Well-Being Matters
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost. The Road Not Taken
So, the ‘Festive Season’ is over, and the time has come to implement your professional and personal plans made with gusto and fervor on New Year’s Eve. It must be remembered that it will happen just because you gave Santa your ‘jobs wish list’ or you’ve decided to quit your job. Making such thoughts happen requires action. That is when the rubber hits the road. Sure, the job market is tight, which usually favors the job seeker rather than the employer. That said, there is a correlation between the qualifications and experiences needed for a job and how much it favors the job seeker. A job that might require several years of experience and a qualification at the master’s level restricts the pool of people who might be able to apply. For example, to be eligible for a Principal position with Boston Public Schools requires a Master of Education, a valid Massachusetts School Principal License, and, for international applicants, the right to work in the United States. Pay is usually on a sliding scale in positions with multiple qualifications and experience levels. Likewise, despite the qualifications and experiences being met, there may be an additional requirement of passing an internal examination, often with a pass rate of 70% or better. This is not uncommon for Government-related positions. In other words, deciding to move on from your current employer might have been easy enough, but the logistics and processes of doing so may be more complicated.
Indeed.com’s research on employment trends in 2024 is very revealing. The key takeaways from its report are useful for employers and job seekers alike.
- Generative AI is transforming hiring by personalizing the process for job seekers and helping employers scale skills-first strategies to expand talent pools and improve diversity.
- Work well-being benefits both employees and businesses. Indeed, research has found a correlation between high employee well-being and higher company valuations, improved return on assets, and increased profits.
- Employers can attract and retain top talent by prioritizing pay transparency, flexibility, diversity, and authentic employer branding.
Indeed Editorial Team. (2025). Year in Review: 2024’s Essential Hiring and Workplace Insights. Austin. Texas: LEAD with Indeed.
The second ‘dot point’ on wellbeing could easily be overlooked. In 2023, indeed.com commissioned research into workplace well-being. The result from that study is breathtaking. According to the survey: ‘US Work Wellbeing 2023 Report How Thriving People Create Thriving Companies’
“71% of workers are not thriving, reporting low to moderate wellbeing at work. 29% of workers are thriving, reporting high wellbeing at work.” (p 5 of 40)
To clarify,
“For this study, an employee is “thriving” at work if they indicate having high well-being. By definition, those not thriving aren’t performing at their highest potential. This costs companies, as well as the individuals themselves…We measure employee well-being by looking at four key indicators: happiness, purpose, stress, and satisfaction. This measurement aligns with standards from the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre and the OECD. We also measure what influences well-being, including foundational, social, and growth needs.” (p 9 of 40)
Indeed. (2023). US Work Wellbeing 2023 Report: How Thriving People Create Thriving Companies (based on a commissioned survey conducted by Forrester Consulting, 2023.). Austin, Texas. Indeed.
It is concerning that we are one-quarter of the way into the Twenty-First Century, and nearly 3 in 10 employees are able to report high levels of well-being in the workplace. What is equally concerning is that Gallup reported something similar on November 4, 2024. In a post on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), Mark C Crowley gave this excellent summary of the Gallup report.
“Entirely Missing the Plot:
151 Chief People Officers at large companies were asked to define their top 2025 priorities.
Only 1-in-4 listed employee #wellbeing.
Mark C. Crowley. (December 27, 2024). Post on ‘X’ (Formerly Twitter).
In other words, instead of reaching a point where everyone should talk about thriving at work, we are still talking about surviving. The problem is that we spend so much time at work that wellbeing must be on the radar. Why would a leader not want their team to experience “happiness, purpose, (less) stress, and satisfaction” at work? With so many studies that point to improved productivity and profitability in organizations where most employees report high levels of well-being, why wouldn’t a leader want to give it a go? If the employees’ well-being is low, does this not make the daily work of the leader harder than it needs to be? Of course, the obvious question that every leader should ask and answer honestly is simple. Would you want your child to work on your team? The second is similar. Would you want your child to work in any other team in your organization? If you can’t answer yes to both of these, then as a leader, you have a moral and possibly, in some jurisdictions, a legal obligation to do something about that.
The statistics from the Indeed, ‘US Work Wellbeing 2023 Report’ (see p10 of 40), make compelling reading. According to the study, the top 5 items that drive work well-being are: (1). Energy (17%) (2). Belonging (13%) (3). Trust (10%) (4). Accomplishment (10%) (5). Inclusion and Respect (9%). All of these items point towards a two-pronged approach. For sure, well-being is the issue of the moment, according to these studies, but a lack of willingness to take it seriously points to serious problems of culture within the organization. It is worth considering those things that make for a happy workplace. In her excellent article, ‘10 Steps to Supercharge A Wellbeing Culture In Your Team’, Leadership Coach Christina Lattimer identifies the top 5 reasons that drive employee happiness at work.
Happy at Work: The Top 5 Reasons.
- Personal autonomy
- Doing what they loved
- Being able to be innovative
- Having a leader who knew their abilities and appreciated them
- Having fun and being part of a closely-knit team
Lattimer, Christina. (2020). 10 Steps to Supercharge A Wellbeing Culture In Your Team (in People Development Magazine – December 27, 2020).
