Disruptive Dialogues are the first step towards moving the needle, enacting positive change around workplace wellness with progressive leaders at the helm. But where do we start? What do we focus on? What do we need to tackle? Last month, we held our first-ever Disruptive Dialogues session with special guest Deb Smollensky, best-selling author and wellbeing & engagement leader, to kickstart these important conversations.
In case you missed it, we’re sharing our five favorite takeaways (note: there are many more!) from the latest session. Read on to learn more about what truly progressive human resources, benefits and DE&I leaders are bringing to the table to shape a healthier, happier & more productive workforce.
Most leaders follow the money, great leaders follow the people.
A massive part of these Disruptive Dialogues sessions is championing leaders who show they care by moving the needle. According to Deb, truly successful leaders have one thing in common: they put their people first. Shares Deb, “They wrap people in care and support and transparency. Clarity is kindness and they follow the people and what they need.” And what exactly is it that people need? Says Deb, “We need holistic solutions, to meet people where they’re at and personalization…it’s grounded in principles of wellbeing, though, making sure that employees and their family are mentally healthy, physically healthy, financially healthy, and socially and career-wise healthy as well. That’s what employees need and you don’t need to throw lots and lots of money at that. You need to build the container, the environment, the leadership that addresses and supports that.”
Innovative mindset > Innovative tools.
The term innovation is thrown around a lot in the health and wellness industries–but when does it really make an impact? According to Deb, what sets companies apart, regardless of the size of their organization, is their approach, not their toolstack. An innovative mindset will beat out innovative tools nearly every time. And that mindset pulls through to policies, from bereavement leave to grand-parental leave to menopausal leave, that give employees the space to live and grow and thrive. Marina, our CEO & Founder of YourCoach.Health adds, “We always talk about the mental health crisis and shortage of therapists, yet no one’s talking about how a lot of people could benefit from a health coach. It’s time to start thinking about things in a new and innovative way.”
Employee wellbeing is better measured by VOI than ROI.
Every company leader understands the “bottom line” is important. But there’s more than one way to measure long-term success. Deb recognizes that ROI might not be the best tool to measure successful employee wellbeing programs. Deb shares, “I know numbers are very important…but that’s allowed me to actually veer away from ROI and get at the root of value on investment by translating those numbers. Because studies have shown over and over again that return is really hard to measure for wellbeing in particular because we’re avoiding costs. We’re avoiding that heart attack. We’re avoiding that conflict. We’re avoiding losing good people. You can’t measure that and CFOs really get that.”
So how can leaders merchandize employee health and wellbeing to the C-Suite? Deb suggests translating results into outcomes that demonstrate the investment in your company: “[These results] show up because retention is higher. The culture is happier. There’s less conflict. There’s less HR managers throwing up their hands because people are struggling with burnout or conflict. C-suite understands that but you have to bring them along. If [leaders are] still measuring ROI and they don’t buy it, that tells me one important thing…that they’re really managing the health plan and not so much the engagement, the how are we doing as a whole, the happiness, the connectedness, the productivity side.”
Clinical mental health support comes through therapy. Nonclinical mental health support comes every day, through health coaching.
In parallel to our Disruptive Dialogues sessions, we’ve also been speaking with therapists and mental health experts to unpack the key differences between health coaching and therapy. What we’ve realized through the course of those conversations—and reiterated again with Deb—is that therapy provides clinical mental health support. It addresses trauma or deep, persistent and disruptive mental health symptoms that require support from the appropriate mental health practitioner. But we all face key decisions and behaviors every day that are impacted by our mental health, or vice versa. Health coaches provide non-clinical mental health support for these everyday needs so we can get at the heart of reshaping our behaviors and, in turn, supporting better overall mental health.
Take time to re-learn your employees and what they need.
Especially after the pandemic, it’s critical we recognize our employees are not the same. Our workforce–and their needs–are simply not the same as what they were prior to 2020. And so our approach needs to be tempered with the understanding that these employees are wanting different things and showing up at work differently. Deb says that when leaders make this realization, and evolve away from past approaches, that’s when things will get better for a workplace and its culture: “If I can find the thread of empathy, compassion, staying steadfast to what people need now versus a knee-jerk reaction going back to previous protocols is what is defining better right now.”
If you missed the latest Disruptive Dialogues session, you can check out the full video here. Luckily, our next session is just around the corner on May 29 with guest Celeste Harrington, Global Benefits & Wellness Manager at Microsoft. Don’t miss the chance to sign up here.