Create a Holistic Employee Wellbeing Program
Move beyond perks to an approach that targets employee needs and systemic barriers.
- Wellbeing initiatives often do not align with employee needs, as they are regarded as perks offered to individuals (e.g. healthcare allowance) rather than components of a holistic program that addresses employee needs across multiple wellbeing dimensions.
- If systemic barriers are not adequately addressed before a wellbeing program is implemented, its impact will be negligible.
- The development of a wellbeing program is often relegated to a side-of-desk task that lacks adequate resources and involvement of key stakeholders.
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Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Organizations must embed a focus on employee wellbeing into their day-to-day operations, culture, and leadership to thrive in today’s environment. This requires a shift from viewing a wellbeing program as a couple of stand-alone initiatives to understanding it takes an integrated and holistic approach to meet employee needs and address systemic barriers.
Impact and Result
- Gather data and employee feedback to identify gaps in existing initiatives and uncover employee wellbeing needs.
- Select the organization’s wellbeing priorities and build a program composed of initiatives that meet employee needs and address systemic barriers.
- Create a customized and targeted communications plan to ensure employees are fully aware of the wellbeing initiatives being offered.
Workshop: Create a Holistic Employee Wellbeing Program
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Assess Current State
The Purpose
- Assess the current state of wellbeing and identify program strengths and gaps.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Current-state assessment
- Program strengths and gaps
Activities
Outputs
Review wellbeing concepts.
Explore available wellbeing data to evaluate the current state (focus group responses, data collection, initiative inventory).
- Insights from current-state analysis
Identify program strengths and gaps.
- Program strengths and gaps identified
Module 2: Finalize Wellbeing Themes
The Purpose
- Explore systemic barriers to wellbeing and wellbeing themes to inform program goals.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Identification of systemic barriers and wellbeing themes
- A wellbeing philosophy statement
Activities
Outputs
Explore systemic barriers to wellbeing.
- Systemic barriers and wellbeing themes identified
Identify wellbeing themes.
Create a wellbeing philosophy statement.
- Wellbeing philosophy statement created
Module 3: Define Program Goals
The Purpose
- Define and identify the specifics of the wellbeing program, including wellbeing priorities, goals, metrics, and plans to address systemic barriers.
Key Benefits Achieved
- A list of wellbeing priorities
- Goals and metrics to measure wellbeing program efforts
Activities
Outputs
Determine employee needs and select wellbeing priorities based on current-state analysis.
- List of five to seven wellbeing priorities drafted
Define program goals and select metrics.
- List of goals and metrics identified
Plan to address systemic barriers.
Module 4: Select Wellbeing Initiatives
The Purpose
- Create and finalize a list of wellbeing initiatives and identify internal accountabilities.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Evaluation of current wellbeing initiatives
- A wellbeing program with a list of feasible initiatives
Activities
Outputs
Identify wellbeing initiatives to keep and new ones to add.
- List of existing initiatives to keep, modify, remove, or add drafted
Determine the feasibility of selected wellbeing initiatives to determine shortlist.
- Shortlist of additional initiatives created
Outline internal accountabilities.
Module 5: Next Steps and Wrap-Up
The Purpose
- Create a plan to integrate and communicate the wellbeing program.
Key Benefits Achieved
- A plan to integrate the wellbeing program throughout the organization.
Activities
Outputs
Draft a program roadmap.
- High-level program roadmap drafted
Create a communications plan.
- High-level communications plan created
About McLean & Company
McLean & Company is an HR research and advisory firm providing practical solutions to human resources challenges via executable research, tools, diagnostics, and advisory services that have a clear and measurable impact on your business.
What Is a Blueprint?
A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your HR problems.
Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.
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Get the help you need in this 3-phase advisory process. You'll receive 7 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.
Guided Implementation 1: Assess the current state and set program goals
- Call 1: Discuss creating a wellbeing project team and review wellbeing data sources.
- Call 2: Review inventory of current wellbeing initiatives and existing data to identify insights. Plan to collect additional data on employee needs.
- Call 3: Identify systemic barriers and wellbeing priorities, select program goals and metrics, and review program constraints.
Guided Implementation 2: Review and select wellbeing initiatives
- Call 1: Discuss a plan to address systemic barriers, review current wellbeing initiatives to determine alignment, and identify additional wellbeing initiatives to create a shortlist.
- Call 2: Review the finalized shortlist of wellbeing initiatives and business case to present to senior leaders.
Guided Implementation 3: Prepare to launch
- Call 1: Outline a wellbeing initiative roadmap and communication strategy.
- Call 2: Identify wellbeing training opportunities and discuss a plan to evaluate and iterate the wellbeing program.
Contributors
- Jessica Assaf – Corporate Communications Expert and Wellness Advocate
- Dr. Viswanath Baba – Professor, Human Resources and Management, DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University
- Dr. Andrew A. Bennett – Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Old Dominion University
- Professor Sir Cary Cooper – Professor of Organizational Psychology & Health, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester
- Christine Devine – Wellness Specialist, Michael Garron Hospital
- Lisa Dodwell-Greaves – Manager, Organizational Wellbeing, WestJet
- Dr. Gloria González-Morales – Associate Professor of Psychology, Claremont Graduate University
- Grace Lee – Manager, Wellbeing, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
- Bronwyn Ott – Wellbeing, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Leader, Unilever
- Zofia Sharman – Well-Being Ambassador, Harneys
- Nicole Stibbe – Coach, Wellbeing and DEI Consultant, Affirm You
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