If the culture doesn’t support staff wellbeing, it won’t improve. The more toxic the culture, the more likely it is that attempts to do something about well-being with free pizza lunches and free morning teas to get staff together may seem like window dressing. The cut-switch is, of course, to have a comprehensive, research-based wellbeing strategy outlined above by Christina Lattimer.
So, the ‘Festive Season’ is over, and the time has come to implement your professional and personal plans made with gusto and fervor on New Year’s Eve.
Gallup’s research may also be useful in this regard. Gallup offers a list of ‘7 Catalyst Questions’ to ensure that the organization addresses the key areas of well-being.
We’ve identified seven catalysts employers can use to support and change their employees’ well-being behaviors. Each catalyst can address and better support employees across the five elements of well-being.
- Development: Do your development plans include well-being goals?
- Recognition: Do you share and celebrate well-being successes?
- Communication: Are your messages consistent with a high-performing and net-thriving culture, especially from leaders and managers?
- Incentives: Do they inspire participation in activities that produce results?
- Events: Do they build awareness of net thriving culture and change behaviors?
- Rules and Guidelines: Do they work for or against thriving in each of the five elements?
- Facilities: Is it easy to move around your office space, see outdoors, and collaborate?
Gallup. (2025). The Seven Catalysts of Wellbeing: Partner with employees to boost their wellbeing.
Both the Indeed ‘US Work Wellbeing 2023 Report’ and the Gallup ‘Despite Employer Prioritization, Employee Wellbeing Falters’ report suggest that employee well-being is not just a one-way street. Employees need to take ownership of their well-being. Taking responsibility for one’s health and well-being is where the well-being journey begins. Support from the workplace is needed to help one move on to Thriving and Flourishing in life, which includes work.
The Health Department for the State of Victoria in Australia provides this useful list of ways to cultivate well-being.
How to achieve wellbeing
- Develop and maintain strong relationships with family and friends.
- Make regular time available for social contact.
- Try to find work that you find enjoyable and rewarding rather than just working for the best pay.
- Eat wholesome, nutritious foods.
- Do regular physical activity.
- Become involved in activities that interest you.
- Join local organizations or clubs that appeal to you.
- Set yourself achievable goals and work towards them.
- Try to be optimistic and enjoy each day.
Department of Health (Victoria State Government). (2020). Well-being. (Better Health Channel. Melbourne: State of Victoria.
Of course, well-being is contextual. Contextual because everyone will have slightly different and nuanced well-being needs. That said, there will be common areas that overlap. Stress areas are the prominent areas. Think of teachers constantly looking for ways to get the best for their students, nurses and doctors looking to get the best health outcomes for their patients, builders managing the safety of construction sites, and farmers working the land in remote parts of the country. They all highlight how context can often drive the stressor and understand that context can usually tame the stressors. Engaging in activities such as prayer, meditation, mindfulness, visualization, journaling, exercise, etc., can mitigate the negative and accentuate the positives in life.
Irrespective of your context, one goal should be familiar to all. To live life and to live it to the full. This means building strong, durable connections with other people and creating opportunities for yourself and others. Wellbeing is as much a communal activity as it is an individual activity. Life is all-encompassing of others, work, health, wealth, etc. Businesses exist to meet the needs of their customers/clients. How engaged your staff are goes a long way to the company engaging with the customers. It is about putting people first, which Tom Peters regularly reminds everyone of. His excellent book, ‘Excellence Now: Extreme Humanism,’ highlights why investing in staff wellbeing is necessary.
“Business exists to enhance human wellbeing.” This damn sentence rolls around and around and around in my head. I, really, really buy it. Do you? Do your colleagues? What precisely does this mean in terms of today’s activities? Have I/we positively contributed to human well-being today? I am fully aware that your day has been about one-damn-thing-after-another. That’s the problem—and the opportunity. Is your human well-being turned on? Are you reflecting on this grand aspiration, which can only be exhibited—or not—in your and your team’s next micro-action?”
Peters,Tom. (2021). Excellence Now: Extreme Humanism (eBook). Chicago. Illinois. | Networking Publishing. (Ch2. p81 of 295).
Wellbeing and resilience are closely related. Improving one helps the other. According to Tom Peters, it starts with the small micro-actions. A smile, a laugh, reassuring words, giving people time to be people, celebrating achievements, and learning from failures all contribute to the culture and well-being. Most of these are low-cost. From an employment perspective, organizations that take wellbeing seriously are more likely, according to both studies, to retain their staff. There’s a saving straight away. When an employee leaves, they need to be replaced. The search for a suitable replacement may take a few weeks or months, depending on how specialized the position is and the organization’s reputation as an employer of choice. All of this is an additional cost to the organization. Reviews by former employees on job sites and in social media are one way in which people will discover whether your organization is an employer of choice. Remember that ‘word of mouth’ advertising is one of the most powerful ways to get that message out, especially within the industry. Conferences and industry meetings are places that facilitate these conversations. For a prospective employee, indicating on your ‘CV’ or Resume activities that suggest that you care about yourself won’t go unnoticed. It tells a future employer that you’re already proactive in taking your well-being seriously. It means anything they do will complement your efforts, and as a result, you and the employer will get better value for the well-being investment.
“Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.”
Max Ehrmann. 1927. Desideratta.
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