Creating a Culture of Wellbeing
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Host a happy hour!
Promote a walking challenge!
I don’t know about you, but my inbox and LinkedIn feed are constantly flooded with the next new tactic to focus on employee wellness. As ADVISA’s self-appointed wellness lead, it’s easy to feel like I’m falling behind in supporting our team’s wellness if I’m not putting all of these things on the calendar or at the forefront of our employees’ minds.
Defining Culture
Culture: A system of shared beliefs and values, modeled and reinforced by leadership’s communication and behavior, that shapes the social and psychological experience of employees.
As I was developing ADVISA’s Wellness-Driven Leadership program, I got to thinking – does any of this really make a difference? If culture is defined as “a system of shared beliefs and values, modeled and reinforced by leadership’s communication and behavior, that shapes the social and psychological experience of employees,” how do these tactics fit in?
Luckily, ADVISA does culture work with our clients all of the time, so I was able to utilize our own ATLAS framework to determine how to help us (and our Wellness-Driven Leadership Clients!) step back from the wellness tactics and gain clarity on areas of importance in creating an intentional culture of wellbeing.
ATLAS defines 5 essential drivers of cultural competitive advantage. We can think of these drivers as levers to pull or focus on to create a more intentional culture – here, from the lens of wellbeing.
Activation from above
Key question: Are individuals at the top bought in to creating a culture of wellbeing?
Culture is modeled and reinforced by leadership’s communication and behavior, whether it’s intentional or not. Simply put, employees are looking to leaders to be the window through which they see the organization, and in turn, how they choose to behave.
Are you working through your lunch break? Are you consistently sending emails after hours or while on PTO? It comes back to leading by example. What is the example you want to set to promote and support wellness at your organization?
Trust and shared purpose
Key question: Are employees emotionally committed to the bigger picture of wellness at your organization?
Again, let’s come back to our definition of culture – it’s a system of shared beliefs and values. Do your values enable you to make decisions that support a culture of wellbeing? How do you enable conversations regarding beliefs about wellness?
Trust and shared purpose also come back to connection. High technical competence is one piece of leadership, and the ability to connect with employees on a more personal level and have their best interests at heart is the other key piece to building trust. This social connection is a fundamental human need, and one that leaders and organizations can enable through an intentional culture.
Leader effectiveness
Key question: Are leaders capable and confident in leading through mindsets and skills that promote wellbeing?
According to DDI’s 2023 Global Leadership Forecast, only 15% of leaders feel prepared to handle employee burnout. As I’ve reality tested that stat with leaders that we work with, most feel that it’s even lower than 15%. Burnout, and even wellness practices and beliefs, are going to look different for each individual. It’s up to organizations to provide ongoing training and support for leaders to build the necessary skills to navigate conversations about wellness in the workplace.
Actionable people data
Key question: Is data being used to understand employees’ motivations, needs, and experiences about wellness in the workplace?
Sometimes wellness initiatives can feel like throwing tactics at the wall (like a webinar, a happy hour, or a walking challenge) and crossing your fingers to see what people buy into and what sticks.
A client shared with me that her organization tried offering a weekly yoga class, and participation was low. They decided to survey their employees and found that most people wanted to connect with others through physical wellness, specifically a bootcamp/HIIT-like workout (read: NOT yoga). Once they started offering this kind of event consistently, participation skyrocketed. Give your people what they ask for – but first, you have to ask in order to take action!
Systems that support leaders
Key question: Are there tools, processes, and policies in place that help leaders support wellbeing?
Your systems either help or hinder the other 4 drivers we’ve already discussed. Systems include access to and promotion of wellness resources, such as counseling, employee assistance programs (EAPs), and preventative health screenings. It’s also the policies you have in place to support employees’ ability to take time off and seek flexible work arrangements when needed.
Ready to do the work?
Choose one area that is within your sphere of influence that will make a difference in building an intentional culture of wellbeing at your organization, then take action! That action can be as small as turning your email notifications off at 5 PM and encouraging your team to do the same.
READY FOR MORE?
Join our next cohort of Wellness-Driven Leadership to help you build the mindset, skills, and environment to enable a culture of wellbeing at your organization.