What is a Chief Well-Being Officer?

Chief Well-being or Wellness Officers (CWOs) work with the C-suite, managers, and employees to create and maintain a culture that puts employee well-being at its center. They seek to integrate the mental/emotional, social, physical, professional and even financial well-being of employees into the larger business strategy.¹ A typical CWO job description requires training and qualifications in Human Resources, well-being, and/or employee engagement.

In practice, a CWO works hand in hand with HR and senior executives to evaluate and influence all programs that touch employees, including health and welfare benefits; mental health support; career progression; leadership development and mentoring; inclusion and diversity; work-life integration; and employee engagement and belonging.

The CWO role is most prominent in the health care industry where it helps to combat clinician burnout and maintain employee well-being. Stanford Medicine was the first large health care organization to implement such a role in 2017, and over the next three years about 20 academic health care organizations followed suit.² With rising burnout and quit rates, this role has become even more important in the health care industry.

Why is the CWO role gaining traction? And how could it benefit organizations?

Now we’re seeing the CWO role expand to organizations beyond health care, and it’s not a huge surprise. Employers have become acutely aware of the importance of taking care of their team and the strong link between employee well-being and job performance, engagement, and retention—all of which impact business results. This also comes at a time when well-being programs have evolved beyond helping people with just physical health.

The CWO position shines a clear spotlight on employees and backs up an organization’s corporate value proposition to care for people. And, we know that when people feel supported, like they belong, and that their employer cares about them as a person, productivity and engagement increase. People are more creative, willing to take risks (which often leads to more innovation and stronger results) and have higher levels of psychological safety when they feel connected and engaged at work. So, having a dedicated well-being senior leader is a real game-changer — influencing everything from diversity, recruitment efforts, candidate flow, employee retention, and ultimately business results.

Which kinds of organizations have committed to a CWO role?

According to Chris Rollins, a leadership coach who works with HR leaders, the trend of the CWO role is limited at this point, but one that is likely to increase. Rollins says, “There are not a ton of chief wellness officers yet, especially at smaller companies. But the trend [of chief wellness officers] is certainly bubbling up.”³

In addition to numerous health care organizations, our research turned up three consulting companies and many universities who have made the CWO role a priority as a way of improving wellness in the workplace:

• First appointed in 2015, Deloitte’s CWO drives strategy and innovation around work-life, health, and wellness to empower people to be well so they can perform at their best in both their professional and personal lives.⁴ According to their CWO, this is critical because “if we don’t support employee well-being, we are sub-optimizing people’s potential. As a professional services organization, we are solving complex problems that require our people to show up as their best selves.” She also relates that being in the C-suite makes a statement that the firm takes this issue seriously.⁵
• EY named a CWO in November 2021 as they were formulating their return-to-office strategy. At that time, the firm also created a dedicated team to focus on all aspects of employee well-being. Their CWO states: “You have to view wellbeing as a business imperative, it’s not a nice-to-do…It’s actually imperative for businesses to be focused on this right now.”⁶
• Aon created a CWO position in 2022 in response to the toll the pandemic had taken on employee well-being. Their goals were addressing “all aspects of wellbeing for Aon’s 50,000 employees and helping the firm’s employer clients build wellbeing programs that tend to evolving employee needs.”⁷ Aon uses a data-driven strategy to measure how employees are doing and feeling emotionally and then point them to the best source of help.
• The University of Tennessee (UT) System, in February 2024, appointed their first Chief Wellness Officer to enhance mental health and well-being initiatives for students, faculty, and employees across all campuses within the UT System.
• In March 2024, to foster a culture of mental health and well-being, Dartmouth College employed their inaugural Chief Wellness Officer. The role aims to bring together various services and departments, as well as enhance the visibility of healthy habits.

Our research has just touched the surface, but it’s clear only organizations who have the resources and financial capacity to dedicate a senior role to well-being are appointing CWOs. Most small- to mid-size companies will continue to roll corporate well-being efforts into HR/benefits or a well-being committee.

Closing thoughts on the Chief Wellness Officer role

I’m curious to see how this role evolves and how it might exist alongside the somewhat overlapping functions of HR, benefits, change management, and culture work. It will certainly be key for organizations who do create this role to ensure a focused, harmonized approach and singular message to employees about well-being.

So, while the rise of the Chief Wellness Officer continues to evolve, I take it as yet another positive sign that organizations are getting serious about well-being and improving culture in the workplace—and the benefits that come from valuing each person’s unique needs and supporting them in all aspects of their lives. And, it goes without saying, having a CWO role is a strong signal to current and future employees that well-being is an organizational priority.

For guidance on making well-being a priority for your employees, visit our website or contact us at connect@webmd.net.

It is clear that employers are in a position of influence here and that workforce well-being and culture have emerged as the essentials to drive business value. Over the next year employers will be asking the tough questions, like:

• How do we make work and the workplace better?
• What adjustments to workplace culture and the employee experience do we need to make retain employees, engage employees, and be successful?
• As an employer, how can we best enable our employees to navigate ongoing struggles that affect their holistic well-being?
• How can we best harness the power of new technology in ways that enhance well-being, rather than detract from it?

Of course, all of this is taking place against an extraordinarily tense backdrop of economic, environmental, and geopolitical uncertainty that creates higher stress and financial strain on our employees, solidifying what we’ve known for many years: employees need holistic well-being that encompasses more than just their physical health.

There is no going back now. Employees increasingly want employers to support them with their well-being. They’re looking to employers to help them solve the caregiving crisis, to assist with health concerns like obesity and provide equal support for menopause, and to allow for better work/life integration. Technology (AI) is being evaluated for the role it will play in bringing some of these solutions to employees.

We’re rounding up the discussion of all of these issues with our annual well-being trend analysis. Let’s dive in to our first trend for 2024.

Trend 1: The inextricable link between workplace well-being and employee engagement forces a sharper focus on work culture.

A wake-up call for employers.

Focusing on employee well-being isn’t just a nice-to-do, but a must-do. However, the last several years have convinced a critical mass of employers that well-being is inextricably linked to the engagement and productivity of the workforce and, consequently, the bottom line.

Employees themselves deserve much of the credit for pushing employers to think differently. The pandemic enabled workers to more openly question the traditional practice of treating the employee who logs off at 5PM as separate from the human being at home. They began to demand to be treated as a whole person and to insist that their overall well-being was something employers should care deeply about. And, as the Great Resignation proved, employees were willing to walk away from employers who didn’t respond to these expectations.

This is not to say that employers never cared about worker well-being. Many did. The difference is that they sometimes treated employee engagement and employee well-being as two different things, often looked at in isolation (think an engagement survey and a well-being survey). Yet what we know—and what Gallup noted in a study way back in 2015—is that workers with high well-being also tend to be highly engaged.¹ They’re less likely to miss work because of poor health, less likely to change employers, and more likely to report “excellent” performance in their role at work.²

Moving from simply offering employee well-being initiatives to integrating with workforce strategy.

So, it stands to reason that organizations that focus on improving the well-being of employees will likely achieve higher engagement. But are employers increasing their commitment to employee well-being? The data suggests that they are.

• Aon’s 2022-2023 Global Well-being Survey found that 87 percent of organizations have at least one well-being initiative, and 83 percent have an actual well-being strategy, an increase of more than 25 percentage points since 2020.³
• Mercer’s recent study found that 64% of employers plan to enhance health and well-being offerings in 2024.⁴

We’re also seeing signs that well-being is now viewed as a key part of workforce strategy, not a separate endeavor. Fidelity and Business Group on Health’s 2023 Health and Well-Being Survey found that in 2021, 42% of employers viewed their health and well-being strategy as an integral part of their workforce strategy. In 2023 that figure jumped to 66%, an increase of over 57%.⁵

Just as importantly, we are also seeing employers link well-being to broader business objectives. For example, the Aon study found that more than 80% of organizations are integrating well-being into their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I); Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG); Health and Safety; and Total Rewards programs.

