Practitioner view: John Lewis' Yulia O’Mahony on why wellbeing is grabbing the attention of the CEO

This shouldn’t be surprising. If treated in a strategic way, all three can be very powerful in driving the bottom line. Improving the bottom line usually involves cost reduction measures and efficiency drives. However, these can quickly exhaust themselves unless there is a sustained engagement of the
workforce through genuine empowerment and a sense of purpose.

So it’s no wonder we are seeing the increasing popularity of works such as The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs and Boost Profits by Zeynep Ton.

Now this investment is also moving to wellbeing programmes, with many plans becoming more holistic and taking into account myriad aspects of what people may want in relation to their employer.

There are an increasing number of programmes that incorporate the pillars of financial, mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing – all of them very important in helping an individual to be the best they can be.

Wellbeing no longer ‘owned’ by HR

However, even the best programmes will not succeed if not supported by the company culture or line manager relationships. Which is why there is now greater integration of programmes into senior leadership thinking: wellbeing is moving from being traditionally ‘owned’ by HR to being treated as a priority at CEO level.

Culture always starts at the top, which is why senior-level attention and role modelling are so important. If it’s authentic, it translates into greater workforce engagement and good communication.

Areas such as culture and purpose are particularly important for engaging younger generations, a group that would like to see more communication and wellbeing-related tools and products delivered digitally. This creates an interesting dichotomy – we want something digital, yet we would like to
assert our human side. So, the next step for us is to how to blend these two needs effectively.

In a bit of a full circle, we are returning to the simple fact that we are all humans and we value being part of a community. We want to matter, we want to feel part of something special and that the community will help us in a time of need.

This allows the individual to thrive.

Yulia O’Mahony is head of wellbeing at John Lewis Partnership.

Download a copy of the 88 page Employee Wellbeing Research 2018 (free to REBA Professional Members and all those working for REBA Associate Members).

If you would like to learn more about employee wellbeing, register here to attend the Third Annual Employee Wellbeing Congress on 5 July 2018.