The Communities We Build at Work: Employers Advancing Whole-Person Health

Employers invest in human capital for both their internal and external communities. At MI Health, we view the workplace as its own community, in which organizational leadership is uniquely positioned to introduce, model, communicate, and normalize a “whole-person” approach to health that prioritizes physical, mental, and financial well-being equally. Investments in whole-person health can come in the form of expanded health benefits, changes to internal policies and programs, shifts in workplace culture to allow people to bring their “whole selves” to work, and increased levels of opportunity that recognize the many roles and responsibilities employees take on, such as caregiving.

Sabrina Spitaletta, senior director, Public Health at the Milken Institute, and Tiffany Benjamin, CEO of Humana Foundation, sat down to discuss the ways leadership within organizations can lead with a whole-person health approach in mind.

1. Employers are defining "whole-person health” in various ways. From your perspective as an employer, how do you envision a whole-person health approach in the workplace and in community investments from the employer??

At the Humana Foundation, our work is centered on health equity and supporting diverse populations of individuals and communities facing challenges affecting their health and quality of life. In the workplace, that means being committed to a robust approach to well-being.

Employers cannot solely focus on health-care interventions to improve the health of their workforce. Investing in the health of employees requires a whole-person health approach that addresses the social and emotional drivers of health and the environment in which they’re living their daily lives. There is an inseparable connection between the health of workers and the health of the communities in which they live. Employers can help both thrive by investing in solutions that prevent, as well as address, the root causes of those conditions.

The mental health of employees must be a major consideration in a whole-person health approach given the current mental health crisis touching the lives of millions of Americans. Estimates are that nearly 23 percent of US adults are experiencing a mental illness, and that has significant consequences for the workplace. According to a 2022 Gallup poll, almost one in five US workers rate their mental health as fair to poor and report four times the number of unanticipated absences than their counterparts with better mental health status. It’s imperative that employers acknowledge that the psychological well-being of their employees is a business issue that impacts productivity and the bottom line.?????

Recognizing the mental health effects of recent traumatic events on the community and its workforce in our own backyard of Louisville, Kentucky, the Humana Foundation is partnering with the Metro Chamber of Commerce and local businesses to bolster mental health resources in the area. We are providing outright and matching grants to help mental health practices scale their operations and increase access to mental health services for Louisville-area residents.

Another essential aspect of a whole-person health approach is understanding the specific identities and needs of your employee base. A whole-person health approach involves recognition of the unique challenges and stigmas employees experience and building tools and spaces for addressing the issues affecting those different identities and doing so in a culturally competent way. For instance, Humana is hosting a town hall with our network resource group for our veteran employees and their families to create a space to come together to talk about the distinct mental health challenges affecting members of their community.?

We see whole-person health as a matter of equity. There can be no one-size-fits-all approach to employee well-being. Different groups of workers will respond differently and need different responses within an organization. Similarly, in our work with communities, we take a listening approach to understand the needs of the specific population and make investments to advance equitable access and outcomes by eliminating the social and structural obstacles to health and health care. Doing so makes for healthier communities and workers.

2. What are the risks if employers do not adopt or move toward a whole-person health approach?

Businesses are in a talent race, vying to attract the best people and to entice them to stay. Focusing on worker well-being is an incentive for retention. It’s also good for the people working in your organization, for their communities, and for your business. A whole-person health approach is intrinsically about caring for your people, and a caring culture is one that employees feel engaged with and proud of being a part of.

There are multiple generations that make up the workforce, each coming to their job with different expectations and valuing different things. While some workers may be satisfied with a decent salary and traditional benefits, others really care about the relationship they have with their employer and desire connectedness and support within the workplace. If you’re focused only on providing financial stability and health insurance to employees, you are likely not meeting the needs of a diverse employee base across different generations.

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes, feelings of burnout persist among many workers, in particular younger adults and women. According to one report, nearly 60 percent of American workers experienced some degree of burnout in 2022, even higher than in 2021. One of the striking findings of this study is that almost half of employees who suffer high levels of burnout have lower confidence that their employers care about them. Additionally, more than half were unhappy with their work-life balance and planned on looking for a new job. ?