What the reevaluation of work itself means for well-being.

Yet another shift is the reexamining of all aspects of the workplace that contribute to or detract from employee well-being. Workers are questioning long-held norms around work itself. Why should we prioritize work above all else? Who said we need to be available for work requests on nights and weekends? Why can’t work fit into life—instead of the other way around?

This shift has been fueled in part by younger generations who aren’t blanketly accepting that one should be defined by what they do for a living. They are setting boundaries around their work and their life. They want to feel connected to the organization’s mission and vision and to feel a part of something bigger than themselves.

And workers in general want workplaces to acknowledge that work plays a critical role in our mental well-being. A global study from the Workforce Institute at UKG found say their job is the biggest factor influencing their mental health. That same study found that managers have a greater impact on our mental health than doctors and therapists, and equal to that of spouses and partners.⁶

Employers will begin to expand the scope of what drives employee well-being.

Most organizations have recognized the link between employee engagement and well-being. But if employers don’t take that critical next step of examining work culture to uncover the underlying root causes that contribute to so much worker stress, burnout and poor mental health, it will be difficult to move the needle closer to a true culture of well-being.

We’ll see employers begin to address issues that we haven’t traditionally associated with well-being, but contribute mightily to it, including:

• A lack of trust between employees and the employer
• Norms around expected working hours and unrealistic workloads
• Social determinants of health
• Poor work/life balance
• Mismatch between skills and job requirements
• Lack of a sense of purpose/feeling disconnected from the organization’s mission/vision
• Poor managers
• Lack of recognition
• An environment that is not psychologically safe
• A lack of social connections or belonging at work

We’ll see an effort to focus on the things that employees need to feel valued, supported and engaged across all aspects of their well-being, including physical, emotional, and social connectedness. Enlightened employers in 2024 will focus on the elements of work that will help employees thrive, like these five factors identified by employees in a Mercer Global Talent Trends 2022-2023 study:⁷

• Feeling valued for my contributions;
• Work that fulfills me;
• Having fun at work;
• A sense of belonging; and
• Having a manager who advocates for me and provides meaningful feedback.

Trend 2: Obesity management, menopause and healthy aging are evolving priorities to support the holistic well-being of employees at work.

The objective of many programs with an employee well-being strategy is to keep employees healthy while reducing health care cost spend. But we know we can’t achieve that if we maintain a status quo approach. As new treatments, research, and trends come to the forefront, it’s our job to evaluate and re-evaluate solutions in order to recommend the right program expansions. For 2024, we’re looking at three new priorities around three long-standing challenges to support holistic employee well-being: obesity management, menopause and healthy aging.

Obesity management.

Obesity continues to be a major health concern in the United States:

• According to the CDC, 42% of U.S. adults are obese.⁸
• By 2030, it is estimated that 1 in 2 adults will be obese by 2030 and 1 in 4 will be severely obese..⁹
• Obesity prevalence rates are projected to be higher than 35% in all states and above 50% in 29 states.¹⁰
• Obesity is linked to heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer which are among the leading causes of preventable, premature death. The CDC estimates this translates to a medical cost of nearly $173 billion annually in the U.S. ¹¹

Newly available prescription drugs to treat obesity will shape the obesity discussion in the coming year.

Prescription drug options for treating obesity continue to dominate the media. This class of prescription drugs, known by several brand names, mimic the effects of a hormone that can help people feel full.¹² When used appropriately and with correct dosing in conjunction with appropriate lifestyle behavior modifications, these prescription medications can result in a significant amount of weight loss. Unfortunately, when lifestyle modifications and regular medication use are abandoned, weight loss may reverse. There are still many aspects of weight-loss medications to sort through, like the long-term effects of usage. Even so, the emergence of these drugs has started to change the conversation around obesity.

Obesity has long been thought of as a personal failure and a lack of willpower, a condition caused by eating too much and not exercising enough. Now, attitudes are starting to shift and there is general acknowledgement that obesity is a disease. As Dr. David Rind, chief medical officer for the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, noted: “It’s become more and more obvious over the years that obesity is a medical issue, not a lifestyle choice,” Rind said. “We’ve been waiting for drugs like this for a very long time.”¹³

According to new research released by Mercer, less than half of large employers currently cover the new generation of obesity drugs. But, an additional 18% are considering adding them to prescription drug coverage.¹⁴ Reducing the prevalence of obesity in the employee population can lead to a reduction in health care costs, which is inarguably good for employers, but many are worried about the short-term costs and how to develop reasonable policies around who gets access to these drugs. It will be interesting to continue to monitor the inclusion of these treatments under employee medical plans in the coming year.

Menopause.

Despite the fact that every woman will go through menopause at some point in her life, there has been shockingly little discussion about it. Until now.

A recent Mayo Clinic study found that the potential direct and indirect costs of absenteeism, lost work productivity, increased health care costs, and lost opportunities for career advancement caused by menopause are staggering. Additionally, according to the study, menopause costs American women an estimated $1.8 billion in lost working time per year.¹⁵ Moreover, menopause often takes place at a time when women are most likely to move into top leadership positions and be contributing meaningfully to the organization.¹⁶

So while millions of women have suffered in silence—enduring common menopause symptoms like hot flashes, brain fog, joint pain, insomnia, weight gain and anxiety that can last for six to 10 years—relief is on the horizon. Much of it is taking place in the workplace.

Progressive employers have realized that helping women during this phase of their life isn’t just a nice thing to do—it’s also critical to retaining and sustaining the engagement of a critical component of their workforce—women. Put simply, it’s not just an issue of gender and age, it’s a business issue.

We will see employers stepping up efforts here, including offering additional health care benefits, forming Employee Resource Groups, training managers to be more educated and empathetic about menopause, and offering workplace accommodations like additional leave and more flexible work schedules. These employers will break down the stigma of talking about menopause in the workplace, much like we have done with mental health. At WebMD Health Services, our Health Coaches are trained in women’s hormonal concerns and have been dispensing good advice regarding menopause for years. We’re excited that this issue is being more openly discussed in well-being circles like ours and in society in general.

The average life expectancy in the U.S. now exceeds 73 years for men and 79 years for women, and many people are living vibrant lives well into their 80s and 90s.¹⁷ Research by AARP¹⁸ and McKinsey¹⁹ finds that older adults view age as “just a number,” and are optimistic about their future. As the McKinsey study notes, it’s important to focus on capacity, not age, and recognize the potential that older individuals have to contribute meaningfully to the workplace long past 65, once considered the traditional age of retirement.

McKinsey found that purpose, stress, physical activity, lifelong learning, meaningful connections with others and financial security are the factors that most strongly influence our health as we age. Well-being programs are well-poised to deliver many solutions to help older employees age well and increase their healthspan, or the period of time individuals are enjoying good health as they age. Expect to see targeted campaigns focused on this cohort in 2024. Given that the 50-plus age group is expected to contribute $12.6 trillion to the U.S. economy by 2030, it’s easy to see how focusing on keeping this employee cohort happy, healthy and engaged is an important priority.

But it’s not just older workers we should be concerned about. By 2030, it’s estimated that Gen Z will make up about 30% of the workforce in the U.S.²⁰ By focusing on their well-being now, we’re investing in the longevity and sustaining power of our people.

