Gamechangers: The Case for Chief Wellness and Wellbeing Officers (CWOs) in the Private & Public Sector

Over the last four years, a great deal of lip service has been paid to caring for the health and wellbeing of people, planet, and community, whether in our workplaces, at home, or even our zip codes. While we’ve certainly become more aware of the factors contributing to our wellness and wellbeing, we have not necessarily become more well. So, who should be leading the charge?

In the spirit of transparency, I should tell you up front:?

I am a grateful yet recovering Global Head of Wellbeing for a Fortune 1000 company, where I was responsible for impacting the wellbeing of millions of consumers and tens of thousands of employees worldwide. It was a game-changing role for the industry I was in and big business at large, that was sadly cut short by cost-cutting measures employed by so many companies during the pandemic.

Fortunately, I had my own consulting company to which I could easily return. And ironically, the very circumstances that prematurely ended my role at one company, opened the door to numerous others in need of the same kind of support and leadership. Some clients emerged because they were eager to care for the mental health and wellbeing of employees adjusting to a new way of living and working (circa 2020-2021). Others initiated engagement to explore how they could formally launch and sustain a commitment to wellness—whether commercially, internally, or a combination of both.

Fast-forward to today, and it’s interesting to witness how the conversation is evolving, who is investing or divesting in dedicated wellbeing leadership roles, and the potential why behind it. Even more interesting is the ongoing demand for wellness and wellbeing in the private and public sector. Privately, companies are still motivated by a desire to improve business performance and related intentions (i.e., to improve workplace culture, population health, compete for a spot on the “best company to work for” list, or even launch a product or service given the growing wellness demands of Gen Z to Boomers). Publicly, motivations range from the very real need to mitigate the rising costs of preventable, lifestyle disease to the mental health crisis and even the desire to better design our parks, buildings and public spaces for human health and sustainability.? In all cases, there’s tremendous opportunity to impact the wellbeing of people, planet, and community at a more mainstream, societal level in nearly every zip code around the world.

No matter what the sector or the reason, the topic of wellbeing continues to be top-of-mind for many, but not necessarily resourced at the top of organizations. Fortunately, there are some growing exceptions and key developments to consider. And clearly, a great deal of work remains to change the game and meaningfully impact the wellbeing of those who need it most. ?

--------------------

First, do we call them Chief WELLNESS or WELLBEING Officers?

This is actually a very good question, particularly since both titles have their time and place (spoken by someone who has led each function individually and collectively at the same time).

The Global Wellness Institute (GWI) defines wellness as “the active pursuit of activities, choices, and lifestyles that leads to a state of holistic health”.? Therefore, I consider “wellness” as synonymous with prevention, self-care, or the proactive steps we take to manage how we eat, move, sleep, manage stress, care for our health, prevent lifestyle disease or even connect with others. So, for organizations eager to foster or support these kinds of action-oriented behaviors among certain populations— most commonly via the creation and management of programs, products, facilities, or even experiences—a Chief WELLNESS Officer title is best.

By contrast, GWI describes wellbeing as more of a static state of being (i.e., being happy or in good health) akin to overall life satisfaction.[i] Therefore, I consider “wellbeing” as synonymous with happiness, which is a much greater, multi-dimensional charter. For example, while our wellness habits may be within our control, how we feel in our homes, companies, or communities is often dependent on the quality and culture of those environments, as well as the purpose we serve within them. So, for organizations eager to influence the happiness of certain populations, I think a Chief WELLBEING Officer title is best, provided the role is clearly defined.

Finally, when a leader is responsible for both wellness and wellbeing, or a company is torn between the two, I usually recommend the title of Chief WELLBEING Officer. The reason for this is simple: I see wellness as an essential path to optimal health and wellbeing—the ultimate outcome we all seek—regardless of the scope or mission of the role.

And now that we have the vocabulary out of the way, let’s talk about what’s happening in the world of CWOs.

Sample Industries Seeing the Light: ?Higher Education & Healthcare

Gratefully, two industries that appear to be prioritizing the hiring of CWOs and other senior leaders of wellness and wellbeing are Higher Education and Healthcare. Just this year alone, we’ve seen job requisitions on LinkedIn from Boston College, Marquette University, San Francisco Bay University, the University of Rochester (New York), and more.? Most of them have been focused on student health and wellness, while some seem to have remits that extend to faculty as well.

