… From my bird’s eye vantage point, people need different supports at different times. What remains constant is that staff need balance — enough time for vacation, breaks during the day, and connection at work. We all crave belonging, safety, and dignity. And the more we can create a variety of supports to address those needs, the more we will see the benefits of holistic wellness.
The pandemic pause brought us to a moment of collective reckoning about what it means to live well and to work well. As a result, employees are sending employers an urgent signal that they are no longer willing to choose one — life or work — at the cost of the other. Working from home brought life literally into our work. And as the world now goes hybrid, employees are drawing firmer boundaries about how much of their work comes into their life. Where does this leave employers? And which perspectives and programs contribute most to progress? In our newest interview series, Working Well: How Companies Are Creating Cultures That Support & Sustain Mental, Emotional, Social, Physical & Financial Wellness, we are talking to successful executives, entrepreneurs, managers, leaders, and thought leaders across all industries to share ideas about how to shift company cultures in light of this new expectation. We’re discovering strategies and steps employers and employees can take together to live well and to work well.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Rachel Lipton, MPP, CPCC, ACC.
With a decade of experience consulting with organizations to significantly elevate their leadership development and organizational effectiveness strategies, Rachel partners with executives, emerging leaders, and teams to be more human-centered and thrive. She has served as a consultant to organizations such as the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Leading Edge, Rockwood Leadership Institute, Tipping Point Community, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, and the James Irvine Foundation. Rachel is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach, has a BA from UC Berkeley with dual degrees in Political Science and Mass Communications, and a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Southern California.
Thank you for making time to visit with us about the topic of our time. Our readers would like to get to know you better. Tell us about a formative experience that prompted you to change your relationship with work and how work shows up in your life.
I love this question! My experience was relatively recent. Like many of us, the pandemic (and another big personal life transition) changed my life in lots of unexpected ways. It was a stark reminder of the impermanence and fragility of life. If we are spending over a third of our waking hours at work, we should do something that is soul-nourishing. In our society, it’s hard to find that on the “beaten path.” I’ve always been a little bit “off the beaten path” kind of a gal. Working with individuals, leaders, and organizations to live and work more joyfully and fully is a personal mission for me, and I feel so privileged to have made the leap into entrepreneurship. And it’s exactly where I need to be.
Harvard Business Review predicts that wellness will become the newest metric employers will use to analyze and to assess their employees’ mental, physical and financial health. How does your organization define wellness, and how does your organization measure wellness?
I think of wellness holistically such that mind, body, and spirit are taken care of and thriving (or moving toward thriving). That means that one is physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy in whatever that means to them. And that means ensuring that people have access to the support they need and that there are systems and processes in place to ensure that they can actually use that support. Often organizations provide some support (an employee assistance program, sick and vacation leave, etc.) but if staff don’t feel they can take adequate breaks or are constantly overwhelmed, none of those supports matter.
Based on your experience or research, how do you correlate and quantify the impact of a well workforce on your organization’s productivity and profitability?
I know we live in a culture that loves to measure and quantify impact. (Heck, I did that for a living for a decade as an evaluation and strategy consultant!) But I think we undervalue the felt sense of what it means to thrive at work. I think it’s helpful to have pulse checks about how people are doing, but a survey isn’t going to engender psychological safety or develop/repair relationships. There needs to be processes in place so that people have a voice and can check in with people who care about them and their development. When that happens, you can feel and see the difference in the way that people show up, and that inevitably influences productivity and effectiveness.
Even though most leaders have good intentions when it comes to employee wellness, programs that require funding are beholden to business cases like any other initiative. The World Health Organization estimates for every $1 invested into treatment for common mental health disorders, there is a return of $4 in improved health and productivity. That sounds like a great ROI. And, yet many employers struggle to fund wellness programs that seem to come “at the cost of the business.” What advice do you have to offer to other organizations and leaders who feel stuck between intention and impact?
I think leaders need to move beyond surface-level supports or “wellness programs” like lunch time yoga or discounted gym memberships. Nothing replaces real, trusting relationships to impact the wellbeing of employees. Knowing that leadership “has your back” is invaluable, but it often doesn’t happen. People need to see that you trust them and invest in them. That is why executive and team coaching has gotten more buzz in recent years. Knowing that you have a outside person (paid for by you organization) to help develop a safe and brave space for growth in the organization engenders a feeling of trust and care. When leaders can end lip service to wellbeing and walk their talk, invest in being the best leaders they can be and do the same for others, that’s when the real ROI happens.
Speaking of money matters, a recent Gallup study reveals employees of all generations rank wellbeing as one of their top three employer search criteria. How are you incorporating wellness programs into your talent recruitment and hiring processes?
