In boardrooms across the UK, workplace wellbeing is often discussed with hypothetical enthusiasm
Yet too many organisations don’t follow through and still treat it as a ‘nice-to-have’ rather than a strategic necessity. HR leaders, business owners, and operations executives know that wellbeing affects performance, retention, and risk management. But are we truly embedding it into decision-making, or are we just ticking boxes?
The disconnect between wellbeing rhetoric and meaningful action is costing businesses both financially and culturally. When a wellbeing strategy is fragmented, inconsistent, or reactive, they fail to gain traction. Employees easily see through performative gestures, and leaders miss the opportunity to drive engagement, resilience, and long-term success. It is a breeding ground for cynicism and disappointment.
A global design and engineering consultancy proudly rolled out a shopping list of support resources: Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), Cycle to Work Scheme, but missed out a couple of crucial strategic steps
- They hadn’t consulted their people
- They didn’t train managers to support mental health conversations, and
- They forgot to tell their people what the resources were for and how they could find them!
Unsurprisingly, uptake was low, and employees still feared speaking up about stress, burnout and mental ill-health. Contrast this with a security firm that embedded psychological safety into its leadership training, resulting in a 40% increase in wellbeing conversations and a significant drop in absenteeism. The difference? One treated wellbeing as an add-on; the other made it a leadership priority.
Data from the CIPD Health and Wellbeing at Work report shows that:
- Only 30% of senior leaders take wellbeing into account in business decisions.
- 45% of employees feel their organisation’s approach to wellbeing is tokenistic.
- Companies with integrated wellbeing strategies see up to 28% higher employee engagement and a 24% decrease in turnover.
Wellbeing isn’t about free fruit or mindfulness sessions (although I am partial to both), it’s about embedding a culture where people can perform at their best without burning out.
Imagine workplace wellbeing as a structural foundation rather than a decorative feature.
A building without strong foundations eventually cracks, just like an organisation that neglects the wellbeing of its people. For decision-makers serious about workplace wellbeing, here’s where to start:
- Wellbeing-Led Leadership: Ensure C-suite executives and directors’ model healthy behaviours. If leaders are overworked and disconnected, employees will follow suit.
- Data-Driven Strategy: Use employee wellbeing metrics alongside financial KPIs. Measure stress risk, psychological safety, and engagement as seriously as profitability.
- Operational Integration: Wellbeing should influence scheduling, workload management, and policy development—not just sit in HR’s remit.
Let’s Talk
Are your wellbeing initiatives driving real change, or are they just another corporate talking point? Let’s connect and discuss how to embed wellbeing at a strategic level.
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