Trend 3: Employers are taking a more proactive, preventive approach to employee mental health.

While the pandemic may have subsided, we’ve emerged into an uncertain economy, high inflation, escalating climate events, social discord at home, and war in Europe and the Middle East. These factors, combined with job-related and financial stress, are taking their toll on workers and leading to unprecedented levels of anxiety and depression in the workforce. Business Group on Health’s 2024 Large Employer Health Care Strategy Survey found that 77% percent of large employers reported an increase in the mental health needs among their workforce, with another 16% anticipating that mental health needs will continue to increase in the future.²¹

Workers also increasingly expect employers to support them with their mental health. A 2023 study by the American Psychological Association found that 92% of workers said:

• It is very (57%) or somewhat (35%) important to them to work for an organization that values their emotional and psychological well-being; and
• It is very (52%) or somewhat (40%) important to them to work for an organization that provides support for employee mental health.²²

As we discussed in Trend 1, employee well-being is linked to engagement and productivity. And so, in 2024, we’ll see employers step up with increased access to mental health support and services and a deeper, more considered approach to employee mental health that goes beyond simply checking the box, including:

• A year-round focus on mental health. There is considerable work to be done to continue break down the stigma of mental health in the workplace. For example, 43% of employees reported worrying that if they told their employer about a mental health condition, it would have a negative impact on them in the workplace. In 2024 we’ll see a more sustained effort by employers to reduce the stigma through campaigns that go beyond Mental Health Awareness Month. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) will play a key part in expanding awareness and acting as a liaison between leadership and employees.
• Manager training. Managers play a critical role in tackling workplace mental health concerns. Not only are they the front line to employees when it comes to educating them about the resources available to them, they can also be a major source of the stress employees experience. We’ll see stepped-up efforts to educate managers in recognizing mental health issues among their workers (think mental health first aid training); support to help them become more flexible, empathetic leaders; and encouragement to more openly address mental health in all-employee forums.
• Expanded EAP services. In addition to increasing the number of free counseling sessions, employers will continue to promote the EAP’s services and make it easier for employees to access them. Part of this will entail communicating about what employees should expect when they call the EAP and emphasizing that the EAP is not just for serious mental health concerns, but also for everyday challenges that affect our well-being.
• Supplemental networks for virtual or in-person care. While most health plans provide some support for behavioral health services, it comes with restrictions that limit the amount of coverage and care people can receive. And, given the mental health provider shortage, it can be difficult to locate mental health providers who are taking on new patients. By expanding to networks that specialize in mental health services employees can gain greater access to care in a way that suits them—either in-person or virtually.

Trend 4: Artificial intelligence (AI) and the future of well-being solutions and their delivery – cautiously embracing.

 In 2023, it seemed AI was all we could talk about. Now that the dust has settled a bit, we’re reflecting on how AI may be applied in the well-being sector in 2024.

How AI will impact the future of workplace well-being.

From using AI-generated data to deliver the best possible well-being intervention at the right time and in exactly the right way, to enhancing and augmenting services that previously required human intervention, to being able to detect health risks early, there is certainly excitement about the possibilities AI brings to the world of well-being, but not surprisingly, some hesitations as well.

• Personalization. Well-being is inherently personal, so anything that enhances our ability to deliver personalized solutions is a game-changer. AI will allow well-being providers to provide more sophisticated and unique data-driven recommendations to individuals that incorporate their health status, preferences and behaviors. Additionally, employees can receive more information about their progress, which can sustain motivation and increase satisfaction and engagement. This will help organizations deliver solutions that truly resonate with participants and ideally lead to greater behavior change and overall satisfaction with the well-being program.
• Virtual well-being “assistants.” From nutrition advice to exercise suggestions to tips for managing stress, AI-based chatbot solutions can offer 24/7 tailored, personalized support while helping to build motivation to keep participants engaged in their well-being. And, given the shortage of mental health providers, these chatbots can serve as a short-term intervention while waiting to see a therapist. Plus, AI assistants continuously refine solutions based on user input, ensuring that recommendations are always on point.
• Early detection. AI-powered wearable devices have the capability to monitor biometric data like heart rate, sleep patterns and physical activity and determine if any of these indicate a potential health problem. If a risk is identified, the individual can receive the right intervention, potentially warding off a more serious (and costly) condition.²⁴ New AI solutions can also use people’s voices to detect signs and severity of mental health conditions to connect people to the right type of resources. These applications can also track mental health over time to determine whether specific interventions are effective.²⁵

Finally, AI can enable employers to become more targeted and efficient in their approach to employee mental health. For example, algorithms can analyze text-based communication (like employee surveys, chats, or emails) to detect signs of stress, burnout or other mental health issues, allowing companies to target the appropriate support to their workforces.²⁶ AI may even be able to foster a more inclusive work environment by helping organizations identify and address potential biases and discrimination that may be impacting employee well-being and mental health. AI can also help EAPs become more efficient in finding and recruiting counselors, processing new patient requests, and matching people with the right therapist.²⁷

Potential downsides of AI.

While there’s no doubt that AI presents interesting opportunities to maximize the value of well-being solutions, we’d be remiss if we didn’t address some of the pitfalls of AI when it comes to well-being. We know that AI is not foolproof and is only as good as the data it is trained on, so inaccuracies can happen. And, as we know, human behavior is unpredictable and complex, so even the best AI application may not be perfect. AI may also generate incorrect information or biased content. Therefore, quality assurances and validation should still be performed by human experts before leveraging AI content. There is also the trust factor. Well-being data is personal and employees may draw the line regarding how, when and where their private health information is utilized by their employer.

Finally, there will be situations where AI cannot take the place of genuine, thoughtful human interaction. As Brian Evergreen, founder and CEO of The Profitable Good Company, related in a recent podcast: “There are organizations who will automate anything and everything possible. And they’ll learn by feedback from the market that there are certain touch points of human experience that are critical.”²⁸ So, in the end, it will be up to us to decide how we can best channel the benefits of AI to address the well-being needs of our populations.

Priority #1: Normalizing Mental Health in the Workplace

Without a doubt, mental health is now the primary dimension of most employers’ well-being strategy. This is because across all generations and roles so many employees are feeling stressed, isolated, frustrated, or depressed.

Mind Share Partners research found that 76% of U.S. workers reported at least one symptom of a mental health condition (anxiety, depression) – an increase of 17 percentage points in just two years.​¹ These feelings are even more acute among younger workers.​ We have also seen this in our own book of business: from 2019 to 2021 we observed an increase in risks for sleep, stress, and emotional health among WebMD Health Services’ participants.

What’s new this year when it comes to mental health is the acknowledgement that our workplaces play a significant role in our lives and most certainly affect multiple dimension of our well-being. And, importantly, that employer support for mental health is a now a must-have retention factor.

In support of the notion that workplaces need to be involved in creating a mentally healthy workforce, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek C. Murthy recently released The Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being, which explores the connection between the well-being of workers and the health of organizations.​¹

In it, Dr. Murthy states: “Organizations can further normalize and support mental health while decreasing stigma at work by validating challenges, communicating mental health and well‑being as priorities, and offering both support and prevention services.”

What can your organization do to continue to move the needle on mental health this year?

