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Well-being: A strategy and a responsibility

by Gaurav Lahiri, Jeff Schwartz
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28 March 2018

Well-being: A strategy and a responsibility 2018 Global Human Capital Trends

28 March 2018
  • Gaurav Lahiri India
  • Jeff Schwartz United States
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  • A holistic approach to well-being
  • Well-being emerges as a strategic priority
  • Advancing from health to well-being to performance
  • New solutions, indexes, and tools
  • The bottom line

​Many employers are putting in place innovative programs for financial wellness, mental health, healthy diet and exercise, mindfulness, sleep, stress management, and more. The aim? To both increase worker productivity and meet new social expectations.

A holistic approach to well-being

Learn more

View 2018 Global Human Capital Trends

Explore the infographic

Watch the related video for this trend

Read the press release

Download the full 2018 Global Human Capital Trends report or create a custom PDF

This article was featured in Deloitte Review, issue 23


As the line between work and life blurs, providing a robust suite of well-being programs focused on physical, mental, financial, and spiritual health is becoming a corporate responsibility and a strategy to drive employee productivity, engagement, and retention. While organizations are investing heavily in this area, our research reveals there is often a significant gap between what companies are offering and what employees value and expect.

Many major organizations are rethinking their reward and development programs to include some version of holistic, end-to-end well-being programs, which are now both a responsibility of good corporate citizenship and a key element of an enterprise talent strategy. This investment responds to the needs of workers, companies, and corporate leaders, and is being addressed by a growing number of well-being resources and tools.

We first wrote about the “overwhelmed employee” in 2014. While the issue of highly stressed workers is not new, the relentless pace of business today has made the problem worse.1 Driven by the always-on nature of digital business and 24/7 working styles, studies now show that more than 40 percent of all workers face high stress in their jobs, negatively affecting their productivity, health, and family stability.2 Hourly workers might complain of inflexible schedules, while white-collar workers often complain of an endless stream of emails and messages that make it impossible to disconnect from their jobs. In some countries, individuals are working more hours and taking fewer vacations than ever.3 And, according to Deloitte’s millennial survey, a majority of surveyed millennials in 19 out of 30 countries report that they do not expect to be “happier” than their parents.4

In response, the digital well-being market is exploding. More than $2 billion in venture capital has been invested in this area over the last two years, creating a flood of online videos, apps, and tools to help assess, monitor, and improve all aspects of health.5

Well-being emerges as a strategic priority

The corporate wellness marketplace began decades ago with a highly specific focus on employee physical health and safety. Today, however, the definition of wellness has expanded dramatically to include a range of programs aimed at not only protecting employee health, but actively boosting performance as well as social and emotional well-being. These now include innovative programs and tools for financial wellness, mental health, healthy diet and exercise, mindfulness, sleep, and stress management, as well as changes to culture and leadership behaviors to support these efforts.

Propelled by these innovations, the corporate wellness market—including health care programs, screening, assessment, education, and apps—has reached nearly $8 billion in the United States alone, where it is expected to hit $11.3 billion by 2021.6 And as the market has grown, so has leadership’s understanding of the critical role these programs play in defining an organization. For example, two-thirds of organizations now state that well-being programs are a critical part of their employment brand and culture.7

Yet despite increased corporate attention and investment in well-being, our research indicates that companies must do a better job connecting well-being programs with employee expectations. As the chart below illustrates, substantial gaps remain in many areas between what employees value and what companies offer to their employees.


Explore the data further in the Global Human Capital Trends app.

It is our view that expanding well-being programs to encompass what employees want and value is now essential for organizations to treat their people responsibly—as well as to boost their social capital and project an attractive employment brand.

