Woah, well that was some year, wasn’t it? Luckily Mental Health continued to be front and centre of the Health and Wellbeing agenda because, boy, were there lots of challenges psychologically affecting us all: wars, political chaos, economic uncertainty, natural disasters, soaring rates of mental ill health especially in younger people who struggled to access care…
You may be forgiven for wondering if we can find any joy in the last twelve months at this traditionally jolly season. Well, the bright side of all these stressors is that workplace Mental Health and Wellbeing became a focal point for many employers as they realised the importance of supporting employees.
This feature outlines the most common challenges and trends in the Health and Wellbeing sector that our experts saw in 2024 (but make sure you read look out for the follow up feature for the good news on ‘Achievements of 2024’ too!)
Challenge: Budget cuts
Yes, you knew this one was coming.
Predictions from last year turned out to be true as many employers tightened their belts.
“The biggest challenge I’ve seen in 2024 is the trend to remove wellbeing ‘headcount’ from organisations,” says Katherine Billingham-Mohamed, Leadership and Engagement Director, Ipsos. “Several organisations removed specialist roles that have only been in place for a couple of years”.
As she says, this could, of course, be because wellbeing strategies are now fully embedded and integrated in the employee life cycle or other HR approaches and policies. “But the reality is that, as organisations face clamp downs on budget, wellbeing can be seen as a luxury,” she says.
There were not only job losses, but others talk about training and resources being quietly cut too. As Wellbeing Strategist and Consultant Amy McKeown points out this can sometimes be a reflection of progress in the industry as well because it has led to a “more discerning market, focused on cost and strategic programmes that are seen to work; less fluff is accepted now”.
MHFA England Chief Executive, Sarah McIntosh articulates the subsequent challenge for providers when she says: “Scaling services to match [growing] demand, within tight budgets or limited staffing, while maintaining quality, posed a significant hurdle.”
Challenge: Personalisation
If we had to bet on the most used phrase this year, it would probably be “Wellbeing isn’t one size fits all”.
Nonetheless, while there’s clearly the recognition of the importance of personalisation, due to the already-mentioned budget cuts, many employers aren’t delivering yet. And it’s diversity that is suffering.
Dr Jo Yarker, Professor in Occupational Psychology at Birkbeck University of London, identifies those impacted as employees “who most need support, such as workers with longterm conditions and disabilities”.
Letitia Rowlin, principal wellbeing consultant at Aon, cites those with “too complex” mental health problems for EAP services. And, more generally, McIntosh says it’s “marginalised groups” who are “sometimes underserved in broader wellbeing initiatives”.
Challenge: Supporting neurodivergent colleagues
A particular group which employers have struggled to support is neurodivergent employees.
One of the main challenges for Jackie Buttery, Head of Benefits and Reward, Human Resources, Travers Smith, for example, was “getting support for those who feel there is a potential neurodiversity-related diagnosis to explore”. What she encountered was individuals waiting months, years even, to access diagnostic pathways often because “these are not yet part of the core coverage provided by the private medical insurers”.
“A lack of diagnostic support can lead to significant stress and worry,” she says. “This area of care will have to improve in the coming years but the waiting in the meantime is a significant challenge.”
But it’s not only provider support that has been a challenge. Employer knowledge is also an issue, says Sharron Moffatt, MHFA Instructor and Cancer Support Ambassador:
“The Wellbeing needs of neurodiverse individuals are often overlooked or misunderstood. Many businesses are only just beginning to understand how to create spaces that support all employees equally.”
Challenge: Leaders struggling to manage their own wellbeing while looking after others’
As we’ve already said, 2024 was a lot.
Not only were leaders tasked with maintaining morale through such uncertain times, navigating the new hybrid world and managing a multigenerational workforce with differing expectations, but they were also often responsible for making downsizing decisions.
“So the pressure of driving organisational change while maintaining their own wellbeing was high,” says Sarah Restall, Head of Strategy and Operations, Smart About Health.
Not helping was the fact that line managers “often lacked the training necessary to navigate these demands”, adds Restall. Perhaps the rising, record rates of burnout, mental health issues and people off work due to ill health (especially younger generations) is evidence, partly, of leaders’ struggle.
Challenge: Growing struggle with financial wellbeing
According to Octopus Money, a staggering 92% of people struggled to get the support they needed for their long-term finances this year, showing that financial advice is still inaccessible for many.
