The Importance of Well-being for Organizations and their People

Our SVP of Well-Being & Resilience, Chris Harrison, Ph.D., offers important ideas on what defines well-being. He addresses the impact the recent work-from-home model has presented to the individuals who make up our organizations, and presents data-driven tools and technologies that can contribute to well-being throughout the employee lifecycle.

Read more for Chris’s thoughts on how individual well-being impacts the employee experience and overall organizational well-being. 

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Q: Can you demystify what our industry often thinks well-being is, vs. what it actually is.

A: There has been significant change in the corporate well-being space over the past 20+ years. Initially, well-being programs focused primarily on physical health and wellness, with HR departments providing access to trainers, gyms and step counters via benefits programs. The space has evolved and we now recognize that physical wellness is just a subset of holistic well-being. Yesterday’s cutting edge programs have become today’s table stakes.

A shift toward comprehensive and holistic well-being programs was well underway prior to the pandemic, but was drastically accelerated by the pandemic’s disruption to how we work and live. Organizations started to invest in comprehensive well-being programs, with a particular focus on mental health.

I believe the next phase of evolution in the corporate well-being space will involve the holistic integration of well-being into a company’s People Strategy. How can we weave the threads of well-being into the fabric of our company’s culture? How do we incorporate it into recruiting, interviewing and selecting talent? How do we ensure that our onboarding and orientation programs support the fullness of our people’s humanity, and assist them in actualizing their, and the company’s, potential? How do we leverage well-being to enhance performance, develop the best leaders and create a working environment in which each person feels seen, cared for and understood? 

I believe well-being can be the central hub through which companies succeed and grow in a sustainable and responsible manner. CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) are fundamental components of comprehensive corporate well-being.

Q: What are some ways high growth companies can continue to scale and still maintain a culture of care and well-being for their people?

A: We need to teach people that it’s ok to show care for one another at work. Building and maintaining a culture where collaboration, cooperation and care are recognized as essential elements of success is critical for high growth companies.

A key component of well-being programming is the development of emotional intelligence at all levels. EQ is learned and can be developed continually throughout the lifespan. Empathy and compassion are critical skills that our team members need to employ to effectively serve our clients’ customers. It is, therefore, imperative that each of us treat one another with empathy and compassion in our daily interactions with one another. The gap between CX and EX can be quite stark in our business and well-being, as expressed through an emotionally intelligent workforce, is the bridge that can ensure both are optimized simultaneously. 

The development of EQ competencies can support high growth companies to achieve their goals by humanizing the work environment. When people treat one another with care everyone works harder, performs better and wants to stick around for a long time. All of these things supercharge growth.  

Q: How has a digital workforce and the pivot towards a work from home model impacted well-being, and what can companies do to better support their people who are working remotely?

A: I don’t think we’ve collectively appreciated the impact the work from home model has had on people’s well-being. We need to continue to develop our understanding of what people need in this new model of work. The first step in determining how to better support people is to truly understand how they are doing. We need to focus on continuing to develop ideas for what effective remote and hybrid work communities actually look like. How do we drive a sense of belonging virtually? How do we structure our connections with one another in a manner that captures the richness of in-person experience through the various technological enhancements that are available and in development? 

I think we also have to maintain awareness of the massive cultural differences and wide ranging diversity of experiences people working from home have across the globe. For many, the incredible conveniences of working from home far outweigh the costs. For others, working from home, in a multi-generational household for example, has made work much more difficult. We’re still in the very early days of optimizing well-being in this new world of work. I’m excited to continue listening to and learning from our people across the globe to ensure we develop a variety of solutions that meet their diverse needs. 

Q: How can organizations contribute to well-being starting from recruiting?

A: I think this area represents some of the most cutting edge work in corporate well-being. Talent Acquisition, traditionally, evaluates the technical abilities needed to successfully perform a job. These skills are assessed through formal analysis and by screening resumes for the completion of certain degrees or trainings. The evaluation of soft skills, however, remains tremendously undervalued. 

We can restructure success profiles to include the most important EQ competencies needed for particular roles. We can redesign behavioral event interviews to better understand how a candidate relates to teammates and discover what motivates them to succeed. These practices can ensure candidates are capable of caring for others and open to being cared for themselves.  

An ideal candidate will have the IQ and technical skills needed to perform a particular job and the EQ needed to be a great teammate, leader and contributor to a culture of care. This will allow organizations to hire people who are open, caring, flexible and curious to learn more about themselves and others. The implications of this approach are deep, as those with higher EQ are more willing to explore their unconscious biases, more likely to appreciate and celebrate diversity and work toward an authentically inclusive culture.  

Q: What are some next gen tools and technologies that can further enhance well-being in the workplace?

A: Innovation plays a pivotal role in well-being. Cutting edge technologies in fields such as neuroscience and cognitive psychology are at the forefront of this. Leveraging AR & VR to develop immersive experiences for remote workers is the centerpiece of creating community at a distance. Maximizing AI to drive meaningful advances in human computer interactions will play a key role in both measuring and improving employee well-being. We have exciting pilots that we’re conducting in this space and believe it will fundamentally transform how we work. 

Q: What are some ways that companies can leverage data to drive fundamental changes to their well-being strategy? What should they ultimately be collecting and looking for?

A: Collecting employee well-being data has been, and will continue to be, a sensitive topic that requires extraordinary care. Technological advancements, particularly in the world of wearable devices, have created the opportunity to collect incredibly valuable data that can help us to better understand how day to day events impact the stress and well-being levels of employees. Those data can then be used to inform job and environmental design in a manner that can reduce risk and optimize well-being.  

The key to realizing this transformative potential lies in the ethical collection and utilization of data. The most effective method for going about this is by having companies partner with third party organizations to collect and manage well-being data sets. That could include data from wearables and/or through the administration of periodic mental health screenings. There are a variety of ways in which this type of ongoing research could inform the integration of well-being in organizational design and development work.   

Ultimately, I believe that work can be a place where people are supported in optimizing their well-being and achieving self-actualization. I’d like us to collectively imagine a world where work can help each of us to find a deeper sense of meaning and purpose in life, even if our primary way of making meaning lies outside of our jobs.