In February 2023, I had the privilege of attending National Wellness Institute’s Re-Imagining Wellness webinar feathering their CEO, Chuck Gillespie, and Gallup’s Chief Scientist for Workplace Management and Wellbeing Practices, Jim Harter; they engaged in a provocative conversation regarding the latest research and science supporting. I left with so many timeless pearls!
The science is compelling and the sentiment that really struck me was…
“It’s not about the ping pong tables.”
I inwardly exclaimed “Amen!” A common misconception in many workplaces is that ancillaries like ping pong tables, treadmills, gaming rooms, or even healthier café selections automatically translate into improved culture of employee wellbeing. But as Gillespie and Harter pointed out, it goes much deeper than that—simply put, it’s about how employees interact and whether their manager is regularly having meaningful conversations with them.
In my thirty plus years in workplace health and wellbeing, I’ve witnessed an over-engineering of wellness programs. That is, there’s too much emphasis on branding, catchy clichés, wellness programs and facilities and not enough emphasis on the role of the line manager. While wellbeing programs and perks are nice to haves, they’re not the core of what enables true health and wellbeing. What’s fundamental is something much more basic and within reach: the manager’s impact on their team’s wellbeing through authentic, direct and meaningful conversations; it’s the low hanging fruit.
Reflect on your own situation, if your manager micromanages you and you don’t feel valued and supported, are you going to give discretionary effort? Are you going to stay because you like the ping pong tables, fitness center and the gaming room? Apologies for the rhetorical question but, surely, you get my point?
The leader’s role in creating an environment where employees feel psychologically safe is the underpinning to workplace wellbeing. Psychological safety, in turn, cultivates vulnerability-based trust and prompts honest and productive conversations at both the one-on-one and team level. When employees feel heard, understood and valued… when they know they can approach their manager with personal or work-related concerns, that’s when real wellness begins. Some great news? It doesn’t even take an organizational wide effort; according to a leading authority, Dr. Amy Edmondson, it’s best cultivated at the team level. That’s great news for managers.
Don’t get me wrong, wellness programs and ancillaries are great. Walking trails, healthy initiatives, team outings and fun perks like ping pong tables contribute to an overall healthy culture, but only if employees feel safe “leaving their desk” to use them. That stated, the foundation of a healthy workplace culture remains fostering psychological safety and facilitating meaningful conversations and interactions. Line managers are best poised to do that; if you need any support, welcome to my sandbox. You may be surprised as just how effective a few behaviors and tools can be when practiced consistently.
Discussion Prompts:
- Think about your workplace. How much emphasis is placed on wellness program utilization compared to the frequency of meaningful conversations or 360 reviews? What impact does that have on employee health and wellbeing?
- Reflect on a time when you felt truly valued by a manager or leader. What was that experience like? How did it affect your sense of safety and wellbeing at work?
- If you’re a manager or team leader, ask yourself: How can I create more opportunities for genuine conversations with my team? What steps can I take to foster psychological safety in those discussions?
- Think about a time when you felt you were performing at your best. What were the circumstances? What was your relationship with your manager and teammates? How can you generate more of that?
By reflecting on these prompts, you can begin to explore how workplace wellbeing can be re-imagined beyond surface-level perks and integrated into the way individuals and teams interact.
Ready to Re-Imagine Workplace Wellness?
Building a healthy, thriving workplace starts with creating the right environment—one where psychological safety and meaningful conversations are a priority. At Rudder Consulting, we specialize in helping organizations focus on the fundamentals of wellbeing with services that include:
- Leadership Development: Equip your leaders with the tools and confidence they need to facilitate open, authentic conversations that build trust and psychological safety.
- Organizational Culture Transformation: Looking to create a culture that prioritizes wellbeing as a means to peak performance? We collaborate with companies to shift their focus from perks to purpose-driven interactions, ensuring employees feel valued, supported and can do their best work.
- Strategic Planning: Redefine what wellness means in your organization with a strategy that goes beyond programs and creates sustainable, meaningful change.
If you’re ready to commit to an engaging and rewarding journey to produce tangible behavior change within your team or company, then visit Rudder Consulting to learn more. Together, we’ll explore your pain points, conduct a gap analysis between where you want to be and where you are now and develop an action plan to close your gaps. We’ll help you steer your team in the right direction.