The same is true for the healthcare industry, particularly teaching hospitals whose workplaces must increasingly compete to hire and retain qualified talent. After all, it’s no secret that our healthcare workers have survived an extraordinary time in recent history, and many have had to sacrifice their own wellbeing while caring for ours. It seems many health systems, including Emory Healthcare, Oak Street Health, Boston’s Children’s Hospital, and The Medical University of South Carolina, are investing in Directors and CWOs, spanning the gamut of responsibilities highlighted above.??

Finally, while many CWO job descriptions in the healthcare space still seem to require medical degrees, I strongly encourage the healthcare industry to rethink this. In fact, I believe that there’s great opportunity for experienced CWOs (ideally with business acumen and much more progressive job descriptions than just traditional “population health and safety”) to be sourced from the now $6.3 trillion global wellness economy[ii].? This approach allows them to complement healthcare’s already highly credentialed, medical teams with a more holistic, preventative approach to caring for the wellness - and happiness! - of their populations moving forward.

Sample Industries with Mixed Reviews:? Hospitality & Consulting

I picked these two industries to highlight because I have deep love, respect, and first-hand experience working for both. And while hospitality and consulting are both in my blood, candidly, wellbeing is not innately in theirs. The challenge is twofold.

First, both industries are service based, catering to the demands of either clients or guests. As a result, they are used to defaulting to the 24/7 nature of their businesses. This is particularly true in hospitality, where hotel or plane doors, for example, are open 365 days of the year. Consultants often find themselves in similar conditions; managing unreasonable deadlines, travel schedules and budgets while adopting the often unhealthy cultures of client workforces that are not inherently their own. ?

Second, while both industries have made tremendous strides in hiring (and maintaining) leaders responsible for the health and wellness of colleagues and guests, the same is not necessarily true for the leadership of wellbeing. This is a much thornier (and often political) issue that is different for each company and merits greater discussion than we have time for today. But suffice it to say, those responsible for wellbeing must be truly empowered to identify and address the workforce behaviors that are making their workplaces unwell, which at times, can make these leaders unpopular or even unsupported at the highest levels of an organization.

Economist Theirry Malleret summarized it best when he recently shared the findings of peer-reviewed research on the topic: “Before offering employees solutions to manage their stress, employers should do more to address the ways in which they (and their business)?cause stress in the first place.”[iii]?

Sadly, in the last few years, we’ve seen some of the most well-known, big-box consultancies and hospitality brands demote or even eliminate the role of their wellbeing leaders. I’d like to say it’s because the C-suites of these organizations have “cracked the code” and are all now modeling wellbeing leadership while realizing performance gains for their businesses, thus rendering the work of dedicated CWOs unnecessary—but that’s not yet the case.

In fact, much more can be done to make the pursuit of wellness and wellbeing more efficient and cost-effective for companies across all industries. For example, by combining commitments to employee, consumer, community, and planetary wellbeing under a single leader tasked with influencing the work and behaviors of others, companies can foster what our company calls an Ecosystem of Wellbeing?. In this way, companies can work to make wellbeing part of their DNA versus just a fleeting initiative, but it must be championed from the top. Again, we have our work cut out for us.

Untapped Potential: The Public Sector

On the bright side, there is some promising developments happening in the public sector, which I also believe is twofold.

First, as a society, we are growing much more aware of the factors that affect our health, wellness and wellbeing both at work and in the communities we call home. This progress, in my opinion, can be partly attributed to the growing body of non-profit organizations and educational foundations that are working hard to drive awareness and action around the world. Some, like the Global Wellness Institute and The World Wellbeing Movement, have even launched research, started initiatives, and provided resources to better educate and support the work of organizational leaders in the public and private sector.

Second, prominent, public officials have joined the discussion, and new leaders have been appointed to shepherd the health and wellbeing of cities and even countries. A pioneering example is from the country of Wales.