• Re-evaluate your mental health offerings to ensure you are meeting the needs of all employees. Just as there are many different mental health concerns, there is also no one-size-fits-all approach to treating mental health.
  • Offer multiple ways to receive counseling: in-person, video, and chat.
  • And, offer other types of support in the form of mental health podcasts, webinars, and educational materials.
• Prepare and train managers.​ This is one of the biggest ways you can reduce the stigma of mental health at your organization. Ensure managers know how to have a conversation about mental health and can point employees to the resources that are available.
• Take stock of your Employee Assistance Program (EAP). EAPs can provide counseling and mental health referrals to employees. But therapists are in short supply these days, so be sure the EAP is setting the right expectations up front.
• Create a mental health taskforce or Employee Resource Group. These groups can regularly promote the importance of mental health at work and raise awareness of suicide prevention. It’s also a place where employees can feel psychologically safe to talk about sensitive mental health concerns.
• Explore external recognition. The extent to which an employer supports mental health is becoming a differentiator for job seekers. So although recognition should not be a reason to offer mental health support, you may wish to tap into organizations that recognize employers who do. The Carolyn C. Mattingly Award for Mental Health in the Workplace³ and the APA’s Psychologically Healthy Workplace Awards,⁴ among others, offer a chance to make your well-being efforts known. Not quite ready for an award? You also can look at the award criteria as a roadmap for baseline practices you can implement at your own organization.
• Most importantly, acknowledge that mental health doesn’t live in a vacuum. Mental health contributes to and is influenced by the social determinants of health; diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging; physical health; and financial well-being. So as you evaluate your mental health offerings, make sure that you’re providing support for other aspects of well-being, too.

Priority #2: Aligning Well-Being to the Culture of Your Organization

Workplace wellness programs have seen quite a transformation in the last few decades. Initially focused on lifestyle changes like tobacco cessation, weight loss, condition management, and increasing physical activity, employee well-being programs have grown to encompass so much more: mental health, financial wellness, social connections, diversity and inclusion – the list goes on.

And now we have another change happening, a shift toward a true “culture of health,” in which well-being programs will play a key role. This shift comes on the heels of the pandemic which prompted a reevaluation of work itself, and generated new thinking on what employers should be responsible for when it comes to helping employees lead a healthy, balanced life.

While many workers are returning to the office and some semblance of normalcy, it’s not like we can just pick back up where we left off in 2020. We can’t even call it the “new normal” because there is nothing normal about the unrelenting societal, cultural, and geopolitical upheaval we’ve all experienced in the last three years.

We’ve taken to calling this new world of work the “never normal.” And we firmly believe that for any company to succeed in the “never normal,” they need healthy and engaged employees who can bring their best selves to work in order to meet the disruptions ahead.​

The good news is that employers are uniquely equipped to help make health and wellness a priority for employees. They have the ability to create a shared culture and common purpose, and they provide the communication platforms, support tools, programs, and incentives that drive engagement and influence behavior.

So what are some of the hallmarks of a culture of health employers should be working towards?

1. Well-being as a strategic priority. Organizations with a true culture of health will prioritize well-being as a business objective, in acknowledgement of the fact that employee well-being is potentially one of the biggest contributors to business growth. We’ll move beyond just having a well-being program that lives under the tent of benefits to a framework that guides business decisions and is woven into the fiber of the organization and its culture. We may even see the appointment of Chief Well-being Officers​, which sends a powerful signal to current and prospective employees that health and well-being is a corporate value.

2. A sense of purpose.​ Research by McKinsey found two-thirds of employees felt that COVID-19 had caused them to reflect on their purpose in life.⁵ So, more than a high salary or unique perks and benefits, employee well-being can be enhanced by connecting employees to the corporate mission and giving them the sense of purpose and fulfillment they are craving.

3. Social connection and community. Seventy-two percent of employees say it’s important for them to feel like part of a community at work.⁶ Social connection is known to lead to increased happiness, better physical health, and even a longer life, which is why it will increasingly become essential to workplace well-being.⁷

4. A special focus on supporting leaders and managers. With increased responsibilities, turnover, and uncertainty, leaders are burning out​. Gallup reports that while stress, anxiety, and diagnosed depression declined in 2021 for individual contributors and high-level leaders, it increased for managers.⁸ Only 1 in 3 managers are emotionally engaged at work, and managers experienced the highest drop in engagement over the past year.⁹ ​Healthy workplace cultures will need to prioritize ways to support mid-level managers.

Priority #3: Making Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEI&B) an Organizational Norm

A commitment to a more diverse and equitable workplace has been on our trend list for the last few years, yet research we conducted this fall revealed that over half of employees do not believe their company is doing what it takes to create a workplace that promotes DEI&B. The concept of “belonging” was most often called out as “needing improvement.” Moreover, four in 10 employees surveyed report that they would leave their company for a more inclusive one. ​

The extent to which our workplaces promote DEI&B is a significant concern in and of itself, but particularly because of its importance to the largest component of the workforce – millennials. By the year 2025, millennials will make up 75% of the global workforce, and this group will occupy the majority of leadership roles over the coming decade. They will be responsible for making important decisions that affect workplace cultures and people’s lives. Even as far back as 2016, 47% of millennials were actively looking for diversity in the workplace when sizing up potential employers.​¹

While older generations tend to view diversity through the lenses of race, demographics, equality, and representation, millennials see diversity as a melding of varying experiences, different backgrounds and individual perspectives. They view the ideal workplace as a supportive environment that gives space to varying perspectives on a given issue. ​

So, if organizations want to hire and sustain a millennial workforce, diversity must be a key part of the company culture. ​To be sure, many organizations are doing great work in this space. But those that ignore the urgent need for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging run the risk of losing valuable employees.

What are some ways employers can continue to work on DEI&B ?

• Build organizational capabilities and learnings at all levels of the organization through virtual classrooms, in-person training, and webinars. Focus skill-building on how to develop inclusive teams and leaders; our recent research found evidence of 50% higher team morale among employees who work for diverse companies.
• Elevate DEI&B champions. Whether through an Employee Resource Group or other organization, enlist champions to help communicate, influence, and gain support for DEI strategic objectives and goals.​​
• Continue to explore health equity. We addressed this concept in last year’s trends and it remains Employers need to recognize that an individual’s or a community’s history, environmental, social, and systemic conditions play a huge role in overall well-being and are directly related to how long we live; our quality of life; rates of disease, disability and death; and disease severity.² Research shows that promoting health equity can benefit employee health and productivity, and reduce health care costs.
• Consider more inclusive benefits. Many companies will address health equity for a diverse workforce by expanding coverage and benefits for neurodiverse populations and transgender individuals. There is also an increased recognition of the importance of making disability inclusion a key part of DEI&B initiatives.​
• Support reproductive health. Employers are expanding fertility benefits to cover all types of families; addressing maternal mortality for under-resourced populations; offering doula services coverage for expecting parents; and providing stipends for women who must travel to another state to receive an abortion.

Priority #4: Evolving & Embracing the Employee Experience

Gartner defines employee experience as “the way in which employees internalize and interpret the interactions they have with their organization, as well as the context that underlies those interactions.”² Essentially, it’s all of the individual moments of an employee’s experience that add up to how they feel about an employer’s purpose, brand, and culture.​ And, no surprise, it plays a huge role in employee engagement.

Against the post-pandemic backdrop of low unemployment and a talent shortage, organizations are trying to figure out what the right experience is for employees. As we mentioned earlier, it seems we can’t go back to where we were before or during the pandemic – so what will the right experience be moving forward? Every organization is different and it will take a lot of soul-searching to settle on what the culture is willing to accept to create the right post-pandemic employee experience.

Based on our own research and the work of others in the well-being field, we feel the following will be important components to consider in the coming year:

Flexibility.

