Employers have recognized that health and well-being are tightly tied to worker satisfaction and productivity. It’s no surprise that many organizations are taking a whole-person approach to their workforce strategies. One way to do that is with a well-being council.
This curated group of employees representing different levels and departments of a company—such as human resources, safety, communications, finance and employee resource groups—can help develop an inclusive, detailed and evolving definition of who you’re trying to serve and what would best support them.
To ensure focus and acceptance, councils generally start with a charter to guide their work, recruit cross-functional membership, clearly state their role as supporting HR functions rather than replacing them, and ensure they operate with senior leadership’s buy-in and support.
Whether you are just forming a committee or want to make yours more effective, these five principles can help the council meet your goals.
1. Aim higher than a people strategy.
Consideration: To be successful, the council’s initiatives need to track your organization’s business strategies. And as a bonus, integrating them can supercharge the effectiveness of both.
Action: Ensure decision-makers consider the impact on staff whenever they’re making broad strategic choices. Companies that apply a well-being mindset more broadly are twice as likely to report better human capital and financial outcomes.
2. Encourage a culture of shared ownership and accountability.
Consideration: Overall well-being is increasingly seen as a shared responsibility between employer and employee. Keep leaders and managers broadly accountable for this to drive engagement.
Action: Recruit council members from across the organization to ensure a “whole person” perspective. Acknowledging that staff may be caring for small children or elderly parents, volunteering in the community or handling other responsibilities outside of work will help you find opportunities to support workers in ways that matter—and help leaders and managers see that caring about their team is core to their role. Also consider including this aspect of your culture in hiring and annual review materials to help reinforce it.
3. Expand cross-functional collaboration beyond HR and benefits teams.
Consideration: The growing emphasis on staff recognition, mental health, managing for psychological safety and even design of work makes it clear that true well-being extends beyond physical health. Awareness and access are key to your success.
Action: Empower your committee to engage and partner with operations, safety and IT to help HR boost effectiveness at the organizational level. For example, aligning workplace drug testing with mental health, health coaching programs and support for managers may benefit employees.
4. Balance the needs of the few with the many.
Consideration: Some staff have intense physical roles while others spend their days at a desk. Some might travel while others work from a single location. Today’s solutions need to solve for multiple workday realities.
Action: Identify the workplace needs of different cohorts to define your requirements for flexibility and personalization. Recognizing and supporting different needs will improve engagement, satisfaction and outcomes.
5. Let your committee experience the future.
Consideration: These long-term goals won’t work with a set-it-and-forget-it mindset. As HR teams, especially HR IT specialists, explore and review new options, early feedback can help them make better decisions.
Action: Support your HR professionals by inviting council members to learn about the latest advances, review and test new HR tech, and provide feedback that can help make employee rollouts more effective from Day 1. This ensures committee members can help drive excitement and convert your staff into early adopters.
According to the World Health Organization, employment is a major social determinant of health—and therefore employers can have a significant impact on the health outcomes of their populations. Organizations that are serious about taking their employee support to the next level will find that a well-being council can help them get there.
Insights provided by Quest Diagnostics Workforce Health Solutions.
A Premier Corporate Partner of ACHE, Quest Diagnostics empowers people to take action to improve health outcomes. For more information, visit ache.org/QuestDiagnostics.