Since I’m a solopreneur, I can only answer this for myself! But as someone who partners with organizations, I can say that while organizations are more aware of the importance of wellbeing, they lack the skills (or sometimes the willingness) to really invest in it. The volatile external environment (the continuing pandemic, economic decline, and uncertain policy outlook at the national level) also contribute to the way leaders think about investing in wellness. During the “Great Resignation” it was really an employee’s market in many sectors. Now, things are starting to shift, and some layoffs are already happening. When this happens, employee wellness is one of the first things to be deprioritized. But I think that companies that continue to center wellness are the companies that are the most future-forward and human-centric, and that will pay off for them.
We’ve all heard of the four-day work week, unlimited PTO, mental health days, and on demand mental health services. What innovative new programs and pilots are you launching to address employee wellness? And, what are you discovering? We would benefit from an example in each of these areas.
- Mental Wellness: Access to and funding for therapy, support groups.
- Emotional Wellness: Flexible work schedules.
- Social Wellness: Access to in-person connection such as quarterly staff retreats or certain days in office for work that requires collaboration and for social events.
- Physical Wellness: Freedom for employees to take care of their physical needs during the workday — including ergonomic desk set up, and the ability to exercise during the day.
- Financial Wellness: access to a financial planner and in-house retirement program.
From my bird’s eye vantage point, people need different supports at different times. What remains constant is that staff need balance — enough time for vacation, breaks during the day, and connection at work. We all crave belonging, safety, and dignity. And the more we can create a variety of supports to address those needs, the more we will see the benefits of holistic wellness.
Can you please tell us more about a couple of specific ways workplaces would benefit from investing in your ideas above to improve employee wellness?
It’s simpler than we think. Ask people what they need and set up structures to make that happen. Invest in people and building relationships.
What is more complex is also ensuring that we incorporate equity into wellness. That means we must do the hard work of self-reflection, provide spaces to discuss racial dynamics at work, and ensure that everyone is getting what they need, even if what they need is different. And just because it’s more complex, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it. If racial equity is not part of the wellness equation, it’s not true wellness.
How are you reskilling leaders in your organization to support a “Work Well” culture?
Leaders need to be genuinely invested in their people to support a “work well” culture. And this also means they need to be invested their own work lives. Leaders must model the behaviors they want to engender in staff. Otherwise, there may be a great wellness policy on paper, but if those in power aren’t living it themselves, it sends a message that it isn’t really acceptable to take advantage of those wellness supports.
Ideas take time to implement. What is one small step every individual, team or organization can take to get started on these ideas — to get well?
If you’re a leader, start to be aware of how you support or discourage a culture of wellness. Are you modeling the behaviors you want to see in staff? Are you providing the structures to take advantage of wellness support? Start with these questions and then find 3–5 ways you can immediately address them. Then, make a plan to tackle bigger priorities on a transparent timeline.
What are your “Top 5 Trends To Track In the Future of Workplace Wellness?”
- Start with yourself and model behaviors that encourage wellness.
- Bridge generational gaps. Employees of different ages may have different needs and different ideas of what wellness at work looks like. Have open conversations with staff and regularly get feedback about their needs.
- Center racial equity. We know that people of color are not thriving at work in the same ways white people are. Know what the gaps in your organization are and take action to address them. Pay equity, promotions, mentorship, a sense of belonging, and much more all contribute to wellness at work. It’s not easy, but it must be done.
- Understand that mental and emotional health are just as important as physical health. It’s often easier for us to have compassion and support someone with an illness or broken bone than someone going through internal turmoil. Make sure you know how to support mental and emotional health of staff and be careful not to jump to conclusions if someone begins to underperform.
- Learn and adjust. Figure out what other organizations are doing. Keep what’s working, and change what’s not. And always lead with transparency and clear expectations, even they change over time. Brene Brown has said something to effect of “Clarity is kind. Being unclear is unkind.” That has stuck with me and I think it’s a helpful mantra for other leaders too.
What is your greatest source of optimism about the future of workplace wellness?
With all the disruptions to the modern workplace because of the pandemic, we have a nearly blank slate to recreate the work cultures we want to see. Future-focused leaders will seize on the opportunity to lead with heart and impact their organization for years to come.
Our readers often like to continue the conversation with our featured interviewees. How can they best connect with you and stay current on what you’re discovering?
I love having conversations about the future (and current state) of leadership and organizational culture!
Please connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachellipton/ and my website https://www.rachelliptoncoaching.com. I have a monthly newsletter chockful of leadership and organizational resources that you can sign up for there.
Thank you for sharing your insights and predictions. We appreciate the gift of your time and wish you continued success and wellness.