Corporate Well-Being: How Employees Play a Key Role

What is corporate well-being exactly? The terms well-being and wellness are often used interchangeably. But there’s a real difference for human resources teams and others trying to promote company and employee success simultaneously. Let’s apply to Merriam-Webster for clarification: 

• Well-being: “The state of being happy, healthy, or prosperous.”
• Wellness: “The quality or state of being in good health, especially as an actively sought goal.”

This might seem a little like splitting hairs. But it’s important if you’re trying to help build a productive workforce of healthy employees interested in both company culture and quality of life. That has the power to lift an entire organization and everyone in it for the long term. 

So, what is corporate well-being from the employee perspective?

Think of individual wellness initiatives for promoting mental health and physical health or lowering the general stress level as components. They’re individual aspects of an approach to employee wellness. 

A corporate well-being program is a more holistic approach to lifting the company, your coworkers, and yourself to a happier, healthier state. That program may have several “wellness”-focused aspects, and your participation will contribute to the bigger picture. The end result should coalesce into companywide well-being by which everyone benefits. 

The bottom line: Team member health and well-being is corporate well-being. And it can all be impacted by improvements in the following areas: 

• Physical wellness.
• Mental wellness.
• Emotional wellness.
• Financial well-being.
• Social wellness in employee relationships.
• Improved communication.
• Relationship wellness.

A corporate well-being program is a more holistic approach to lifting the company, your coworkers, and yourself to a happier, healthier state. That program may have several “wellness”-focused aspects, and your participation will contribute to the bigger picture.

Example: stress levels and corporate well-being

Let’s just talk about stress levels for a moment, and how they impact employees and, therefore, corporate well-being. A Deloitte external market survey found a whopping 91% of employee respondents reported that out-of-control levels of stress negatively impact their work. And 83% report that work-related burnout can damage their personal relationships.

Other recent reports cite a growing number of American workers who are “quiet quitting.” They’re disengaging from work, becoming more marginally productive employees. Workers reported that they didn’t feel like their companies cared much about their personal well-being. This detachment dynamic can lead to the opposite of an engaged work culture. And companies with a disengaged workforce struggle to thrive or even survive. When companies don’t survive, neither do the jobs and livelihoods they had once provided. 

If any of this resonates with you as an employee, you might be recognizing your role in this dynamic. Hopefully you’re also recognizing an opportunity to help change it. Companies can’t grow or succeed without talented, engaged employees, and vice versa. Business leaders and employees alike would be wise to support workplace well-being initiatives that help boost employee health and well-being. Healthy work-life balance can help lift the whole organization to a higher state of happiness, health, and prosperity. 

Why is corporate well-being important to you as an employee?

As corporate well-being and employee well-being coexist in all these areas, measurable results often include:

• Improved work environment.
• Enhanced job satisfaction.
• Decreased illness and absenteeism (and their associated costs to all).
• Improved focus and productivity.
• Increased revenue.
• The ability to groom and advance effective leaders for the future of the company and its teams. 

It’s a real win-win situation — the sum is greater than its parts when it comes to corporate well-being. Happy, healthy, engaged employees are more productive and creative at work. Your contribution to this boosts the company, which, in turn, can provide better compensation and job security for you and your coworkers. You then have more freedom to spend and save money and improve the lives of your own loved ones. And with greater peace of mind, you have more to contribute to personal, professional, and social relationships and goals. It all works together for the mutual support and benefit of everyone involved. 

How to contribute to corporate well-being

Employees and employers alike benefit from thoughtful, engaging corporate well-being programs. If it’s truly a shared responsibility, it makes sense to develop and participate in the programs together. Consider these ideas for helping to develop a comprehensive, engaging corporate wellness program that lifts you and others as participants: 

Physical wellness programs 

This goes beyond the standard employee health plan of insurance benefits. Try carving out ways to escape the dangers of physical inactivity that plague corporate life. Can your company cover a series of low-cost fitness classes, including a health assessment with a personal trainer? If so, will you attend? Other popular workplace health initiatives include company fitness challenges and healthy snacks in the breakroom. Investing in your individual and collective physical health makes incredible common and financial sense.

Mental well-being and emotional well-being

Just like employee well-being and corporate well-being, mental health and physical health cannot be separated. So mental health should also be a central theme within a corporate well-being plan. How can you contribute to lowering stress levels for yourself and coworkers? Can you take advantage of flexible work schedules, working from home, and even employee assistance when mental health issues require therapy? And at gift-giving times, might a gift card for massage services have greater impact than one for dinner and drinks?

Financial and intellectual wellness

Chances are, you experience less stress when you feel secure about your future and your ability to provide. Financial wellness initiatives are gaining popularity within corporate well-being programs. And they can help put you on track and keep you there with valuable insights for financial management and gain.

Employee training and education opportunities are another way to invest in the futures of yourself, your teams, and the organization. What can you learn that’ll add to your banks of knowledge, skills, and effective leadership?

Employee well-being shapes corporate well-being

Well-being is as important to the long-term lives of organizations as it is to the lives of the people driving them. When employees like you become wellness champions, you have the power to positively impact organization culture and well-being for everyone’s sake.