In 2015, Wales passed the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act that laid out seven wellbeing goals to make the country a better place to live. Soon after, they appointed Sophie Howe as the country’s first Future Generations Commissioner for Wales from 2016-2023[iv]. Howe is a powerful force for wellbeing whom I had the good fortune to meet with last year. I like to think of her as a pioneering influence for the development of CWOs in the public sector.

Fast forward to October of 2022 when, across the pond, another promising development came to light. The US Surgeon General publicly released “Five Essentials for Workplace Mental Health & Wellbeing” pictured below [v].

While focused on the voice and equity of workers, one can see how this model can be applied to both private and public-facing organizations (and be particularly successful when employees share responsibility for their own self-care as the definition of wellness implies). In fact, this framework has seemingly inspired the July 2024 appointment of the city of Los Angeles’ inaugural Chief Wellness Officer. Progress indeed, and certainly an inspiring development for cities, if not entire states, wishing to place the wellbeing of citizens, and the role of a CWO, at the top of a public agenda.

Moving Forward: Its Gameday & You Need to Hire a Head Coach

As someone who has been championing the business of wellness and wellbeing for over two decades, the progress highlighted above is like witnessing an underdog finally gain possession of the ball. Add to this the growing number of certification programs for Chief Wellness and Wellbeing Officers from accredited universities and organizations, and it’s proof-positive that a field goal, if not a touchdown, just might be possible. ?

At the same time, it’s easy for companies today to underestimate the importance of a head coach.

Ideally, the role of a CWO would be unnecessary, and ultimately filled by the CPO or better yet, the CEO, but these leaders today are often too busy driving business strategy and catering to board or market expectations. Others are not yet knowledgeable or comfortable enough to model or lead wellbeing in a manner that stands to drive organizational change and make business impact. The good news is that you don’t necessarily need to hire a whole team; you likely already have your starters at the ready.

In the private sector, your heads of ESG, philanthropy, talent, leadership and development, HR, workplace wellness or even commercial product and innovation could easily be early draft picks.? Alternatively, public officials leading health, education, planning and design offer the public sector a bench from which to pull. Again, they just need a head coach to respect their unique roles and responsibilities while collectively guiding the team towards a greater win.

Still, when deciding whether to name the head coach - a CWO for your organization - you need to ask yourself four critically important questions:

1) What is the desired scope of the role?

2) What business goals are you hoping to achieve?

3) How will you measure success?

4) Is your organization’s leadership truly ready to support both the establishment and success of the role?

This last question is usually the hardest one to answer. For companies that are struggling, I suggest hiring an advisor to help assess the needs and leadership of an organization and then work to answer these questions together. Alternatively, hiring a fractional or interim CWO to help your leadership team devise and launch a wellbeing strategy is another path to kick off. Either way, making the case for a CWO is important work that stands to set companies and ideally cities well ahead of their competition.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mia Kyricos is a globally respected thought-leader in the business of wellness, wellbeing and hospitality with a specialty in brand strategy and communications. She has helped to develop, operate, and market wellness-driven strategies, brands and facilities across 100+ countries working for industry leaders including Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Spafinder Wellness, Inc, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, EXOS and Canyon Ranch Health Resorts.? She leads Kyricos & Associates, LLC, a strategic advisory firm dedicated to advancing the business of wellness and wellbeing by fostering Ecosystems of Wellbeing? for companies of all kinds. Recently named a global Leading Woman in Wellness, and Cornell University’s Innovator of the Year, her thought-leadership has been featured in popular business and trade publications around the world. She sits on the advisory boards of Cornell University’s SC Johnson School of Business, Wellness for Cancer and The Global Wellness Institute, a 501c3 she helped to found. She simply aspires to help people live well, and given some of her latest business research, to love more.

[i] What is Wellness? - Global Wellness Institute

[ii] The Global Wellness Economy Reaches a New Peak of $6.3 Trillion––And Is Forecast to Hit $9 Trillion by 2028 -

[iii] Workplace Wellness Is Unwell—Companies Must Refocus on Fair Pay and Livable Hours - Global Wellness Institute

[iv] Sophie Howe - Wikipedia

[v] https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/workplace-well-being/index.html