Employee Well-Being Depends on the C-Suite — Here’s Why

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For this week’s Workplace Intelligence Newsletter, I interviewed Jen Fisher, the chief well-being officer in the United States at Deloitte Services LP. In her role, Jen drives the strategy and innovation around work-life, health, and wellness to empower Deloitte’s people to be well so they can perform at their best in both their professional and personal lives.

In our conversation, we discussed Deloitte’s eye-opening new report, The C-suite’s role in well-being: How health-savvy executives can go beyond workplace wellness to workplace well-being—for themselves and their people. The report is based on a study Deloitte conducted in partnership with my company, Workplace Intelligence, and it explores the C-suite’s role in organizational well-being?and examines how an overall poor state of health is affecting retention for workers and executives alike.

Below is a sneak peek of our conversation — subscribe to my FREE Workplace Intelligence Insider newsletter and you’ll immediately receive the full Q&A.

And be sure to join us during our live audio event TODAY (June 27) at 11am EDT, where we’ll continue our discussion about this remarkable study and its findings.

1.????One of the most surprising findings from the study was that nearly 70% of executives (versus 57% of employees) are seriously considering quitting for a job that better supports their well-being. What does this tell us about the impact that work is having on our collective well-being, and what are the implications of such high turnover rates at the executive level of leadership?

The Great Resignation isn’t confined to just employees. Following 2 years of pandemic burnout, everyone is reassessing their relationship to work and what they truly value in life. And truthfully, this reassessment isn’t just the result of the pandemic itself. Workplace culture has been plagued with stress-inducing issues, including unmanageable workloads, long hours, lack of support from managers, no autonomy, and more.

While executives may have more control over some of these contributing factors, they’re certainly not immune to the always-on, constantly connected culture we’ve all been living in. With increased demands put upon them, they’re exhausted just like everyone else. In fact, our survey also found that 89% of the C-Suite say that improving their well-being is a top priority for them this year.

The way we’ve been working isn’t sustainable, no matter what level you’re at, and now organizations are feeling the impact of losing top talent as a result. Sometimes we forget that leaders are people too. If they’re struggling with their own well-being, they won’t be able to lead in a way that supports the well-being of their people.

2.????Why is it so important that executives set a better example for their people by taking care of their own well-being? And how does having a healthier workforce (and healthier leaders) translate into better business outcomes?

Everyone in an organization impacts its culture, but leaders play a critical role in helping to set the tone. When it comes to well-being, words matter, but visible actions matter more — employees won’t feel like they have the permission to prioritize their own well-being if they don’t visibly see their leaders doing the same.

This also happens when companies introduce new programs to enhance employee well-being but they don’t have the culture to support them. Take, for instance, flexibility. The intent of the benefit is to support employees to create a work schedule that better complements their life. But if the culture of the organization doesn’t reinforce and promote its usage, the benefit doesn’t really help anyone.

This is where leaders' modeling behavior can have a real impact. ?And why shouldn’t leaders take advantage of these benefits that will help support their own well-being and also set a great example for others to follow? It’s not surprising that our survey also found that around half of employees say it’s important to see the C-Suite taking care of their well-being (50%) and facing some of the same struggles (51%), and they say that seeing the C-Suite do this would motivate them to improve their well-being (48%).

When both leaders and employees are making well-being a priority, it’s not only great for the culture, it’s also great for the long-term success of the organization. A leader’s role is to remove the barriers that prevent employees from doing their best work — and more often than not, when these barriers are removed, the outcome is improved well-being.

Research has shown that a healthier workforce is also more innovative, engaged, resilient in times of uncertainty, and productive. The C-suite and employees know this to be true too. In fact, our survey reported that 75% of employees and 82% of the C-suite believe that having a job that supports their well-being would boost their productivity.?

Thanks to everyone who joined us for our live audio event on June 27 at 11 am EST, where Jen and I talked about Deloitte’s new study and its implications.

Want to read the full article? You can access it in the?Workplace Intelligence Insider Archives . To receive the new edition every Monday morning,?subscribe ?for free.