Females more concerned than male colleagues about wellbeing - GRiD
Stress related to work, debt and long-term illness
Three areas concern women more, one area concerns more men and they are equally concerned in two areas
A survey by Group Risk Development (GRiD) has found that female employees are more concerned than their male colleagues about stress related to work (21% vs 18%), debt (18% vs 14%) and long-term illness (14% vs 8%).
However, male employees were marginally more concerned about stress related to home life (14% vs 12%)
Men and women were equally concerned (12%) about their general lack of fitness caused by a non-active lifestyle, while neither were particularly worried about ill-health related to obesity, smoking and alcohol dependence (5%), the survey of 1,165 UK employees revealed.
Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for GRiD said: "I'm sure that these results will surprise some employers and challenge the stereotypes that can be associated with gender in the workplace, for instance with women being more concerned about finances than men, and men more concerned than women about issues relating to home life. With that in mind, it's hugely important that employers do not make assumptions about the health and wellbeing needs of their workforce on gender, or of course, any other basis.
"Changes in the law and workplace practices, such as shared parental leave, mean that work and home life are becoming much more balanced across both genders, and that needs to be reflected in the employee benefits that are offered to all staff."
Tailored schemes
GRiD said the concerns will give a good indication of what support both men and women might value, and how employers could structure their wellbeing schemes accordingly.
It added that providing help to alleviate stress from responsibilities at home; financial support; assistance with long-term health conditions - or to improve any area of health and wellbeing - are key areas for businesses to focus on, especially in light of the Covid-19 crisis.
GRiD also said that a holistic and balanced employee benefits package that incorporates support for these areas will clearly be valued by a workforce.
Katharine Moxham added: "Most members of staff will be healthy and well throughout their entire time at work but no-one can predict what is just around the corner in terms of family or work life. An additional project at home, an ill child, sudden responsibilities as a carer, or health problems can all be difficult for an employee to manage at the same time as trying to work. And that's without adding in any extra work pressures such as vying for a promotion or pay rise, navigating a relocation, or new responsibilities, or of course, new challenges that we've seen with Covid-19.
"No employer should expect their staff to leave their personal problems at the door any more but employers who have support mechanisms in place for their employees are able to intervene before the situation escalates, which is not only a great support for the individual but also mitigates the likelihood, frequency and length of any absence related to such issues."
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