What is holistic wellbeing? How to build an effective model

Change is inevitable in the world of HR, and it sometimes feels like a battle to stay ahead of the curve. But being proactive doesn’t mean changing your strategy every five minutes in response to the latest HR trend. Instead, it means evolving your approach to suit new norms and expectations that allow you to stay competitive in the race to engage, retain and attract top talent.

One of the areas of HR that we’ve seen evolve most rapidly over the last decade is employee wellbeing, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Proactively supporting wellbeing is no longer just a nice perk for employees, it’s a baseline requirement to fulfil the basic human needs of the workforce. HR teams are having to work hard to keep up with this rate of change and look at employee wellbeing from a more holistic angle. 

And while it can be easy to get distracted by shiny new trends, holistic wellbeing is far more than just another HR buzzword. Let’s explore what it means.

What is holistic wellbeing?

As the name suggests, holistic wellbeing adopts a broad angle of supporting an employee as a whole person rather than just a member of staff. It’s making its way into mainstream HR as a result of the accelerating evolution of employee wellbeing. And, in my opinion, it’s here to stay.

A holistic wellbeing strategy is personalised, proactive and inclusive. It considers how your people would best benefit from wellbeing initiatives throughout their everyday lives in a continuous way, rather than being a tickbox exercise.

As people professionals, we’re responsible for ensuring that our wellbeing programmes are authentic and meaningful. For as long as I can remember, organisations have been encouraging their people to ‘...bring your whole self to work’. But only now are we re-focusing our wellbeing and inclusion strategies to proactively support an employee’s ‘whole self’. So it’s not much of a surprise that 35% of UK employees say their overall wellbeing has decreased in the last two years, over half frequently experience stress at work, and 4 in 10 feel that workplace concerns have negatively impacted their wellbeing. 

Whichever way we look at it, research is consistently showing us that an employee’s experience at work has a significant impact on their overall quality of life. While this might sound obvious, traditional wellbeing methods have not been structured in a way that supports an employee’s overarching needs – both inside and outside the workplace – and promotes psychological safety.  

Which is why I think the term ‘wholebeing’ sums up holistic wellbeing so perfectly. Where traditional methods have been focused on physical or mental wellbeing in isolation, the holistic approach encourages us to think in a far broader sense and consider how we can meet employees’ total needs. 

Employee wellbeing has moved on from just lunchtime meditation sessions, an employee assistance programme (EAP) and free fitness classes. I’m not saying that these things aren’t great, but they’re simply no longer enough on their own. 

The role of wellbeing in supporting employee appreciation

When we look at our approach to employee wellbeing through the lens of ‘wholebeing’, it’s clear that wellbeing and appreciation are intrinsically linked.

Our Economic Value Study found that 63% of employees who never feel appreciated at work reported declining mental wellbeing over the last two years. On the flip side, 65% of employees who felt frequently appreciated at work said their mental wellbeing had improved over the same period. 

We can’t ignore the significant impact that appreciation has on overall wellbeing. So let’s rewind a little – what do I actually mean by ‘employee appreciation’? Is it not the same as recognition? Not exactly. While recognition acknowledges and celebrates employees based on something they have done, appreciation goes one step further by showing genuine gratitude for who they are, as a person.  

As our Total Employee Experience pyramid demonstrates, employees have a basic need to feel both physically and physiologically safe inside and outside of the workplace. This need is underpinned by all of the different elements of wellbeing – physical, mental and financial. Before they can progress to the next level of the pyramid, they need to feel genuinely cared for by their employer and supported in both the short and long term.

The most important takeaway is that supporting employee wellbeing in an entirely holistic sense is a vital part of the employee experience, and is key to an employee feeling genuinely cared for and appreciated.

How to build a holistic wellbeing model

The case for holistic wellbeing is pretty compelling, right? So let’s explore some of the actionable strategies that you can deploy to build an effective holistic model that acknowledges your employees’ need for physical and psychological safety. 

The CIPD outlines that employers should proactively support employees’ physical health and safety and mental health by providing resources such as: 

✅ Counseling 

✅ An EAP

✅ Occupational health services

✅ Initiatives to promote employee self-care

These things will lay the foundation of your programme. But to build a truly holistic model, you need to go further by creating a programme of proactive support that acknowledges your employees’ total needs.

It should include things like on-demand wellbeing content, financial education, employee savings and discounts, comprehensive line manager wellbeing training, a cycle-to-work scheme, and a healthcare cash plan.  

Whatever elements you can include, it’s always helpful to pull everything together in a dedicated place for all things wellbeing, like our Wellbeing Centre. It can be accessed from any device, at any time, so is a valuable resource for those working remotely or on the frontline. It offers on-the-go access to resources and support across all pillars of wellbeing, building on the foundations of your strategy and making it easy for your people to find what they need and prioritise their wellness.   

How Reward Gateway | Edenred can support your holistic wellbeing strategy

Employees who are healthy and happy typically have higher levels of productivity than those who are not. They are also more engaged, less likely to leave, and more satisfied with life overall.

Here at Reward Gateway, we truly understand that significance. So our dedicated employee wellbeing solutions have been designed to meet the unique and ever-changing needs of your workforce. 

Start your journey today and speak with one of our engagement experts to find out how we can support your organisation’s wellbeing strategy!