Research has found that student loan support is one of the most highly regarded well-being benefits, as are volunteerism and opportunities for local citizenship.8 Salesforce, for example, prides itself on giving employees seven days of “volunteer time off” each year to help them feel purpose at work.9

Well-being plays a crucial role in multinational food company Danone’s overall business strategy, which is based on the two pillars of economic and social growth. The company’s Dan’Cares program provides medical coverage for most significant health-related risks, and the company has implemented a global parental leave policy. The aim is not only to support worker well-being, but to position Danone employees as health ambassadors.10

Lendlease, a multinational construction, property, and infrastructure company, focuses not only on using the physical workplace to support well-being, but also on developing policies and leadership approaches that embed well-being into its culture. The company’s work environment features “neighborhood” tables, working walls, focus points for activities that require concentration, and enclosed pods and breakaway areas that foster collaboration and social interaction.11 Lendlease’s Wellness Hub, a preventative care facility that occupies two floors of its corporate headquarters, offers employees the use of dedicated rooms—the “Consultation Room,” the “Contemplation Room,” the “Carer’s Room,” and the “First Aid Room”—as well as adjoining areas for physical activity and training.12 A highlight of the Wellness Hub is a six-meter-high breathing wall, which contains about 5,000 plants that accelerate the removal of air pollutants and cools the surrounding space—while also improving energy efficiency and reducing air conditioning costs. The company’s leave policy includes two days during which employees can volunteer their time to a charity of personal interest. Across its international regions, Lendlease continuously rolls out well-being initiatives, including three annual well-being days and extensive health initiatives around diet and exercise that incorporate inclusive and supportive health assessment approaches.13

Well-being benefits are particularly important to younger employees. Millennials, who now make up more than half of the workforce in many countries, spend almost twice as much on “self-care” as baby boomers do.14 This has fed the growth of consumer apps for mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and online personal and professional coaching,15 all of which are also available as employer programs.

Advancing from health to well-being to performance

As the definition of well-being expands, organizations now see well-being not just as an employee benefit or responsibility, but as a business performance strategy. In this year’s Global Human Capital Trends survey, only 23 percent of respondents told us that their well-being program was designed to reduce insurance costs. In contrast, 43 percent believed that well-being reinforces their organization’s mission and vision, 60 percent reported that it improves employee retention, and 61 percent said that it improves employee productivity and bottom-line business results.

There is growing evidence to support the idea that well-being drives performance. Research shows that the costs of lost productivity are 2.3 times higher than medical and pharmacy costs.16 Complicating the range of potential employer responses, these costs often occur when an employee is actually at work. A study at Dow Chemical Company found that “presenteeism” costs reached an average of $6,721 per employee per year.17 No wonder, then, that the focus on well-being now extends to helping employees perform well at work, not just avoid absences.

New solutions, indexes, and tools

Driven by intense demand and an influx of venture capital, many new well-being solutions have entered the market. Vendors such as Castlight Health, Limeade, VirginPulse, and others now offer corporate platforms that allow employers to deliver a wide range of employee well-being solutions through an integrated app.18

VirginPulse, for example, offers an employee app that is used as frequently as Facebook and whose active users are 65 percent more engaged, have 32 percent lower turnover rates, and deliver 9 percent higher productivity than their peers.19 Deloitte has developed its own “Vitality” app to help their professionals better manage their energy, and now offers a “Well-being Index.” Other vendors are developing similar indexes to help organizations benchmark their well-being programs.

CEOs and CHROs are getting the message. Just as productivity, citizenship, and inclusion have risen in importance, so has the importance of well-being moved up on the agenda. Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini summarizes the importance and impact of well-being programs: “If people can't make ends meet at home with food, benefits, health, and health care in particular, how can they be present, engaged knowledge workers when they come to work?”20

The bottom line

Well-being is becoming a core responsibility of good corporate citizenship and a critical performance strategy to drive employee engagement, organizational energy, and productivity. It is also a growing expectation among the talent companies most want to recruit, access, and retain. No longer an optional or narrowly focused element of the rewards menu, well-being is now front and center as a business imperative for leading, high-performance companies.

What role does the C-suite play in promoting well-being? How can individuals adjust?

Authors

Dimple Agarwal, of Deloitte MCS Limited, is the global leader of Organization Transformation and Talent for Deloitte’s Human Capital practice. She is based in London.

Josh Bersin, a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP, leads Bersin & Associates, now Bersin, Deloitte Consulting LLP. He is based in Oakland, CA.

Gaurav Lahiri, of Deloitte India, leads Deloitte India’s Human Capital consulting practice. He is based in Delhi.

Jeff Schwartz, a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP, is Deloitte’s global leader for Human Capital Marketing, Eminence, and Brand. He is based in New York City.

Erica Volini, a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP, is the US Human Capital practice leader. She is based in New York City.

Acknowledgements

Cover image by: Traci Daberko

Endnotes
    1. Jeff Schwartz et al., The overwhelmed employee: Simplify the work environment, Deloitte University Press, March 7, 2014. View in article

    2. EKU Online, “Work-related stress on employees health,” accessed March 2, 2018. View in article

    3. US Travel Association and GfK Public Affairs and Corporate Communications, Overwhelmed America: Why don’t we use our earned leave?, August 2014. View in article

    4. Deloitte, The 2017 Deloitte millennial survey: Apprehensive millennials: Seeking stability and opportunities in an uncertain world, 2017. View in article

    5. Global Wellness Institute, “Global Wellness Institute releases report and survey on ‘the future of wellness at work,’” press release, February 17, 2016. View in article

    6. IBISWorld, Corporate Wellness Services in the US, February 2016, p. 5. View in article

    7. Proprietary research by Limeaid. View in article

    8. Proprietary research by BugInsights, acquired by Deloitte in January 2018. View in article

    9. Salesforce, “Employee volunteering & giving,” accessed February 28, 2018. View in article

    10. Danone, “Rewards & recognition,” accessed February 28, 2018. View in article

    11. Duncan Young (head of workplace health and wellbeing, Lendlease), interview with the authors, February 28, 2018. View in article

    12. Lendlease, “Lendlease taking employee health and well-being to the next level at new global headquarters,” press release, September 26, 2016. View in article

    13. Young interview. View in article

    14. Christianna Silva, “The millennial obsession with self-care,” NPR, June 4, 2015. View in article

    15. Amy Fleming, “Can apps improve your mental well-being?,” Guardian, September 12, 2016. View in article

    16. Leonard Berry, Ann Mirabito, and William Baun, “What’s the hard return on employee wellness programs?,” Harvard Business Review, December 2010. View in article

    17. Ibid. View in article

    18. Josh Bersin, HR technology disruptions for 2018: Productivity, design, and intelligence reign, Bersin, Deloitte Consulting LLP, 2017. View in article

    19. Proprietary research by VirginPulse. View in article

    20. Making Sen$e editor, “Good pay, good worker, good company? Aetna CEO thinks so,” PBS, May 28, 2015. View in article

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Global Human Capital Trends , Talent , Employee engagement

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Gaurav Lahiri

Gaurav Lahiri

Partner

Gaurav Lahiri is a partner with the Consulting practice of Deloitte India. He leads the Human Capital service area based out of Delhi. He brings significant experience in consulting, focusing primarily on organization transformation, leadership development, and M&A. Gaurav works with clients to align their organizations with their strategic agenda— including reviewing strategies, designing organization structures, implementing talent management programs, and formulating reward strategies to drive performance and motivation. While Gaurav’s expertise is in Organization Effectiveness, he has also helped clients research and develop competency models for outstanding performance. He managed a seminal Indian CEO research study sponsored by Bharat Petroleum under the aegis of India’s Public Enterprises Selection Board and co-authored the book The Indian CEO: A Portrait of Excellence published in 2007. Gaurav has authored several papers on post-merger integration, change management, and has won several prizes and awards, including the McKinsey Best Management Paper of the Year. Gaurav is a graduate with Honors in Mathematics from Delhi University, and holds an MBA from the XLRI School of Management.

  • gauravlahiri@deloitte.com
Jeff Schwartz

Jeff Schwartz

Principal

Jeff Schwartz, a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP, is the US leader for the Future of Work and author of Work Disrupted (Wiley, 2021). Schwartz is an adviser to senior business leaders at global companies, focusing on workforce and business transformation. He is the global editor of the Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends report, which he started in 2011.

  • jeffschwartz@deloitte.com

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