But flexibility and customization in benefits
are key to improving outcomes in personal and professional aspects
of daily life
Highlights:
- 80% of working Canadians report their overall wellbeing would
improve if offered a personalized wellness program through their
employer
- 70% of working Canadians with group or private insurance
coverage rank their overall wellbeing as excellent or good vs. 59%
of those without any type of insurance coverage at all
- Over half of working Canadians (53%) find health care spending
accounts to be most important in insurance coverage when looking
beyond traditional benefits
TORONTO, July 16, 2019 /CNW/ - Wellbeing in the workplace
is increasingly important, with good employee health and happiness
increasingly linked to better performance and productivity. In
fact, according to a recent RBC Insurance poll, the majority
of working Canadians (80 per cent) report that their overall
wellbeing would improve if their employer were to offer a
personalized wellness program that is customized to an individual's
specific wellness and health related interests and goals. The poll
also revealed that more than nine in ten working Canadians (94 per
cent) are more likely to work for an employer that cares about
their overall health and wellbeing. Other aspects of daily life
they say would improve if offered this type of program include
their physical health (78%), favourable opinions of their employer
(77 per cent), job satisfaction (73 per cent), mental health (71
per cent), and job productivity (68 per cent).
In particular, the poll revealed that, when it comes to group
benefits overall, flexibility and customization are important. Nine
in ten working Canadians value choice in their group benefits plan,
especially women (92 per cent female vs. 87 per cent male). Nearly
as many (84 per cent) agree that they would be more likely to
participate in a workplace wellness program that is customized to
their specific wellness goals. In return for this type of
customization, three quarters (76 per cent) of working Canadians
would be willing to share their health and wellness related
information and goals with an insurer.
"The poll really underscores the value working Canadians place
on having choice in benefits and personalized programs when it
comes to their overall wellbeing," said Julie Gaudry, Senior Director of Group Insurance
at RBC Insurance. "It's important for employers to design a
benefits package that considers the needs of their workforce,
especially as new generations enter and leave the market, this is
something that can largely influence employee morale and their
overall health."
Link between benefits and wellbeing
The poll also revealed a relationship between working Canadians
overall wellbeing and those who have group benefits or private
coverage. While 70 per cent of working Canadians with group or
private insurance rate their wellbeing as excellent or good, that
figure falls to 59 per cent for those without any type of insurance
coverage at all. A similar trend was found when working Canadians
described their mental health (71 per cent for those with group or
private insurance coverage vs. 59 per cent without any insurance
coverage).
"The data shows that employee wellbeing is generally higher when
they have benefits in place, whether through work or privately,"
said Gaudry. "But it's also clear that businesses need to look
beyond traditional benefits by offering things such as health
spending accounts, customizable wellness programs and even digital
solutions to help promote healthier lifestyles. In fact, over half
of working Canadians find health care spending accounts to be the
most important in insurance coverage when looking beyond
traditional benefits."
How to motivate employees to participate in a wellness
program:
It can be challenging for businesses to motivate
employees to participate in wellness programs. According to the RBC
Insurance poll, here are the top three factors that working
Canadians say would motivate them:
- A tailored wellness program targeted to specific health-related
goals (44 per cent)
- Progress-based incentives/rewards (40 per cent)
- Time away from their desk during work hours to dedicate to
wellness (35 per cent)
About the Study
These are some of the findings of an
Ipsos poll conducted between May 7-10,
2019 on behalf of RBC Insurance. For this survey, a sample
of 1,501 working Canadians aged 18 years and over was interviewed.
Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that
the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population
according to Census data and to provide results intended to
approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online
polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the
poll is accurate to within ±2.9 percentage points, 19 times out of
20, had all working Canadian adults been polled. The credibility
interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample
surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error,
including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement
error.
About RBC Insurance
RBC Insurance® offers a wide range
of life, health, home, auto, travel, wealth, annuities and
reinsurance advice and solutions, as well as creditor and business
insurance services to individual, business and group clients. RBC
Insurance is the brand name for the insurance operating entities of
Royal Bank of Canada, one of
North America's leading
diversified financial services companies. RBC Insurance is among
the largest Canadian bank-owned insurance organizations, with
approximately 2,900 employees who serve more than five million
clients globally. For more information, please visit
rbcinsurance.com.
SOURCE RBC Royal Bank