The Corporate AI-thlete 2.0. Part 2.

The Era of Human Sustainability

18th December is a very personal and poignant date for me. It's my Father's Birthday, he is 79 today (Happy Birthday Dad) and retired at 65, like many people do. Albeit always fit and healthy all his life he didn't have a goal or purpose and after an illness and depression, he eventually went back to study as a sports physiotherapist and worked in his field of passion until his mid 70s until at 76 a stroke stopped him. He is currently on stroke no3 at 79 and unable to get out but is motivated every day to walk and move.

18th December is also sadly the 14th Anniversary of my Father-in-Law's death. He worked hard, as a dedicated corporate executive, travelling the world, retiring at 64 only to be diagnosed with terminal cancer and to die within 6 months before 65 and drawing his pension. He was a fit and healthy man and ran 10Km every day, he ate well, didn't smoke and was slim but never got to enjoy the retirement he deserved after 40 years of working.

9 years ago at 44 I had a proper full-on burnout and TIA (Trans Ischemic Attack). I had been working really hard, climbing the ladder, flying 60 times a year for 8-9 years to see it come crashing down. I was not fit, I was not healthy, I was working 60–80-hour weeks.

Why am I sharing these personal stories?

It's to highlight what is really critical when it comes to our own personal wellbeing journey both physically and emotionally. These 3 events sharpened my focus around corporate wellbeing, high performance, stress, burnout, mental and physical health and a balanced life/work agenda.

I do not think any of us would have been in that position if there were some companies guard rails or corporate wellbeing program for support. Clearly 20 and 10 years ago, they did not exist. They now do and we have the opportunity to change the way employees engage and are support holistically throughout both their home and work life, there is no excuse.

Corporate Wellbeing 1.0 is failing

Let's be honest for a second - Corporate Wellbeing 1.0 s not really working

'Well Washing" has been the tokenistic approach.

In a recent example a large Multinational Companies were happy because they had 'only' 12 work fatalities in 2024.

3 years post pandemic we still have the lowest levels of employee engagement, productivity and employee satisfaction. They are more tired, stressed burnt out and unhealthy than ever.

Pivoting has meant that company structures and ways of working have been disrupted to the point that no one feels that they belong to anything. WFH has become the norm for many and there is no going back so we are not checking in like we were. In the case of employee wellbeing the quick fix, one size fits all approach has not worked.

The same goes for organizational transformation or culture change, most fail because they are looked at systemically at a 'whole company' level versus what individuals' needs and benefits are.

No one likes to change however much they know need to change or grow which is education based, and we have all the information at our fingertips, so no excuses there either.

Will AI be the Game Changer for Corporate Wellbeing 2.0?

AI and big data in healthcare and wellbeing will democratize information for all and make it bespoke enough and accessible to all to inform healthcare outcomes. What maybe missing with AI is the human connection whereby we can connect at a deep level to determine what will make the difference in motivation between doing and not doing.?That is the psychology of behavior change and accountability. We will really listen to an AI bot or Alexa telling us what we should do?

What AI will mean is that companies will reduce headcounts globally allowing AI to fill the gap, however the workload and stress for those left will be greater again.

I am a passionate believer in coaching and therapy being critical success factors which is a well proven intervention but even with the explosion in therapy or guided ‘coaching’ applications we still don’t see people marking the shifts required. Why??

That is because most coaches do not understand or are qualified to practice the psychology of change, the neuroscience and neuro-biochemical processes required for physiological shifts to drive emotions, feelings, thoughts and behavior. So, the stars of the future will be AI powered and informed and connected deeply with their clients.

With access to huge amounts of personal data and benchmarked against millions of other people, we should be able to predict what are the most effective strategies to implement and affect change at an individual, team and organizational level.?

At Hintsa Performance what we hope for in 2025, is that companies will have the foresight and commitment to invest in AI for the good of the people, not at the expense of people, and that high personalized, bespoke wellbeing and high performance becomes the norm and we can all work together will usher in an Era of Human Sustainability for the good of both companies and employees where everyone is included and nobody dies.

Now log off, switch off, rest and recover and enjoy quality time with your family while you can.

Wishing you a very happy holiday season and a healthy 2025..