Obviously, the need for this support was exacerbated by the ongoing cost of living crisis, rising energy and retail costs, as well as stagnant wages.
“This created a unique challenge for those providing financial advice,” says Ruth Handcock, Chief Executive, Octopus Money, which this year has worked with employers like MoneySuperMarket, Experian and Browne Jacobson. “People sought not only advice, but also emotional support in navigating uncertain financial landscapes.”
This issue is a “growing concern” for employers, says IOSH’s Chief Executive Vanessa Harwood-Whitcher, because of clear acknowledgement now that “financial stress impacts on employee health and productivity”.
Challenge: Growing scepticism
For Gethin Nadin, Chief Innovation Officer, Benefex, the biggest challenge facing the industry this year was “the continuation of widescale scepticism”. The dangerous trend he cites that has kept going is that workplace wellbeing is viewed by some as a “tick box exercise” or a “once a year exercise”, rather than “an integral part of modern employment”.
Scepticism is increasingly building in a backlash against DEI in particular, whose roots are political.
As Roxanne Hobbs, Founder of The Hobbs Consultancy, says:
“DEI is becoming more and more politicised following Donald Trump’s re-election. As the FT has reported, US companies are accelerating their retreat from DEI initiatives, with Walmart and Boeing being amongst the most high profile so far. I worry that the right wing agenda is growing in the UK too. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has already labelled DEI as ‘woke indoctrination’.”
It’s common that when a movement – like the move towards a more inclusive workforce – begins there is much momentum until it reaches a tipping point when the pendulum starts swinging back. This is often self-regulating to find a place of balance.
Hobbs suggests that perhaps what is happening here is a backlash against those organisations which have potentially taken the pendulum too far one way by “only holding space for a very specific agenda and ideology”. However, as she says, to work through this period and find balance, it’s crucial we listen to different perspectives and to listen, so we can work towards a society “that cares about people as well as profit”.
Challenge: The move towards global solutions
Nadin says that one of the more surprising trends in 2024 was the increasing demand for more global solutions.
“Historically, wellbeing (especially Mental Health) was so heavily tailored per region because of stigma and culture differences. However, in 2024 there was a fairly big change in that,” he says.
He cites the examples of regions like India and the UAE which in 2024 “have made very big strides towards being more open about worker wellbeing”.
Consequently, more global employers want solutions that will cross borders and cultures, and provide wellbeing support for every employee in every region.
“But very few wellbeing initiatives currently can do that,” he adds.
Challenge: Returning to the office
“2024 has felt like a year when we have ventured back to the office, at least in part,” says Buttery.
She says this felt surprising because she had expected 2024 would be a repeat of 2023: “Yet it seems people are feeling the benefit (professionally and in their sense of wellbeing) from being back in a routine and travelling to the office. People at work are talking positively about mixing in person with colleagues and I think we are getting our cultures back, even if we do want to retain our hybrid working.”
That said, as identified in this article about Gen Z, and this article, some generations are more reluctant than others to get back to the office and their commute, so a big challenge has been managing multigenerational expectations.
Challenge: Measurement continues to be a difficult issue
We won’t linger here, as this has been covered extensively in features like this. However, as Billingham-Mohamed says:
“I think what surprised me is that we would be further forward on the ‘how do we measure the impact of our wellbeing strategies?’ than we are – but I seem to hear the same conversations around measurement and ROI as I did a year ago.”
Conclusion
Working in workplace wellbeing can feel like one step forward, two steps back, a feeling that Hasan Reza, Head of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Kent Community NHS Foundation Trust, encapsulates when he says:
“Every year I feel like we may be experiencing our watershed moment for Health and Wellbeing but it still doesn’t seem to have come to fruition. So much is left to achieve. As much as wellbeing, mental, emotional and spiritual health have been key strands in strategies of every organisation worldwide, we still seem to be struggling as employers to find the key offer that truly impacts our people.”
And, as Yarker says, despite huge strides in destigmatising mental health, some sectors still appear to be struggling with this, which limits employee engagement with the topic.
“You only have to look at the comments on news paper articles about the Get Britain Working white paper to see the level of stigma,” she says. “Within the community [of the Health and Wellbeing industry] we can often work in an echo chamber and the sharp reality is we have a long way to go.”
However, the other thing about working in the industry is that you often don’t realise just how much progress you’re making, either. Which is why we’re compiling our 2024 list of industry achievements – watch this space!
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