​It’s safe to say that flexibility is a key characteristic of the modern workforce and has emerged as one of the most important aspects of employee engagement. Research by Envoy found half of employees agree that “having the freedom to split time between the workplace and home, and the flexibility to choose which days to come in, are just as important as traditional benefits like matching 401(k)s and paid time off.”³

And so we can clearly predict that hybrid work will become mainstream. In fact, Gartner recently found that if an organization were to go back to a fully on-site arrangement, it would risk losing up to 39% of its workforce.⁴

But flexibility is also starting to encompass when and how we work, too. According to McKinsey, “employees today demand flexibility tailored to their specific needs, whether it be work-life balance, physical and emotional health, or caring for family.”⁵ Blended workdays are also becoming more popular. It’s all part of creating a new human-centric model for the hybrid environment by designing work around what will allow employees to feel productive, valued, and balanced.

Fulfilment, belonging, and satisfaction.

A recent PwC study found that while pay is a top factor for employee retention, there are other, less tangible factors that are important to retention.⁶​ Three of the top four factors people consider when changing jobs have to do with meaning, belonging, and well-being. Only pay ranked higher than items like: “I find my job fulfilling;” “I can truly be myself;” and “My team cares about my well-being.”

Shifting from a transactional relationship to one of human connection.

​In the “before times,” the employee experience was often centered on “perks” that employers offered to employees to entice them to join the organization and, often, to work longer and harder. Things like unlimited food, nap rooms, ping pong tables, craft beer, free dry cleaning, and other gimmicks. Now that working from home is the norm for many, these kinds of “in-office” perks are no longer relevant.

In addition, employees now place a higher value on how they feel about working at the company and how much the company values them as people. Clearly, this requires a different approach—one that doesn’t correlate engagement and retention with extra benefits, time off (though this can be important), or a fancy office.

​What should employers be focusing on to create a healthy employee experience and enhance engagement?

• Focus on a “human deal” that makes employees feel cared for financially, physically, and emotionally. ​ After all, it’s the people who make a company successful, and when employees feel like you care for them they’ll be intrinsically motivated to contribute.
• Establish support “touchpoints” throughout an employee’s career journey. These can include regular training and feedback, career path discussions, relationships with a mentor, the ability to give managers feedback – essentially anything that makes an employee feel seen and heard.
• ​ Recognize that personal relationships at work are a must, not a nice-to-have. Be inquisitive about people’s lives outside of work and foster connections through clubs, lunch and learns, group coaching, and community service.
• Continually make the connection between work and how it ties in to the overall goals of the company, and the greater good in society, if applicable.
• Prioritize diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging by funding employee resource groups and encouraging people to become champions.
• Invest in your leaders to make sure that they’re well-equipped to guide the organization in turbulent times and also tend to their own personal well-being. The same goes for investing in talent. Turnover is expensive, and focusing on a positive employee experience can increase retention.
• Consider the emotional employee experience. Connect with employees on how they think and feel about being a part of your organization through employee listening (focus groups, pulse surveys).
• And, finally, it goes without saying ​but investing in employee health and well-being – in all its many forms – is a non-negotiable.

There is one element that is at the heart of all of our well-being priorities – and that is your people. People are the single most important asset in any organization, so improving health and well-being and creating a positive employee experience – especially in today’s tight labor market – should be a business imperative. Employers have the potential to play a key role in the creation of a healthy workforce by fostering an inclusive workplace culture, creating community at work, linking work to a larger purpose, and acknowledging and supporting the many dimensions of well-being that are impacted by work. If you have any questions or need help navigating the ever-evolving well-being landscape, visit our website or contact us at connect@webmd.net.

It’s been over a month and we’re still basking in the proverbial glow of the Empower Forum, our recent Client Forum at the beautiful Skamania Lodge along the Columbia River to discuss all things well-being. Before the fireside chat session, we asked clients to send us their toughest well-being program questions. A great discussion ensued, and we’re pleased to share the highlights in this week’s blog.

You asked: What does a healthy workplace culture look like today?

A healthy workplace culture is so important right now. Recent studies show that nearly 50% of employees would leave their current jobs for a lower-paying opportunity at an organization with a better culture. If we had to name one aspect of workplace culture that is most important, it would have to be flexibility. No matter what your strategy is – return to the office, remain remote, or a hybrid model – letting employees have some say in how, when, and where they work is key to good workplace culture.

Social connections are also important – especially with a dispersed workforce. At WebMD Health Services we have team members working in almost all 50 states, so we try hard to create connections between them. A few things we’ve done are movie nights, virtual workouts with our own health coaches, at-home cooking and cocktail-making demos, March Madness basketball challenges, and National Pet Day virtual pet playdates. We are also hosting a virtual showing of Hocus Pocus 2 leading up to Halloween! At the beginning of the year we invested in a more formal peer-to-peer program that matches up individuals from different areas of the company every quarter to have structured conversations about topics ranging from finding inspiration at work to being a better manager. It’s been an amazing way for our team to meet others they might not normally cross paths with and build real connections.

Leadership also sets the tone for a healthy workplace culture. Leaders are increasingly being called upon to practice empathy and compassion and also to create a culture where people can be seen, heard, and valued for being their authentic selves. They also need to give employees “permission” to focus on their well-being – across multiple dimensions – and walk the talk themselves. Finally, people – especially younger generations – are craving more connection to the meaning of their work. Leaders can help here by reminding people of the company’s mission or purpose and connecting it back to the work people do.

You asked: Well-being programs have evolved quite a bit in the past few years. What new programs, strategies, philosophies, or investments characterize the “new” well-being program?

First, we’d have to say that most organizations now realize that helping employees with well-being is a “must-have” to retain and attract talent, versus a “nice-to-have.” Companies see well-being as an extension of their culture, not just something people do on their own time. Of course, mental health is a critical element of any well-being program, and we are helping clients offer their employees several diverse ways to access that help via chat apps, podcasts, resilience tools, etc.

We also see well-being programs become more personalized – for example, identifying what well-being means to everyone in their organization and tailoring programs to do just that. For example, some of our clients have customized wellness challenges to support what their population needs—be it self-care, social justice, community service, and more. Personalization in this new world also means unique goal-setting for individuals: for one person well-being means eating healthy, but for someone else it’s looking for more opportunities to connect with people after the isolation of COVID.

Well-being programs also have to be accessible to a dispersed workforce now. While in the past we relied on well-being champions in the building to drum up excitement for events, we have to rethink how to reach employees who work remotely. On the flip side, we are seeing renewed interest in having a “human element” as part of the well-being program – such as our onsite Dedicated Well-Being staff. As companies encourage workers to return to the office this human contact with a well-being professional is one way to entice them.

You asked: Point solutions seem to be everywhere these days. Why is a holistic well-being program better than a point solution or a combination of point solutions?

It’s true, every time you turn around there seems to be a new point solution. We get it – employers and health plans want to deliver a comprehensive, personalized, and holistic well-being program to employees and members. But, when there are too many apps to manage employees begin to experience “point solution fatigue.” People start to be overwhelmed by going to multiple places for well-being and some may just abandon them all.

From the organization’s standpoint, there are other risks:

• It can be hard to measure results from multiple standalone solutions;
• You have to juggle relationships with many different vendors, but each point solution only addresses one problem;
• Each solution feels transactional and siloed, versus outcomes-focused;
• There’s no or very little sharing of information, and you bear the burden of trying to bring all these disparate benefits and services together;
• There’s no consistent look and feel across all the solutions; and
• It’s expensive!

