This, of course, is motivated largely by the COVID-19 pandemic, for two main reasons. First, it forced us all to interact online rather than face to face. Second, it put a strain on many people’s health, both physically and mentally, increasing the need for health & wellness services.

In fact, some studies suggest that up to 92% of businesses with over 200 employees offer a wellness program. So, HR professionals are now faced with a huge choice in health and wellness tech, and it can be tricky to find the right one! Many companies will offer multiple services in this list, but it’s good to point out all the things they can do.

Assessments & Screenings

This service will allow employees to enter, view, and analyse their health via software. Tech like this is useful in preventative health, often offering warnings to employees who are under significant amounts of stress or exhaustion. Some even pair with wearable technology such as smart watches or rings.

Coaching

Encouraging a little more involvement with the program, these services can advise and guide employees to be at their best. This can be done either with a coaching professional interacting through the app, or with the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

Rewards

Sometimes integrated into the coaching or screening services, rewards and incentives can be offered to employees who complete certain wellness goals. This could be reaching a certain number of steps, eating a healthy lunch every day, or any number of things.

Education

It’s always helpful for employees to be up to date on what they should be doing to maximise their health. These apps offer resources on how employees can get a good amount of exercise or sleep, as well as giving tips for how to stay healthy when working from home, for example.

Mental Health

There’s been a huge, much-needed surge in mental health awareness in recent years. It’s another silver lining to the huge grey cloud of the pandemic. Along with it, we’ve seen an influx of incredible businesses that assist with mental health.

These can range from guided meditations and mood tracking all the way to online therapy and financial counselling. Each one can offer untold benefits to the employees that use them, so they’re an excellent investment for your business.

Flexible Benefits

One issue with any given benefit, including health and wellness, is not every employee needs it. If there’s a per-head spend involved, then this means that some money is inevitably lost. Flexible benefits platforms, however, allow employees to decide for themselves where their benefits come from. This can be true of health too; for example, an employee struggling with burnout might choose to use that month’s benefit balance on a counselling service, giving them the help they need with no extra help from you.

Conclusion

There’s plenty more that health and wellbeing services can do that we haven’t included in this list. Employers are often tentative to invest in wellness programs, seeing it as a cost with no obvious payoff. The thing is, they do pay off, with every £1 spent on wellness programs seeing an ROI of £1.50. So, it’s not just great for staff, but for your bottom line, too.