health programs, ROI has been conservatively estimated at $1.62 for each dollar invested and this return grows over time.

Beyond the financial benefits, these types of programs aid in both the recruitment and retention of staff. Younger workers, in particular, look for mental-health support from current and prospective employers. A pre-pandemic study from the U.S. indicated 50 per cent of millennials and 75 per cent of Gen-Z workers have left or would leave a job if their mental health wasn’t supported effectively.”

Are there any cons to implementing a health and wellness program?

“Based on the ROI and human capital benefits, there aren’t any cons per se. That being said, many employers (and employees) have lost faith in typical health and wellness programs because they’ve failed to meet employees’ needs (and so failed to generate benefit for the business).

To help ensure success of any health and wellness program, an employer needs to first listen and understand the core needs of its employees and what aspects of their health and wellness are being challenged. There is no one-size-fits-all solution and employers need to commit to having a dialogue with their employees to set the right foundation for success.

Beyond that, another common misstep is making wellness a solely individual issue. While it’s true employees need solutions they can use individually to help maintain their health (e.g. gym memberships or meditation apps), the way work is designed and organized is the root cause of most employee stress and poor health. So, in addition to providing the individual solutions, look at improving organizational influences like communication, leadership quality, workload, and culture. You can give employees all the individual tools in the world, but if the workplace itself is making them unhealthy you’re unlikely to see success.”

What factors should family businesses consider when contemplating a wellness program?

“Smaller-scale businesses face a unique challenge in implementing effective programs for health and wellness because most wellness solutions are designed for companies with larger headcount. This is where I often see in-house or grassroots solutions become more effective because they are often low or no-cost.

Things that make a big impact with minimal effort include meaningful recognition programs, regular opportunities for connection and relationship building, and a focus on growth and development.

On the mental health side of things, there are a whole host of free services now available to Canadians as a result of the pandemic. If a business can’t afford specific mental-health supports for employees, they should make sure they are aware of publicly available services and direct employees to access them when needed.

Privacy is a double-edged sword in this case. Smaller organizations have the benefit of stronger personal relationships, which can provide support when someone’s health or wellness is poor. This comes with a trade-off of reduced sense of anonymity when dealing with health challenges. Businesses need to clearly define how confidential health information is gathered and who has access to it so it’s clear to all employees. However, for employees accessing nearly any third-party wellness program or service, they can trust [there is] high degree of confidentiality and anonymity in terms of what’s shared back to an employer – typically no more than aggregate usage data.”

How can businesses evaluate success and set benchmarks for wellness programs?

“Businesses can evaluate success in many different ways. For some, ROI is a strong benchmark of success. In this case, comparing incremental health and wellness investment to changes in turnover and absenteeism costs is a good strategy.

Utilization is another common measure of success. A common misconception is that a company should strive to get to a point of zero utilization (presumably because their employees are all healthy). Instead, companies should look for a shift in utilization from downstream benefits (like sick time or prescription drug costs) to upstream, preventative solutions like PTO [paid/personal time off], extended health benefits, or exercise programs.”

What are potential barriers to implementing a successful wellness program?

“The biggest barrier is lack of leadership commitment and role modelling. Leaders need to stay the course and understand that investing in health and wellness needs to remain a consistent business priority in order to reap the benefits.

In addition, leaders need to demonstrate the types of behaviours that support health and wellness – disconnecting while on vacation, building movement into their day, and seeking mental health support when needed are all ways that leaders can normalize health-promoting behaviours in the workplace.”

Sean Burke, Founder, mental health and well-being platform CheckingIn

Should Canadian businesses consider implementing health and wellness programs, and if so, why?

“Absolutely. Effective health and wellness programs can decrease staff turnover, increase productivity, and incentivize new employees to join the organization. Preventative mental and physical health care can reduce missed work and disability claims, lowering health care and insurance costs.

Plus, staff with good mental health tend to demonstrate better communication, emotional intelligence, and emotional agility. This boosts morale, improves company culture, and can take some of the pressure off management to resolve interpersonal conflicts.

In addition, it is the ethically responsible thing to do. Taking care of the health and wellness of employees demonstrates corporate responsibly, and the well-being of employees goes a long way toward building a positive reputation.”

Are there any cons to implementing a health and wellness program?

“Of course, the most obvious con is the cost. Plus, there’s no ‘quick fix’ – deeply changing a workplace culture, even for the better, can be a long process.

Not all programs are accessible or tailorable to meet the needs of all employees. Because all employees are unique, their health and wellness needs are as well. What constitutes meaningful support for one employee might not work for another.

It can also be difficult to know what programs will provide the most benefit to employees, and, depending on what is selected, comprehensive plans can be difficult to administrate. But taking care of the people who take care of your bottom line is ultimately better for business in the long run.”

What factors should family businesses consider when contemplating a wellness program?

“Sometimes with smaller companies the perception of confidentiality and anonymity can be a barrier to participation. Additionally, smaller companies may also think they don’t have the time or skills to be able to add another mental health or wellbeing program. Thus, leveraging a third-party platform can help to mitigate the concerns related to privacy and confidentiality while making it much simpler to leverage third party programs and implementation tools.”

How can businesses evaluate success and set benchmarks for wellness programs?

“Evaluating employee health and wellness really requires a paradigm shift when it comes to determining what constitutes success. Because wellness is subjective, it can be difficult to measure so getting clear on the desired outcomes before launching any new tool or program is critical to determining its impact and value.

While it may be easy for a company to evaluate success based on engagement metrics, I’d encourage leaders and business owners to look beyond this metric and go deeper. Assessing the company culture, requesting feedback from employees, and monitoring employee retention, sick days, and overall health insurance costs can provide some insights. But ultimately, it is up to each organization to audit the support structures they currently have in place and define the objectives of any new program they implement.”

What are potential barriers to implementing a successful wellness program?

“The commitment to employee well-being really does have to come from the top of the organization and be reinforced by all levels of management. Wellness programs are most successful when they are consistently engaged with by all employees, and that engagement is supported by management. In addition, a successful program must be able to meet people where they are at. Too many programs are designed only for those employees who are already healthy. Consider the diversity of your staff, don’t be afraid to think creatively to meet your employees’ needs, and be patient!”

Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

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