Employers who ignore whole-person health will not get the best talent, will not be able to retain good people or have workers who are committed to the organization and its mission; employee engagement and innovation will suffer. Additionally, unhappy employees can make for dissatisfied customers. If an employee is physically or mentally suffering, those effects can be felt by the customers they’re serving and potentially tarnish the organization’s reputation.

If you want to get the most out of your workforce, they need to know you care about them holistically. Healthy employees make for a healthy workplace and a healthy enterprise.

3. What steps are employers uniquely positioned to take to normalize and achieve a whole-person health approach?

As the number of community spaces where groups of people gather for a singular purpose has diminished, the workplace has become the current iteration of the town square. It’s one of the few remaining institutions where community still exists.

As the world has grown more bifurcated and polarized, workplaces can and should be safe spaces for workers when employers build the infrastructure to fill that role. That means creating a culture where employees feel listened and responded to. Where they feel cared for emotionally and physically. Where their unique backgrounds and cultures are recognized and respected.

To effectively address the needs of diverse populations of workers, employers can provide cultural competency training for all their leaders, including those creating the infrastructure and tools for a whole-person health approach. They can offer support to employees through DE&I initiatives, network resource groups, and assistance programs.

Employers can also provide opportunities for social engagement and connectedness. For example, the Humana Foundation, together with Humana and the Trust for the National Mall, recently sponsored Pickleball on the Mall in Washington, DC, an event that brought together employees and the community for a few days of fun and physical activity. Offering employees opportunities to volunteer together is also a wonderful way to increase cohesion and a feeling of purpose. As an organization whose mission encompasses addressing food insecurity for individuals in underserved communities, our employees put our mission into action through volunteering together at food banks and connecting with the people we serve.

4.?In your opinion, which organizational leadership roles or positions need to be involved for this integrated approach to be adopted across the organization and in the surrounding community?

It should begin at the very top of the leadership structure in terms of ownership and action but must filter across the organization to ensure that, at every level, there is support for a whole-person health approach and it’s embedded in every aspect of the business and culture. The key to success, however, is to listen from the bottom-up. It’s essential to hear from diverse voices about what they value to equitably address their needs. Whether you’re providing solutions for your employees or the surrounding community, they should be driven by listening to those you’re serving.

5.?How do employers build a sustainable, whole-person health approach that anticipates the ebb and flow of the external environment, whether those are shifts in the economic, social, or political landscape?

The only way to build a sustainable, whole-person health approach is by regularly listening to your employees and adapting your approach based on what they’re telling you. Businesses invest huge resources in dissecting and understanding the needs and desires of their customers and developing products and services based on that intel. Employers should use that same approach and rigor with their employees.

When equity matters, you have to hear all the different voices within your organization and put planning, thought, and rigor into the process of developing a whole-person health approach. It cannot be an afterthought. It is serious work. It involves developing practices that hit on many different aspects of your business: employee hiring, belonging, retention, and how people show up for your customers. Just like consumer attitudes change and businesses must evolve as they change, the same is true for addressing the needs of your employees.

We’re living in tumultuous times. People feel threatened by climate change, by gun violence, by a divisive political environment. Those are feelings that aren’t left at the door when employees enter the workplace.

Employers must acknowledge the effect external events and trauma have on their workforce and address them with empathy and support, particularly when they’re close to home. Organizations should also find ways to extend support to the impacted community. For instance, in the wake of a recent mass shooting in Louisville, the Humana Foundation donated $1 million to support the victims and their families and invest in local organizations to provide equitable access to mental health services for the wider community. Along with Humana, we also partnered with Telus Health to activate a crisis hotline that could be accessed anywhere in the US.

A key to creating an adaptive approach in these quickly changing times is to take a data-driven approach. As an evidence-based organization, we continually look at the data and metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of our whole-person health efforts and course-correct when necessary.