Want to save £554 per employee?

This is what new research from the CIPD have found sickness absence cost. And that doesn’t include the indirect costs of poor performance, lower productivity, reduced customer service not to mention the cost of turnover or litigation should they decide to make a claim that the employer has been in breach of their duty. Even a robot CEO would recognise the bottom line value of implementing a wellbeing strategy so save that kind of money, so how come only 8% of employers have one? I suspect it is a our old friend “stigma”, at the root of which is a simple lack of understanding of the basic principles of wellbeing.

Wellbeing is not complicated. There is enough evidence out there that shows employment practice that promotes wellbeing, and that which does not, and at the heart is making sure managers have the skills needed to communicate, encourage and understand staff. No one has been taken to court for trying to support wellbeing. Plenty have for choosing to ignore the issue. You could blame stigma on wilful blindness, ignorance or just plain apathy, but what is clear is that if no-one does anything, then these figures will just carry on climbing.