Four key questions for a joined-up employee wellbeing proposition

Imagine this: you’ve invested in a range of wellbeing services for your employees, from Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) to cycle-to-work schemes, but when you check the engagement numbers, they’re lower than you’d hoped. You start to wonder, what’s stopping people from using these services?

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Does this sound familiar?

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Don’t worry, you’re not alone. It’s a quandary many organisations face.

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The likely issue isn’t that employees don’t value wellbeing or that the services themselves aren’t high-quality. More often, it’s that the proposition isn’t joined up; services are available, but they’re disconnected, hard to access, or simply unknown to the very people who need them most.

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So, how do you ensure your wellbeing services are fully integrated and easy to navigate?

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It starts by asking a few strategic questions. Before we invest another penny, let’s walk through them and discover how answering these questions can transform your approach into a cohesive, highly accessible wellbeing proposition.

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1. What services do we have on offer that we KNOW about?

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The first step in creating a unified wellbeing strategy is mapping out the services that are currently offered and actively managed by your organisation.

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Primary services like occupational health, mental health resources, EAPs, and workshops typically make up the foundation of an employee wellbeing programme. These are services that you offer or have procured directly. 

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Knowing exactly what you offer and how each service fits within your overall wellbeing goals will allow you to build a clear, intentional proposition. This isn’t just about listing services but understanding their purpose, usage rates, and how they align with employee needs.

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Once you have a detailed overview, consider whether each service is being used to its full potential, or if certain aspects need better promotion to drive engagement.

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Example: When we were developing Juice at The University of Sheffield we found that whilst we were offering a broad range of wellbeing resources and services, they were all managed by different stakeholders, so reporting and refinement was incredibly difficult. We worked with partners to unify the reporting process so we could be more proactive. 

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2. What services do we have on offer that we DON’T KNOW about?

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Yes, you read that right: don’t know about.

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Many services come bundled with secondary benefits that often fly under the radar. These “add-ons” can be hidden gems, like on-demand wellbeing content included with an EAP or family discounts through a gym membership scheme.

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If nobody knows about them, including you, then they’re unlikely to be used.

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To create a truly joined-up wellbeing proposition, it’s worth exploring any secondary services that come along with your main offerings. Your providers may have additional benefits, and knowing about them allows you to promote a wider range of wellbeing resources to your employees at no extra investment.

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Example: A manufacturing company I worked with discovered that their cycle-to-work provider also offered free access to Strava (I’m a big fan of this!), but this perk had never been promoted to employees. By highlighting this hidden benefit, they saw a big increase in overall engagement with their wellbeing programme, and they even created their own Strava community there.

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3. How do our employees access these services?

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Ease of access is key to engagement.

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Imagine employees needing to navigate multiple portals, platforms, or dig through emails just to find the wellbeing support that they need. This is likely the reality for most. 

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If services are disjointed, usage rates will almost certainly suffer.

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A joined-up wellbeing proposition offers a seamless experience. Centralising your services on a single page, whether through a dedicated intranet site, app, or even physical booklets (but be mindful of environmental impact), makes it far easier for employees to access and engage with the full range of options available.

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The simpler your user journey, the more likely employees are to use it.

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Example: I did a really cool project with three NHS trusts in London pre-Covid. These three trusts were based within walking distance of one another and they were often procuring the same services three times. On top of this, these interventions were half empty because of a convoluted user journey. To counter this, we shared services between the trusts, freeing resources for investing elsewhere and broadening the proposition, and we brought all services under one roof so they were easy to access. 

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4. How do we communicate these services to employees?

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Even the best services won’t get used if employees don’t know they exist.

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Many companies rely solely on email, but this often misses a large portion of the workforce, particularly those not based at a desk. A joined-up wellbeing proposition needs a multichannel communication strategy.

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Think about where your employees are and which channels they’re most likely to engage with. For office-based staff, email or intranet updates may work well, while for manufacturing or site employees, SMS alerts, posters, or quick briefings in team meetings may be more effective.

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Example: A large logistics company I did some work with recently discovered that their warehouse employees rarely checked email. To be honest this wasn’t that surprising. The vast majority of us have phones, and by shifting to SMS alerts (in this case, WhatsApp), they significantly increased usage rates.

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Tying it all together for a unified approach to employee wellbeing

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Ultimately, creating a joined-up wellbeing proposition means ensuring services are integrated, accessible, and communicated effectively.

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By regularly asking yourself these four questions, you’re not just offering more services, you’re making it easy and appealing for employees to engage.

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It’s time to turn fragmented offerings into a cohesive wellbeing strategy that genuinely supports your employees’ health and happiness, and it doesn’t have to cost the earth.

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