That said, we recognize that even a really holistic well-being platform can’t be comprehensive in everything. Financial wellness, caregiving for an aging parent, mental health practitioners – sometimes you do need to go external to get some of those important services to employees. For example, though we currently offer stress coaching specialists – and will soon have mental health coaching specialists –we also recognize that if someone needs very specific help or support, we have to refer them out to a service vendor our clients have (like an EAP) or another offering.

At the end of the day, our philosophy is this: we start with a comprehensive platform that focuses on assessing one’s health, lifestyle and condition management support, engagement, daily habits, challenges, community, and incentives. We then layer on vetted, curated vendors to support more in-depth areas: like help for musculoskeletal conditions and pain management through our partnership with Fern Health and caregiving with Torchlight. We also take care not to add multiple point solution vendors in one category because we vet and ensure we are offering the best. We think this is the best way to offer employees and members what they need while making the experience as seamless and user-friendly as possible.

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That’s a wrap! We hope you’ve enjoyed learning more about the amazing discussions we had at the Empower Forum and look forward to seeing more of you at our next event. In the meantime, to learn how a well-being program can benefit your organization, visit our website or contact us at connect@webmd.net.

2021 is coming to a close, and it’s time for our annual list of well-being predictions to watch for in 2022. Now in our second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to expand our knowledge about what employees truly need when it comes to their well-being—and how to best deliver that support. Here’s how we see well-being evolving over the next year.

2021: The year of learning and growing.

This past year has allowed us to peel back the layers of employee well-being even further. For example, the acknowledgment that our mental health is just as important as our physical health—so much so that the C-suite is now openly talking about mental health and pushing for greater employee support. Employers now understand that workplace engagement and productivity are as much related to how we live outside of work as to what we do during the workday. How not everyone has the same access to healthcare, resulting in an unlevel playing field. And how employees are using their voices to dictate how, where, and when they work.

All of this translates to well-being. But a different kind of well-being. While still important, we’re moving beyond biometric screenings and step-counting to a more holistic look at what makes a person truly happy and healthy. It’s all a bit “squishy,” to use an unscientific term. And we’re going to have to be OK with not being able to measure it precisely.

So, despite the devastation of COVID-19, we are learning and growing in the well-being industry. It’s an exciting space to be in right now. I hope you enjoy reading and wish everyone a happy, healthy, and balanced holiday season!

Trend 1: The mental health revolution.

After a year of uncertainty, reaction, and scrambling to provide resources, mental health is finally becoming intentional.

Stress, anxiety, depression, burnout. Americans were suffering from these mental health concerns before, but the impact of the COVID-19 crisis has magnified them. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that about 4 in 10 adults in the U.S. have reported anxiety or depressive disorder symptoms during the pandemic. This is up from one in ten adults who reported these symptoms from January to June 2019.

To help, employers steered struggling employees to Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) or other mental health resources they may have had at the time. It soon became apparent, however, that this would not be enough. Hence what I’m calling the “mental health revolution.”

Getting intentional.

Mental health lives on a spectrum. There are times when we need professional assistance from a mental health counselor. But we all have lower acuity mental health issues that we deal with every day—like stress and anxiety—that need tending on a regular basis. Call it “preventive care for mental health,” or what we do to stop symptoms from becoming a full-blown mental health crisis.

And so companies are responding with more “intentional” and holistic benefits and programs that will allow each individual to use and interact with offerings based on their personal mental health needs. This could include:

• On-demand telephonic 1:1 mental health coaching support
• Mental health apps
• Text-based access to mental health counselors
• Training in stress management and resilience
• Meditation and mindfulness programs or apps
• Social media support groups
• Podcasts
• Group-based support that builds a community

Training programs will spike, and cultures will change.

We’re also going to see an increased emphasis on training leaders and managers to create a culture that supports mental health. As we know, throwing a bunch of mental health resources at employees won’t move the needle if the culture doesn’t change. Unrelenting work demands, inflexibility, and lack of support are common reasons employees are stressed. So companies need to take a hard look at workplace practices. Managers also need relevant training on how to have conversations with employees about mental health—a subject that many may be uncomfortable with.

And one last comment. Employees are expecting mental health support from their employers. In fact, 7 in 10 people believe employers should offer a mental and emotional health program.¹ So it only makes sense that the organizations that take a more intentional approach to mental health will reap the benefits—better retention, productivity, engagement, morale, and so much more. All that to say, an intentional approach to mental health is here to stay.

Trend 2: 2022 will be the year of the employee.

Employees will continue demanding a more “human” work experience to bring their whole selves to work.

The “Great Resignation” among U.S. workers continues to gain strength, with people quitting more frequently. Suffice to say, there’s been a reckoning of sorts in what workers feel they should tolerate. And also a sense that employers should recognize their human side—beyond what they do for a living. Layered onto this is the most radical change to hit the workforce in a century: the fact that we’ll probably never go back to a time when people are in the office five days a week, eight hours a day.

And so, employers have had to regroup and consider how to create an employee experience where people can bring their whole selves to work, feel supported, and still feel connected enough to stay engaged—all of which are infused with well-being. Ultimately, this “human” element should work to achieve a great workplace experience that results in employee growth, belonging and loyalty.

How will this translate into action in 2022?

Investment in the digital workplace.

With so many organizations opting for a hybrid or completely remote work model, the changing workplace is pushing companies to invest in technology to allow employees to easily and seamlessly exchange information virtually—hopefully preserving the flow of ideas that used to happen around the water cooler. Daily team check-ins and more frequent one-on-ones between managers and direct reports will be essential to keeping the human connection at work alive while supporting the evolution of company culture.

More employee input.

We’ll continue to see employers utilize pulse surveys to get a quick check on well-being. Pulse surveys will also help employers understand what employees value and need to feel supported—more collaboration, social connections, financial wellness, career growth, community service, different well-being incentives, whatever it may be.

A shift in leadership style.

Leaders and managers are getting upskilled to be more empathetic to employee needs. And with good cause. Research shows that employees with managers who demonstrate care, concern, and understanding of their feelings and the circumstances that may influence their work performance are more productive, more engaged, and more likely to stay with a company.²

More transparency to business strategy and increased employee communication.

The increase in employee communication, borne out of necessity at the start of the pandemic, will continue. We’ll see a concerted effort to keep employees in the know about company purpose and vision, programs to support employee well-being, and ways to stay connected remotely.

Blended well-being programming.

Although we’ve successfully shifted much of our own well-being programming to a virtual environment, we believe that some in-person interaction is critical. Look for hybrid experiences—health coaches who meet with people virtually most of the time, but have an in-person check-in once a month; and well-being champions whose activities rally the troops in the office and those who are still remote.

An even more personal approach to well-being.

We’ve always said that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to well-being, and this is truer than ever. Because being “healthy” means different things to different people—especially those of different ethnic, racial, and geographic backgrounds—well-being will become even more personal. This means well-being vendors will need to be flexible and have strong segmentation, integration, and customer service capabilities.

Trend 3: Measuring the unmeasurable.

We’ll become more comfortable “measuring the unmeasurable” of employee well-being.

Amidst the ever-present debate about whether well-being programs really “work,” we’ve always urged our clients to look beyond direct cost-savings and consider the long-term, indirect ways a well-being program can impact the bottom line. Things like retention of key talent, greater employee engagement, higher employee trust and commitment, and a stronger culture. We sometimes refer to it as the “value of investment” (VOI) versus a “return on investment” (ROI).

A new way to measure well-being.

We now see a new way of measuring well-being success on the horizon. It has to do with the fact that as populations become more diverse—and employers shift to a more individualistic well-being approach—what constitutes success will be different for every individual.

