An evaluation of workplace health and wellbeing support in Walsall small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)
Evaluation completed June 2023
Walsall briefing document – Recommendations, in full (PDF: 9 pages)
Walsall briefing document – Methods (PDF: 3 pages)
Walsall briefing document – Full (PDF: 12 pages)
Walsall briefing document – Recommendations, short (PDF: 2 pages)
Walsall Plain Language summary (PDF: 3 pages)
Workplace Health and well-being Walsall slide deck (PDF: 29 slides)
Lloyd N, and others. Workplace Health and Wellbeing in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs): A Mixed Methods Evaluation of Provision and Support Uptake. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2025; 22(1). Available from https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22010090
PHIRST Connect would like to thank our collaborators at Walsall Council in particular, Joe Holding, Nina Chauahn-Lall, Amy Brittain and Emma Van Dun, and wider Advisory group and Advisory board members for continued assistant throughout the evaluation. We’d also to thank SMEs, community organisations and members, partners and stakeholders involved in the evaluation.
Supporting Employee Wellbeing in SMEs: Addressing Barriers and Taking Action
A blog written by Nigel Lloyd, Senior Research Fellow with PHIRST Connect for the Society of Occupational Medicine. The article discusses barriers identified in the evaluation that SMEs experience when trying to support employee wellbeing.
Fostering a culture of trust and proactivity for wellbeing in SMEs
The Evolve Workplace Wellbeing Podcast, season 1 episode 20.
Listen to Nigel Lloyd, Senior Research Fellow with PHIRST Connect and lead for this evaluation take part in an episode of The Evolve Workplace Wellbeing Podcast.
What does the evaluation mean for Local Government?
Walsall Council wished to ensure that it effectively supported the workplace health and wellbeing of SMEs and their staff. The knowledge produced provided insights into how to effectively encourage and facilitate SMEs’ engagement with workplace health and wellbeing support. Findings allowed Walsall Council to know whether and how workplace health and wellbeing support provided met the needs of SMEs and their workforces. Key findings indicated that there was a range of support available to workplaces, however it was often difficult to encourage SME’s to engage with them. Facilitators to support uptake included; raising awareness of existing low-cost or free support available for SMEs, education on the benefits and values of workplace health, and guidance on a range of workplace health and wellbeing support available, tailored to specific sectors. Beyond the Walsall locality, local authorities nationwide have benefited from the knowledge generated by this study.
What does the evaluation mean for the Public?
Workplace health and wellbeing has significant consequences for individuals’ work and non-work lives, and Walsall Council’s workplace wellbeing interventions fit within its broader range of initiatives to address the public health issues experienced by Walsall residents. This research has included the voices of employees, who shared their experiences and perspectives on workplace health and wellbeing within an SME. Findings from this work have contributed to awareness-raising about employee workplace health and wellbeing needs, the extent to which these are being met, and how to encourage greater employee engagement with employer-provided support.
How are the public involved in the evaluation?
We consulted employees from small and medium sized enterprises in this evaluation, as well as having two embedded public contributors from our PHIRST Public involvement in Research group (PIRg). PIRg members contributed to the design of this project and provided insight to help researchers answer the questions that are important to them. They also helped to interpret the findings of the evaluation and reach decisions about how best to share the outputs created. Additionally, we consulted with a local public contributor who supported recruitment processes and was able to sense check final recommendations.
Lay summary of research
Walsall Council commissioned a Healthy Workplace Programme (WHP) to improve health and wellbeing amongst Walsall employees. The WHP focused on supporting small and medium-sized organisations, known as SMEs, with a specific focus on SMEs sized 10 and 249 employees. Men, people in low paid work, and individuals who were employed in routine and manual work, were the key groups whose health and wellbeing the WHP aimed to improve. The workplace health team provided a range of services which included:
- Delivery of National Health Service (NHS) health checks and health assessments for SME staff;
- Advice and support for SMEs in assessing staff wellbeing needs;
- Support to gain regional workplace wellbeing accreditation;
- Provision of health and wellbeing workshops for staff;
- A 12-week behaviour change support programme for individual staff members;
- Support for SMEs to develop workplace wellbeing polices.
The overall aims of the evaluation included:
- Looking at the ways small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) were involved with health and wellbeing services/ support, including what helped and hindered their involvement.
- Looking at SME employee’s views and experiences of health and wellbeing support services offered by their employer.
The study used different methods to capture the information needed to answer the research questions above. This included both qualitative (words) and quantitative (numbers) methods. The methods were broken down into five workstreams (WS):
- WS1 – Focus group discussions with Walsall stakeholders, during which they talked about the strategies used to involve SMEs in workplace health and wellbeing support, and barriers to involvement. These stakeholders included individuals from several different teams who supported health and wellbeing inWalsall SMEs.
- WS2 – A survey of Walsall-based SMEs, collecting data on employers’ awareness of health and wellbeing support; employers’ levels of engagement with health and wellbeing support services; employers’ health and wellbeing support needs; and how well the wellbeing services/support on offer met the needs of employers.
- WS3 – Focus group discussions with Walsall SME employers explored topics like barriers to SMEs’ involvement with workplace health and wellbeing support; employees’ health and wellbeing needs; how/whether employees’ needs had been assessed; any gaps in workplace health and wellbeing support; and factors that might have helped SMEs become more involved in available support.
- WS4 – Focus group discussions with employees who worked within Walsall-based SMEs, covered subjects such as their views of the workplace health and wellbeing services available through their workplace, and if their health and wellbeing needs were being met.
- WS5 – Analysis of the data, bringing together the findings and producing outputs for a range of stakeholders.
Local Government / Partner(s)
Walsall Council
PHIRST Connect Research Team
Nigel Lloyd, Imogen Freethy, Professor Julia Jones, Nigel Smeeton, Adam Wagner, Professor Wendy Wills, Professor Katherine Brown
*All PHIRST Connect members input into every project
NIHR Funding Award: NIHR135508
Image credit: iStock