OREANDA-NEWS. March 24, 2016. In the war for talent, basic benefits are no longer considered to be enough to attract and retain the best people, and wellness is becoming an integral part of the overall business strategy according to ALM Intelligence’s latest report, Wellness Consulting.

The report also looks at the current Wellness Consulting landscape and has rated PwC as an advancing Vanguard Leader in this space. Providers that achieve Vanguard status demonstrate either market-leading depth in particular capabilities or meaningful depth across a broad spectrum of capabilities.

The recognition underpins PwC’s ability to “reboot” the traditional line of thinking about wellness programmes, from positioning around physical health, to encouraging clients to embrace holistic wellbeing as the new norm for their workforce.

Matthew Merker, senior analyst and lead for benefits at ALM Intelligence, who wrote the report, said that PwC is “particularly strong in its financial wellbeing capabilities.” He commented:

“PwC’s Employee Financial Education and Wellness practice has a well-developed financial wellbeing advisory offering that is ahead of the curve, as companies begin to embrace wellness beyond the physical, drawing upon the firm’s significant financial advisory capabilities and tailoring them to the individual to make smart decisions.

“The firm will remain strong in this capability area through its continued digital innovation and trend research from its Health Research Institute, providing awareness to clients of the latest drivers for employees to engage in wellness programs and how those programs will benefit their bottom line.”

Commenting on achieving the Vanguard rating, Scott Olsen, PwC’s US People and Organisation leader, said:

“The wellness of an organisation’s workforce is of increasing importance, as companies compete to recruit and retain the best talent and as work and life continue to converge. This latest Vanguard rating reflects how our wellness consulting practice is well placed to support clients with this challenge and demonstrates the depth of our market leading capabilities.

“We are pleased to have been recognised as a leading firm in this space, and that our use of digital innovation, which improves our clients’ employee engagement capabilities, ensuring successful launch or reboot of programs, has been highlighted in particular."

*ALM Intelligence, formerly Kennedy Consulting Research & Advisory.