To borrow a term from the world of clinical trials, we can think of it as the “n of 1,” which considers an individual patient as the sole unit of observation. Said another way, it’ll be less about measuring specific behavior change and more about a more holistic observation of whether we feel we are thriving, despite what metrics might say.

How success will be measured.

While we certainly won’t abandon VOI and ROI in certain circumstances, we predict we’ll see success measured less in numbers like 80% participant engagement, the number of daily visits, or 5% population weight loss, and more in terms of:

• Accomplishments
• Connectedness
• Culture
• Decreased worries around health
• Feelings
• Healthier personal life
• Inclusivity
• Personal best
• Supporting the “moments” that matter

So, just as mental health is becoming more intentional, we expect that the measurement of well-being program success will also shift—toward a more holistic approach that goes beyond the numbers or wins and losses to consider the impact on a person’s whole life. Gauging success this way also makes room for evaluating programs on things that are increasingly regarded as critical to our well-being, such as flexibility in when, where, and how much we work; social connection; and belonging and inclusivity, which leads to our next prediction.

Trend 4: The expansion of DEI at work.

Organizations will expand diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts to encompass “belonging” in the workplace.

The pandemic allowed workers to take a step back and ask themselves some critical questions. Is my work meaningful? Are my values aligned with the company’s mission? Do I feel like I belong here? Does my company value who I am as a person?

The answers were a resounding no for many people, further fueling the “Great Resignation” we mentioned in Trend 2. In fact, a Korn Ferry survey found 36% of professionals say they plan to take a different job in the near future because the pandemic allowed them to re-evaluate what they want and the change they need.

Now, people are bringing their whole selves to work.

The pandemic also upended policies and practices—both written and unwritten—that previously made certain groups of people feel excluded. For example, many employees who felt pressure to change or hide aspects of their cultural or ethnic identity for the workplace no longer felt they needed to. Before the pandemic, the “face time” required in so many workplaces excluded parents who needed to pick up children and introverts for whom long hours in the office were draining.

With remote work, these “norms” largely went away. Working from home also made it okay to reveal parts of our lives that we previously felt needed to be hidden—pets, kids, emotions, and the interesting hobbies now on full view in our Zoom backgrounds. Suddenly we collectively asked ourselves: why did we feel the need to hide so much of ourselves at work? There was no good reason, except for the fact that we’d always done it this way. Luckily, for many organizations, this is no longer the case.

So, while organizations will continue to formally focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, we’ll see these efforts expand to encompass “belonging” and “purpose” as critical components of organizational culture.

DEI efforts can positively impact employee well-being.

Perhaps you’re thinking, what does this have to do with well-being? More than you might think. If there is discord in our values, if we feel we’re not accepted, if we’ve been actively excluded in the workplace—all of these impact, you guessed it, our mental health. Which, as we know, can affect our physical health.

It’s a long way of saying that as part of the movement to care for the whole person, employers will need to consider how employees feel on the job and about working for your company. Look for new initiatives around:

A more human-centered management style.

Leaders and managers will receive training on how to create a sense of belonging in their teams. This includes actively soliciting input from each person in a meeting or call; making space for conversation about employees’ lives outside of work; and regularly recognizing employee accomplishments, both big and small.

Nurturing connections between co-workers.

Yes, this may mean more trivia nights and employee talent shows, but it’s worth it to feel a deeper sense of connection with teammates in a world where remote work is here to stay.

Providing forums for shared experiences.

There’s a reason why employee resource groups (ERGs) are so popular—they provide employees with the support and camaraderie that can often be lacking in a workplace. These groups will continue to have a voice in shaping company culture.

Intentional community-building.

We’ll see a concerted effort to join together in support of a shared goal. Things like volunteer events that are aligned with the company’s mission and vision. And rituals—like a First Friday lunch or randomized meetings to meet someone new from your workplace—to foster a sense of community and belonging.

Sharing corporate purpose.

To help employees feel “connected” to their work, companies will communicate more regularly about their mission and goals and how employees’ daily actions support them.

Trend 5: Digging even deeper into social determinants of health.

The well-being space will dig deeper into the social determinants of health, focusing on achieving greater health equity and promoting systemic change.

Our 2021 predictions discussed how employee health cannot be separated from the “social determinants of health,” which are the conditions that shape and influence employee experiences—including where they’re born, grow, play, learn, work, and pray. This year, we’ll see some additional efforts in this space, with employers working to ensure that all employees have equal access to health care—also known as health equity—and health plans playing a bigger role in employee health, beyond basic healthcare needs.

What is health equity?

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), health equity is achieved when every person has the opportunity to “attain his or her full health potential,” and no one is “disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or other socially determined circumstances.” The CDC believes that health inequities are directly related to how long we live; our quality of life; rates of disease, disability and death; and disease severity.³

The pandemic is a prime example of how our communities influence our overall health. As we know, COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted people of color, women, poor communities, younger generations, those without access to good medical care or health insurance, and those already suffering from underlying conditions like diabetes and obesity.

How will employers and health plans play a role here?

As a recent Business Group on Health report states, “Employers are initiating programs and benefits to improve the circumstances that employees and their families are born into and live, which have an impact on their ability to live healthy and fulfilling lives. By zeroing in on these circumstances, employers can tackle the underlying social and economic challenges that influence overall well-being, with the goal of bringing about systemic change.”

So, what will we see? Here are some predictions:

Greater emphasis on preventive care.

Racial minorities don’t get preventive health screenings at the same rates as white people, leading to higher chronic disease and cancer rates. This has been especially true during the pandemic. Look for increased community outreach by health plans and employers to boost access to critical screenings.

Culturally appropriate healthcare and well-being programs.

Health plans and employers will work with practitioners to provide “culturally appropriate and tailored interventions” that are informed by the shared values, traditions, beliefs, and practices of underserved populations—in the hopes that they lead to greater receptivity to and acceptance of healthcare.⁴

Expanded access to mental health services.

Cultural barriers exist that prevent some people from seeking mental health support. Increasing health equity will include addressing these barriers to help people get the help and support they need.

Help with food insecurity.

More than 38 million people in the United States are food insecure and lack consistent access to affordable, healthy food. Health plans will work with practitioners to identify food insecure individuals and connect people with community and government assistance. Employers can play a role by subsidizing healthy food at work, providing nutritional counseling, and allowing time off to enroll in government assistance programs.

A continued focus on condition management.

Whether through a health plan or well-being program, condition management programs are critical for helping employees better manage chronic conditions through counseling and nurse lines.

Leveraging technology and digital therapeutics.

These include treatment or therapy that utilizes digital and internet-based health technologies to spur changes in patient behavior. Telemedicine is also a way to use technology to remove barriers to accessing healthcare.

Continued vaccination promotion.

Employers will continue to play a role in providing time off for vaccinations and possible side effects. Health plans will partner with community-based organizations to remove barriers to getting vaccinated.

And, while it’s not technically related to healthcare, we know that financial stress continues to be a huge concern that can lead to repercussions for mental and physical health. Employers will continue to provide services to help with budgeting, saving, debt management, and student loan debt repayment. Finally, access to good childcare is another much-needed service that has worsened in many communities during the pandemic. We’ll see continued employer support through onsite care, backup daycare, and partnering with community resources.

And there you have them, our five well-being predictions for 2022! You probably noticed a common thread running through each of them—namely, that employers and health plans will play a much more significant role in aspects of employees’ lives that were previously considered an employee’s responsibility.

It’s all part of the acknowledgment that we can no longer compartmentalize our lives and well-being into two separate domains—work and home. The lines have been completely blurred and most likely are not returning to a pre-pandemic state.

