Their strategy is driven by a belief that an organisation committed to the health and wellbeing of its people is more attractive as an employer, more effective as an advisor and more efficient as a business.
At its most basic, Ernst & Young provide a comprehensive support infrastructure to help their people monitor and improve their health and wellbeing. This includes private health insurance, annual health screening, dedicated occupational professionals and workplace assessments. They also provide an employee assistance programme that includes support for their families.
But providing the infrastructure is only the start. They engage their people in a conversation about their health and wellbeing, in five key areas: stress management; nutritional balance; exercise; sleep; and greater control over their working life, through their leaders and the way they communicate as an organisation.
Their approach includes high profile campaigns across the organisation, often tied to their community activity, as well as providing the managers at a local level with the understanding and resources to have a personal conversation with their people about what’s right for them.
Whether it’s through dedicated intranet sites, visiting therapists, healthy eating menus in the restaurants or just a simple agreement in a team that they’ll change the way they work; these conversations are making a difference across our organisation every day.
One of the key ways Ernst & Young measure the impact of health and wellbeing on their bottom line is through employee turnover. In 2007 their staff numbers increased by 10% but their turnover decreased to 14% from 16%. Other benefits to the organisation include:
