Welcome to Consultant Wire, a first of its kind newsletter powered by Propel, where we give you confident answers to complex well-being questions your clients are asking.
It typically begins by reviewing cost pressures, cutting budgets, and reducing FTEs around initiatives that are deemed non-essential. Often times, it ends with a client ready to cut well-being for lack of results or impact. They might voice their displeasure about how, despite the program’s engagement, they continue to see claims and overall health on the same trendline.
There’s something deeper going on when you hear this kind of question. Employers know the impact well-being was supposed to make, but they often times miss the mark on how it is meant to work. They’re frequently led to believe that simply having a well-being program will bring them results. We know that it doesn’t work that way.
It’s tempting to come in with program data (this is what most vendors hastily attempt) to illustrate how many participants the program has or how many “cards” have been completed. The mistake organizations make is believing the presence of a program and a high level of participation will lead to behavior change.
But the question we should be asking isn’t, “how many people are engaging?” it’s, “what are they engaging with, and what exists to form habits?”
Habit formation requires repetition, environmental reinforcement, and structural support. Environments that include prompts, cues, and supportive policies make it easier for employees to repeat behaviors consistently.
The faster the culture and environment change to integrate well-being, the quicker an impact can be demonstrated.
We recommend taking inventory of a culture before implementing well-being to understand how we can best integrate the two. Here’s an inventory template you can use to do this (or design your own). The answer is typically not more programming, but strategic programming.
Key Takeaway
Well-being isn’t something you do, it’s how you do things. For it to work, it needs to be further integrated into the culture.
We’re working on some great strategies to gain more buy-in from leadership and demonstrate clear value. Set up a call with our team to hear more about what they look like.
Unlike most things these days, this was handwritten by a human. If you have recommendations on what we should answer next, feel free to reply with your thoughts.