Almost 43% of companies use the performance bonus, as well as ad hoc investments, to finance corporate welfare. This is the main figure that emerges from the Fourth Welfare Report and First Wellbeing Report by OD&M Consulting, a Gi Group company specializing in HR Consulting based on the results of two surveys conducted, one on a sample of 150 Italian companies and the other on a sample of 500 workers, with the aim of understanding how the perception of corporate welfare is evolving from both points of view and what the impact is on people's engagement and motivation.
Among the companies that already have a welfare plan (47,6%) the large and medium-sized companies prevail (67,6%), while among the 43,5% of companies that intend to develop one in the next two years the small ones emerge: almost 60%, up by more than 20 points.
The 2017 Stability Law contributed positively to supporting the diffusion of the plans in the company, in which the most popular option (80%) is the possibility, available to the worker, to convert all or part of the bonus of productivity in welfare services, followed by contributions to supplementary pension schemes or health care paid in place of the premium, again by choice of the worker.
WIDESPREAD WELFARE SERVICES
In addition to the possibility of tax exemption (64,3%), the services offered are chosen by companies also through internal surveys and focus groups.
The first four places in terms of diffusion are found in catering services, health care, time management and supplementary pensions. The recreational/social/educational area rose from ninth to fifth place (probable effect of the Stability Law which expanded the services that can be included in level II bargaining), while the area dedicated to school and education remained constant, but with a higher percentage of diffusion.
The arrows indicate the percentage above or below 3% diffusion compared to last year
HIGHLY APPRECIATED SERVICES
Workers particularly appreciate health care (75,9% satisfaction which tends to increase with age, reaching 86,5% for those aged 45-54) and the granting of holidays and leave with 74,7 .45% (the panel that most appreciates it is that between 54-83,8 years old with 72,8%). After time management services (appreciated by 35% and with the peak of maximum satisfaction for those aged 45-81 at 71,5%) and social security services (78,6% and up to 55 % for those aged 64-70,9), among the most popular are maternity (integration to treatment, birth certificate, reintegration training) with 81,5% (70,3% for women with children) and mobility with 90,9% (XNUMX% among the youngest).
"The change in workers' perception of the goals of implementing the plans - the percentage of those who thought it was a cost containment method was reduced by over 20 points - correlated to the growth in their satisfaction, confirms the validity of a communication clear and transparent and the importance of listening to and involving workers in the various design phases – comments Simonetta Cavasin, managing director of OD&M Consulting -. At the same time, it emerges that corporate welfare is reaching a certain maturity and a next goal is looming on the horizon: the increase in the level of energy and motivation within the organization thanks to services aimed at people's well-being. For this reason, 4 years after the first study, we wanted to investigate the new area of wellbeing; the greatest satisfaction is found precisely among the employees who recognize the increase in the level of personal and organizational well-being as the main purpose in the implementation of welfare plans”.
THE WELLBEING
Welfare policies are now considered among the most important levers of personnel management for three main reasons: they are considered a tool for improving the well-being of workers (77%), especially in medium-sized (82,9%) and small businesses (90%), represent an evolution of corporate benefit packages (60%) and, finally, constitute a new lever of Total Reward (32,9%) with a higher incidence in large companies (40%) than in small ones (10%).
Even if generally the only aspect of well-being to which the majority of companies declared to pay attention is the work environment (76,2%), nevertheless the sensitivity to the various aspects that determine corporate wellbeing grows among the companies that supply welfare services. Among the latter there is a medium-high attention not only to the work environment (90%), but also to medical prevention (63%) and relational well-being (61%).
This correlation between welfare and wellbeing is also highlighted in the Organizational Wellbeing Index, an index devised by OD&M Consulting to measure the level of "wellbeing" of the company taking into account seven dimensions (such as, for example, worker satisfaction with regard to work organization or identification in corporate values).
The average data detected amounts to 72% (transforming the positive judgments expressed by the workers into percentages according to a scale of 1 to 4 with respect to the total responses), but the oscillation can be positive by more than 20 points when 3 concomitant conditions investigated occur , which already individually in themselves have a positive impact on organizational well-being.
These are positive values of the People Wellbeing Index – which measures, on the other hand, the level of wellbeing of people at a psychological, physical, relational and value level – high trust in the company and the presence of company welfare plans; when all three conditions are added together, the Organizational Wellbeing Index can reach 92%.
