To mark this year’s World Mental Health Day, SELECTIO Group, the largest organization for consulting in human resources, conducted a survey which showed that companies in Croatia holding the Employer Partner certificate continue the trend of increasing investment in wellbeing initiatives and that these companies have included care for the general welfare and mental health of employees as primary goals of their HR strategy in recent years.
The same research showed that designing and adapting wellbeing programs to the actual needs of employees represents a complex process, as evidenced by the fact that almost all companies with the Employer Partner certificate implement systematic programs for employee health care, and 57 percent of them create wellbeing programs in collaboration with external experts. The research also shows that more than 71 percent of companies with high-quality human resource management offer employees free or subsidized psychological counseling, and more than 76 percent of companies offer annual health check-ups. Additionally, as many as 52 percent of surveyed companies have systematic initiatives to prevent burnout, and 73 percent of them have initiatives to assist in balancing work and private life.
Is wellbeing the employer’s responsibility?
Corporate wellbeing, or the employer’s care for employee welfare, refers to business practices aimed at improving and maintaining the psychosocial health, satisfaction, and productivity of employees in order to achieve business results. However, the question arises whether the employer is responsible for the health of their employees or if it is the responsibility of each employee for themselves.
– The responsibility is mutual. The employer is obliged to respect employee protection measures and knows that the most common cause of inefficiency is poor physical and mental health, as well as an imbalance between private and work life. On the other hand, we see that some employees have very little or no capacity to take care of their health and that, due to a misperception of mental health, many employees do not seek help. Therefore, the first step often involves surveying employees about their mental health status and identifying who needs additional help. This is followed by the introduction of wellbeing programs that cover various aspects of health care and provide not only information but also tools that will encourage positive changes. It is very important that wellbeing programs are aimed at all employees at all hierarchical levels, including managers, and that they are not a short-term initiative – explains Tanja Prekodravac, Senior HR Consultant at SELECTIO Group.
