Getting Healthy and Creating a Better World for Us All: A Call to Action for Workplace Well-being

It seems so simple: getting healthy and creating a better world for everyone. Yet, data tells us otherwise. Are we facing a knowing versus doing predicament, or is it a challenge of consistency, priority, and embodiment?

Recent research highlights a paradox where, despite increased investments in workplace wellness, the prevalence of health issues such as stress, obesity, and mental health disorders continues to rise in the United States.

The Wellness Investment Paradox

1.     Rising Wellness Spending: Companies are significantly increasing their investments in employee wellness. For instance, spending on employee wellness programs was estimated at $51 billion in 2020 and is expected to double to $100 billion by 2030. These programs often include mental health support, stress management, and resilience training (Great Place To Work®)​ (Mental Health America)​​ (Great Place To Work®)​.

2.     Increasing Health Issues: Despite these investments, employee health metrics are not improving. A report by Great Place to Work in 2023 found that only 16% of U.S. workers are in a high state of well-being. Mental health remains a critical concern, with high levels of stress and burnout prevalent in the workforce. This stress and mental health deterioration contribute to significant economic costs, such as $47.6 billion annually due to unplanned absences (Great Place To Work®). Additionally, 81% of workers reported that workplace stress affects their mental health, indicating a worsening trend (Mental Health America)​ (Mental Health America)​​ (Great Place To Work®)​.

3.     Employee Expectations and Well-being: According to a 2024 report by WebMD Health Services, while employers are increasingly implementing well-being programs, there is a concurrent rise in mental health issues among employees due to job-related and financial stress. The Business Group on Health found that 77% of large employers reported an increase in mental health needs among their workforce (WebMD Health Services)​ (APA)​.

Redefining Workplace Well-being

Organizations have the right intentions, but they are proving to ‘not be enough.’ I’m a prime example of a typical ‘healthy’ employee: despite being hyper fit, working out six days a week, and eating healthy, I still suffered from anxiety and depression due to workplace stress. We spend most of our time at work, so individual efforts aren’t enough to end the workplace stress epidemic. Workplace well-being efforts need a makeover if we want to increase human sustainability and support humanized cultures.

1.     Holistic Strategy: Does your organization have a holistic stress mitigation strategy? Do they even know how stressed their employees are? Most organizations don’t have a vision of what a less stressed workplace would look like and therefore have no motivation to get there. They’ve normalized chronic stress to the point where 94% of U.S. employees say they are chronically stressed! A true stress mitigation strategy requires a vision, mission, environmental analysis, strategic priorities, an action plan, performance metrics, implementation plan, monitoring & evaluation, and risk management. If this ‘seems like a lot just to manage stress,’ then there is a knowledge gap in understanding how stress makes us sicker, fatter, and mentally ill, while diminishing your DEI work. The cost of stress is over $300 billion annually across the U.S. and is labeled an epidemic by wellness experts. When will be the time to invest in a holistic strategy if not now?

2.     Embodiment and Consistency: If your company is squeezing in a workshop on resilience or a Wellness Wednesday lunch and learn into a workday, it’s only addressing awareness of well-being. Similar to lifestyle changes, diet changes, well-being can’t be addressed via a quick fix or one-off workshops. It’s addressed slowly over time with consistent, realistic efforts. Nervous system regulation, for example, requires six weeks of consistent effort to achieve. What’s both encouraging and troubling is that this can be done in as little as three minutes a day, but workplaces still don’t have the tools to put this in place effectively.

3.     Culture Norms and Stereotypes: We now have science-backed practices such as meditation, somatic exercise, and breathwork, which are proven to make us better people from the inside out. Yet, the last thing leaders think to do during tough times is lead their employees through grounding breaths together. These practices are still viewed as ‘woo woo’ and ‘soft’ by many. You’ll often hear coworkers share that they go to yoga a few times a week or meditate on their own, but until we get workplaces to consistently integrate these practices and see their profound effects on productivity, interpersonal connections, and mental health, they’ll always be seen as ‘supplemental’ and the missing link to true workplace well-being.

4.     The Missing Technology Conversation: We’re so worried about AI taking over that we’re missing the amazing technology that can help our employees manage stress. Devices now stimulate the Vagus nerve while we work in Excel, and there’s PEMF therapy we can put on our office chairs to ease tension, relieve anxiety, and rejuvenate our cells. Wearable devices now measure our stress resilience.  HSA allowances even cover some of these. Providing this education to employees and normalizing their use is a no-brainer way to reduce stress and its associated costs while increasing employee well-being.

Call me a dreamer, but most visionaries start out that way. Stress is killing your culture, and we need to utilize the amazing research around us to make intentional changes now! Investing in a comprehensive, consistent, and culturally integrated approach to well-being is not just beneficial—it's essential for creating sustainable, humanized workplaces. Let's lead the way in transforming workplace wellness into a strategic imperative that truly supports our employees' health and productivity. It's time to turn vision into action and ensure that our workplaces become environments where every individual can thrive.