We look forward to seeing how these workplace wellness trends and predictions play out over the coming year as employers and health plans adjust and respond to new employee demands. If you have any questions or need help navigating your organization’s employee well-being journey, visit our website or contact us at connect@webmd.net.

Thinking versus expressing

While the terms mental health and emotional health are sometimes used interchangeably, they are distinctly different. That said, you really can’t have one without the other and an imbalance in one can pull the other out of balance as well. ¹

A good way to think about mental and emotional health is like a tag team. Mental health refers to your ability to process information. Emotional health, on the other hand, refers to your ability to express feelings which are based upon the information you have processed. So, if your cognitive function is hindered by depression or anxiety, for example, you may struggle with accurately identifying a situation. This can then trigger inappropriate responses because those responses are based upon inaccurate thoughts.

Tapping into your root thoughts or thought processes can therefore be integral to unlocking some challenges you experience. It may help you to realize different outcomes, ones that are more pleasurable or beneficial to you in part because of a shift in mindset.

Not always a bed of roses

Certainly the ability to direct one’s mental energy in a positive direction can be essential for one’s emotional health. Psychology Today identifies the ability to counteract the demoralized feeling that can develop when things don’t go our way or to find value and meaning in the face of loss or trauma as characteristics of emotionally healthy people. ² That said, playing Pollyanna’s “The Glad Game” and searching for something to be glad about in the face of a challenge may not always be what one needs.

As explained by Scientific American, true emotional and mental health requires one to accept, process and respond to things that are not always pleasant or positive. What many refer to as “negative” emotions are part and parcel of the human experience and running away from these simply because they do not feel good does not actually support true well-being.³

There is essentially a distinct difference between choosing to focus on something positive and ignoring something unpleasant. In some situations, a “negative” emotion may be a cue that there is something in our life that needs our attention. These emotions help us evaluate experiences and make decisions based upon those evaluations just as much as do positive emotions.

Resilience supports true emotional and mental health

As I wrote in an earlier post, resilience to stress isn’t about whether or not you experience or feel stress but about how you respond to stress. Fortunately, one can build resilience and doing so supports not only stronger emotional and mental health but stronger overall well-being.

Perhaps one of the most commonly cited signs of consumerism in healthcare is the reference now to consumers, not patients. However, this shift in vernacular is only the beginning. Use of the term consumer by nature centers around the power of choice.

People are no longer pawns of a system but active participants in it. And, their choices extend far beyond which provider to see. Consumerism is ultimately about having control over one’s own well-being. With this in mind, the well-being industry can learn from traditional healthcare and so too can those who shop for well-being programs.

Following are five healthcare consumerism trends that provide valuable lessons for well-being programs:

#1 – Personalization

The Trend:
The Institute of Healthcare Consumerism explains that today’s consumers increasingly expect a higher level of personalization in their healthcare experiences. This may manifest as tools or apps that provide recommendations based upon their information and activity. It may be about communicating with people via their channels of choice from emails to push notifications to direct mail and more.

Hyperpersonalization is facilitated by the ability to take data points from multiple sources like fitness trackers and claims to drive insights and recommendations. IHC suggests that giving people what they want in these ways is essential to satisfaction and loyalty.

The Takeaway:
Consumers are clearly debunking the myth that a one-size-fits-all approach can work. Instead, it’s more like one-size-fits-none. For a well-being program to be effective, it must address the varying needs of the consumers for whom it is intended. The more it speaks to them, the more likely they are to engage with it. Or, it is only personal well-being programs that can be relevant.

#2 – Consumer Satisfaction

The Trend:
Outcomes will – and should – always matter in healthcare but today’s consumers do not view these in a vacuum. Instead, it is the how as well as the what that contributes to their satisfaction.

In a 2014 McKinsey Consumer Health Insights survey, over 90 percent of people indicated some satisfaction with healthcare services. While outcomes were identified as the most important factor in this, when asked to identify what contributed to reported satisfaction, a broader picture emerged.

Things like provider empathy, being kept informed and even the physical environment in which care was received all received high marks. A 2015 McKinsey survey corroborated these findings as 53 percent of people ranked customer service as the most important thing they valued in healthcare companies – and in non-healthcare companies. Meeting expectations and simplifying life were also noted as points of value.

The Takeaway:
Consumers no longer focus solely on the final result. Instead, it is the experience from start to finish that matters. Well-being programs must facilitate positive outcomes but must do so in ways pleasing to consumers. The experience must be easy, appealing and organized so as to intrigue consumers and make them want to interact with it.

#3 – Technology & Online Tools

The Trend:
Not surprisingly, use of consumer technology in healthcare is growing. A 2015 Deloitte Survey of U.S. Health Care Consumers revealed a particular increase among people with chronic conditions. Use of tools to monitor or manage conditions rose from 22 to 39 percent from 2013 to 2015. Medication reminders and alerts saw an increase in usage here.

Also of note is a growing willingness to communicate electronically with providers as 21 percent reported they have done so and a whopping 72 percent reported an interest in doing so.

Millennials are leading the way in the increasing use of healthcare technologies but Gen Xers and Boomers alike are following suit.

The Takeaway:
Technology for technology’s sake is dead. Tools must be more than just cool new toys. They must provide actual value and purpose, like those that offer medication reminders. They must help people tackle hard problems like the management of chronic conditions. Well-being programs, therefore, must look beyond just offering workout tips or healthy recipes. In an industry oversaturated with resources, it is important to identify a relevant path to the right resources at the right time.

#4 – Engagement

The Trend:
Deloitte’s survey revealed that consumers with the most serious health issues are the ones who are engaging in their healthcare the most.

What form that engagement is taking depends upon the need. McKinsey’s 2015 survey showed that while consumers may be willing to receive vaccinations at retail locations or pharmacies, when it comes time for help with more serious needs, the options for help narrow. Thirty-seven percent of people were willing to get immunizations at retail locations or pharmacies while only 16 percent would look there for diabetes counseling and only 14 percent would trust such a source for support managing a chronic condition.

The Takeaway:
People with chronic conditions and other serious health issues not only need – but often want – help. Well-being programs that fail to address these needs will be rendered exclusionary, ineffective and outdated. Addressing the well-being needs of all people is a must. On a broader scale, engagement in this space must evolve beyond the one-and-done mentality that some fall back on with a rewards-only approach to action.

#5 – Trust

The Trend:
McKinsey’s 2014 survey asked consumers about storing and sharing their health information. Primary care providers were far and away the most trusted source for storing health information across all age groups. Health insurers came in at a very distant second followed by Google, Apple and finally employers.

After primary care providers, it was specialists, friends and family that people felt most comfortable sharing information with. Health insurers and employers were at the bottom of the list.

The Takeaway:
Consumer reluctance to store and share their sensitive health information with even their health insurers let alone their employers poses interesting engagement challenges for well-being programs. Brand trust will become paramount when choosing a program.

Consumers want to know who is receiving their information and trust that their personal privacy will be respected before they will engage.

A Future of Consumerism

Consumers’ influence in their well-being is here to stay – as it should. A well-being program is personal. It is all about consumers. It only stands to reason that it meets their needs.

As more people fully embrace the holistic nature innate in well-being, they will also logically seek out programs, providers and partners that do the same. It is only those programs that truly provide a holistic experience to consumers that will be used by them – and that will therefore move the needle of well-being in positive ways.

With consumers firmly in control of their health and well-being, programs that fail to provide a holistic experience will lose engaged consumers. It’s that simple.