Great leaders are strategic about caring for their people.
When I ask leaders to assess their efforts in promoting a culture of wellbeing in their businesses, more often than not they respond with “We’ve got it covered”, “We are doing well”, and so on. However, when I dig deeper using tools that objectively measure the level of wellbeing at their workplace, I find that this is not quite the case. My results often shock them, as they realise that their perception is divorced from reality.
It is 2021, and Gallup still reports that “Nearly 85% of employees worldwide are still not engaged or are actively disengaged at work, despite more effort from companies”. Authentic leaders who provide a unique and memorable work experience to their colleagues (which in turn drives business performance) have several things in common.
They recognise that their perception might be misleading, so they consistently measure their efforts in workplace wellbeing.
They compare their results against international standards and make the required investments to course-correct.
Rinse and repeat.
Good leaders never stop working on the workplace wellbeing in their company, because they understand that investing in employee wellbeing is not just about holding a health fair in March, a webinar in June and Yoga sessions on Friday mornings. It’s about consistency, objectivity, and empathy in measuring, planning and executing their efforts for workplace wellbeing every year, day in and day out.
We have to go beyond what we “think” is right and be strategic about workplace wellbeing. We have to put in the work and knowledge necessary to create a workplace culture that brings the best out of everyone.
Always at the service of your wellbeing,
César