From icing to cake: a deeper approach to workplace wellbeing
Why organisations should ditch superficial wellness perks, and instead prioritise meaningful, empathetic relationships
Consider this analogy. If wellbeing is a cake, many organisations have mainly been operating at the ‘icing’ level and not cutting through to the cake itself. In fact, the wellbeing approach in organisations has been primarily transactional in nature.
Think of the pandemic – in desperate need to address the declining emotional, physical and financial hardships of the workforce, the boom of wellness podcasts, mindfulness apps and exercise classes was phenomenal. However, while organisations have dedicated substantial resources to address these concerns, they just scratched the surface, as take up remained low in large part due to the overwhelming choices given to employees. What also became apparent is the need for meaningful relationships as the cornerstone of wellbeing especially with remote work becoming the norm. However, as the economic crisis continues to impact organisations, we are nowhere near solving the issue.
