The Wellbeing Transformation

This is the first article to share insights from recent conversations with many of you, wellbeing leaders, enthusiasts, activists, change makers and of course sceptics. I am combining these insights with some of my real life experiences as a consultant working on large scale organisational transformations and as an activist committed to make workplaces fit for humans.

Wellbeing as the (new) success factor in organisational (workforce, culture, business, digital, etc... ) transformation programs
Wellbeing as the new normal in organisations when employers are stepping up and taking responsibility for employee wellbeing holistically

1. Wellbeing as the (new) success factor in (workforce, culture, business, digital, etc…) organisational transformation programs

The beginning of my Wellbeing Transformation

It was a humid winter day in the Middle East many years ago. As a management consultant I was working on a robust business transformation program as Change Lead. These were still those early days when Change Management was very often just that extra bar on the bottom of the project plan to tick the box. This program was special as we had a dedicated Change Team with real power. However, some time after the kick off everything went crazy. People were frustrated. People started to get burn out. I almost got burn out. People happened to shout with each other. People were definitely not at their best at work. The project went on. People survived. There was a successful implementation. We finished the work. Everyone went to do other projects. The question sticked with me though:

How could we do this differently?

Wellbeing roles in the organisation

Today job postings are full of Change Manager jobs. It got accepted in the world of work that change does not happen easily either on organisational or on individual level.

However, the other element that makes change and transformation successful is still just rising. This is wellbeing. Let’s call it STRATEGIC WELLBEING to make it more relevant for workplaces.

How many transformation programs include Wellbeing interventions? How many of them have a strategic holistic Wellbeing approach? How many Wellbeing Leads are involved in these transformations?

If we check job ads, there are very few wellbeing roles at least at this part of the world. In other places it has already started to spread e.g. in the UK, the Netherlands, etc...

If we check the offering of consulting companies who are very often involved to accompany these transformations, the trend is clear. They have already started to deal with the topic of wellbeing in organisations. Some of them are more advanced than others.

Transformation became business as usual

How many transformation programs are running currently in your company? I bet at least one... or usually even more. Transformation became the new normal, kind of like part of an organisation's life. So we almost cannot differentiate them from business as usual anymore.

I would suggest we now continue looking at the topic from this angle:

2. Wellbeing as the new normal in organisations when employers are stepping up and taking responsibility for employee wellbeing holistically

Covid did its job in the world of wellbeing at work by elevating the topic to a different level and accelerated the change that might have looked like this in the picture below for much longer.

Why to do it?

According to the latest study “Amplifying Wellbeing at Work and Beyond” by Gallupand Workhuman the costs of neglecting wellbeing are real and significant, for employees personally and for their employers:

$20 million of opportunity loss for every 10,000 workers due to low wellbeing and its drain on performance
$322 billion cost globally in employee turnover and lost productivity when low wellbeing shows up as employee burnout

How to do it?

I am still meeting people who are pointing me to their yoga teacher friend when I talk about organisational wellbeing. This is fine, nothing wrong with it. I am a certified yoga teacher myself (maybe that’s why they do that:). And I am a management consultant who is committed to facilitating systemic change. For that we need a systemic transformational approach and close collaboration between various areas of an organisation.

During my interviews with wellbeing leaders on the Wellbeing Designers podcast and beyond I learned a lot about the progressive approaches of these companies. Many of them are clearly a step ahead in this game. Below I am highlighting 5 areas from these conversations.

(I will dedicate another article only to elaborate more on these points and additional ones soon!)

One size does not fit all but we need a common ground, let's call it a Wellbeing Strategy aligned with the overall company goals: Creating a global and holistic wellbeing framework and structure that can accommodate local differences worldwide.
Engagement is key: Using bottom up energy in the organisation and co-creation so people feel it is relevant and done really for them and by them.
Reinventing the Ways of Working by all wellbeing initiatives so it does not stay on an individual level but the organisational impact is understood.
Don’t forget that TIME is the most scarce resource in everyone's life nowadays. Avoid adding extra time and burden on people by wellbeing initiatives.
Role of the managers is crucial in the wellbeing transformation. They are the ones who act as role models and create a psychologically save space for their teams to change and try our things differently.

The question for those companies who are a bit behind or still considering to getting on this journey is often the ROI (return on investment). No worries, I won’t list here all the sources that are published on the topic. There are several measures especiall from the mental wellbeing side (e.g. a study by Deloitte). I admit that this measurement part of wellbeing is not easy and even the best companies are struggling with it. They also trust the VOI (value on investment) though. And time proves them.

What to do?

According to a research done by the The Josh Bersin Company in 2021 33% of organisations is still at the Employee Safety level while 67% of companies already embarked on the Employee Wellbeing journey including companies on the levels of Healthy Work (28%) and Healthy Organization (15%).

What do organisations need to do to get from one level to the next?

Do we need a Wellbeing Transformation to reach the level of the Healthy Organization?

Whatever we need, we need to start it. Even small, step by step. Education, collaboration and vulnerability are key in this transformation.

More to come on this part in a future article blog post!

Reflection on the beginnings....

After that project experience that I shared at the beginning something changed in me. I started to experiment with various tools to contribute in my own environment to a positive change in the world of work. I became certified and expert in some of these tools. What I enjoy the most though is the systemic change that is beyond each tool. How we can facilitate a Wellbeing Transformation in organisations.

Thank you for all the good conversations to all of you including Eva Haussmann, Dr. Urs Karkoschka, Nick Davison, Maurice Wery, Jake Sanders, Newton Chengand many more!

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Meet Reka: Reka has a diverse background. She has been a management consultant working for 10+ years on large transformation programs worldwide in change management, team and leadership development. She has a background in corporate finance and education. She is a brain-based coach and a certified yoga & meditation teacher. She is a podcast host. She is a systemic change facilitator to make work and life fit for humans. She is an entrepreneur, the founder of wellbeing designers™️ piloting a new organisational wellbeing education tool and experience. Most importantly she is a mom of a 3 year old.

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