Coping after Covid: Recovering the hidden cost of the pandemic

Ask any leader about the essential things that keep their business ticking over and they’ll quickly list people, technology and infrastructure, the work environment – be that office or remote – maybe development and skills. How far down that list would you have to go before they said wellbeing?

Corporate wellbeing has an image problem. It’s often seen as a fluffy nice-to-have, something to keep the troops happy when there’s a bit of spare cash lying around.

This pandemic has shown us that not only is this stereotype incorrect, it’s dangerous.

Covid has made it all too clear that the productivity of our workforce, the success of our businesses and the buoyancy of our economy rests on health. We have to acknowledge that and invest in our health and wellbeing to recover and move forward.

Having been in this sector for over 100 years, we know the impact health and wellbeing can have. With this research, Westfield Health set out to quantify that impact and understand how wellbeing can and should be a vital tool for our economic recovery.

The results were striking. Wellbeing has the potential to add billions to our national economy, to ease long-standing inequalities between regions. But it must be done right; for those who see it as a tick-box exercise, a “nice-to- have”, it won’t deliver on its significant potential.

Wellbeing programmes don’t operate in isolation – they operate in the context of an organisation’s culture. The findings in this report are a rallying cry for senior leaders to recognise, invest and truly embrace wellbeing as part of their culture and as an essential business investment.

Our Coping with Covid report explored the findings of a 1,600-person survey of employees and HR leaders, to uncover the mental health impact of the pandemic.

In their follow-up Coping after Covid: Recovering the hidden cost of the pandemic, we examine the business impact of Covid-19 and explore how wellbeing can drive productivity and influence culture change.