According to a survey from staffing firm OfficeTeam, two-thirds of HR managers (66 percent) reported their organization has expanded their health and wellness offerings in the past five years. And these efforts haven’t gone unnoticed: 89 percent of workers said their company is supportive of their wellness goals.

HR managers were also asked to name the most innovative thing they’ve heard of a company doing to support employee health and wellness. Here are some of their responses:

  • Paying employees extra money if they don’t check work email while on vacation
  • Offering onsite exercise, meditation, yoga and healthy cooking classes
  • Providing free massages
  • Having a nurse’s department in the office
  • Giving workers fitness tracking devices
  • Offering onsite personal trainers

“Since professionals spend so much of their time at work, health and wellness programs aren’t just a nice to have — they are becoming a key factor in employee job satisfaction and well-being,” said Brandi Britton, a district president for OfficeTeam. “Not offering these benefits can put a company at a disadvantage when it comes to staff recruitment and retention.”

Additional findings:

  • Employees cited food at office celebrations (30 percent) and snacks brought in by colleagues (22 percent) as the biggest obstacles to meeting health and wellness goals.
  • More than two in five professionals (44 percent) said they eat healthier when they work from home. Of all respondent groups, male employees (53 percent) and those ages 18 to 34 (55 percent) reported this most often.
  • Three in five professionals (60 percent) bring their lunch to the office. Women (73 percent) and workers ages 55 and older (75 percent) are most likely to pack their meals.
  • While more than half of employees (54 percent) are fans of the office candy jar, one-third (33 percent) have a love-hate relationship with it. Men (61 percent) and workers ages 18 to 34 (62 percent) are especially enthusiastic about this supply of sweets.

View an infographic of the research: https://www.roberthalf.com/blog/compensation-and-benefits/employee-health-and-wellness-checkup. In addition, data tables with breakdowns of the results by gender and age are available.

About the Research
The surveys of workers and HR managers were developed by OfficeTeam. They were conducted by independent research firms and include responses from more than 300 HR managers at U.S. companies with 20 or more employees and more than 1,000 U.S. workers 18 years of age or older.