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It's not about your budget!
As I was doing this unit I was able to compare two of my wellbeing roles:
1 in a non-profit organization with minimal budget where in addition to the wellbeing lead, I wore many hats and
2 at a large for profit company with a huge budget with multiple competing wellness initiatives.
Guess which one was the most successful and the most rewarding? Yup, #1!
At the non profit, I built the strategy and program from scratch. I had the endorsement and support from my senior leader and over time as I built the program and engaged the ELT, I started to build more buy-in. I was able to integrate welllbeing into DEI and leadership development and had multiple touch points with leaders and employees because my role oversaw several different areas. By the time I left we had a solid strategy, ELT buy-in, wellbeing champions and funding for mental health training and several other initiatives including lunchtime yoga, meditation, and wellness circles.
At the for profit company, we had just experienced a leadership change as I started in the role and as I began to take stock of all the initiatives, I quickly realized that there was no ELT support and it was next to impossible to get face time with the top decision makers. While we had success getting ELT involved in a few initiatives and mental health training, they were not familiar with workplace wellness as a culture that contributed to performance and did not see the value or ROI. DEI, leadership development, safety and all the areas of HR were quite siloed so it was difficult to build collaboration between departments.
What's interesting to note is that wellbeing has been deprioritized at both of these companies as there is no longer a wellbeing role at either. I am hearing from others in the industry and am concerned that now that the "crisis" of covid is over and the spotlight has moved on to other workplace issues, some companies are moving away from investing in the psychological safety and wellbeing programs in the workplace... I feel very passionately that we can't let this happen... so I will continue to advocate for wellbeing at work whether I'm in an official wellbeing role or not!
Agreed - budget isn't necessary to create a culture of wellbeing. I too have seen the decrease in emphasis from people on wellbeing, in a post-crisis covid world. Although being in my role in HR, I do see more employees reaching out to discuss time away from work for mental health related challanges. Which tells me 1. post-covid hasn't stopped the emphasis on mental health and 2. people feel more comfortable asking and seeking help. Progress none the less, but still a ways to go.