Employee wellbeing: Gaining Leadership Buy-in
One of the biggest questions on the minds of employees and HR teams today seems to be: “How do we change leaders' minds so that they actively invest in employee wellbeing?”
Changing leaders' minds to invest in changing work to support wellbeing can be challenging, but here are a few strategies that have been collected from client stories, experts in the field and companies who have already been successful in their efforts of gaining leadership buy-in::
Make a business case: One effective strategy is to make a business case for investing in employee well-being. By demonstrating the financial benefits of a healthy work culture, such as increased productivity, reduced absenteeism, and improved employee engagement, leaders may be more willing to invest in wellness initiatives.
Show the evidence: Providing evidence-based research that demonstrates the positive impact of a healthy work culture on employee well-being, productivity, and organizational success can be a persuasive tool to convince leaders.
Involve employees: Engaging employees in the process of promoting a healthy work culture can help leaders understand the importance of workplace wellness and how it affects employees' daily lives.
Use metrics: Using metrics and data to measure the impact of wellness initiatives can help leaders understand the benefits of investing in employee well-being and make informed decisions about future investments.
Leverage the bidirectionally of behavior in a “ground up” approach: Leaders are humans, too. When mangers and employees set team or department boundaries to prioritize their own health and well-being, it can send a signal to leaders that the culture is already changing, and give them the opportunity to make even bigger shifts.
Ultimately, the key to changing leaders' minds about investing in workplace wellness is to help them understand that a culture of employee well-being is not just a “nice-to-have,” but a critical aspect of organizational success. When the culture supports employees, then leaders can choose to add benefits like meditation programs gyms, free healthy food, etc. Those are truly the (very!) “nice-to-haves”. An environment that encourages, or at the very least, avoids significantly harming, employees’s wellbeing is a must have. By demonstrating the positive impact of a wellbeing-centric culture, and involving employees in the process, leaders can be convinced to invest in bolder, more modern investments.
