Author Recap: Why Wellness Programs Fail- and What Really Works

Despite the growing investment in workplace wellness programs, employee morale and satisfaction continue to decline. What’s going wrong? 

🔔 Subscribe & Share this episode if you believe leaders can—and should—create workplaces where people actually want to show up.

 - Wellness Starts with Culture, Not Perks

 - Leaders Must Build Real Relationships—Swiftly

 - High Expectations + High Support = Wellness

We encourage you to listen to the full episode and as always, we hope the time you spend with us will help remove the stigma of anxiety and mental health in the workplace and your personal life.

Transcript

So, Adrian, a lot of energy, I think some really good concepts. I'm curious, you had one or two big takeaways? Well, you know, a few things. First off, because she's right, I mean, we've all been doing more on wellness, we've been doing more on taking care of our people and burnout is on the rise. We're not getting rid of it. It's what we used to say about employee engagement is we all know about it, but we don't do anything about it. Well, maybe the things we're doing aren't really helping. So, and what she's talking about is a very human approach to leadership that you and I talk about in all of our books is you put in time and effort to know their stories, right? This swift method that she's talking about is great. Right, you set aside time, you welcome them. We're always so much happier to see people who are excited to see us. You know, you're inquisitive, you do some follow-up, because there's nothing worse. We've all seen managers where they go, hey, how you doing, Chester? And you go, ah, boy, if I had a bad week, da, da, da, you're texting back. And then silence, radio silence, right? Well, that's great. You know, stiff upper lip. Okay, see ya. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I like that too, the welcoming. I love that she had, welcome them warmly. You know, there's a qualifier there. It's just that, hey, welcome to work. ask good questions, right? And then follow up. I really appreciated the reflection. I think, you know, we never take enough time to reflect, you know, whether it's to write in our journals or like you say, follow up, or think about what went well that day. What did we learn? What are we gonna take forward? Her subculture comment really stuck with me. Yeah. You know, you and I had a subculture when we built our training group. You're going to have a subculture in manufacturing. You're going to have a subculture in marketing and so on that control what you can control and build the kind of culture that you want. The authentic leader, my big takeaway there was you want people, leaders that are themselves, and then your addition is, yeah, be the kind of leader people wanna be. You know, so many people go, well, if that's what a leader is, count me out. Yeah, so I get an extra, maybe 20% raise, but I have a miserable life, and that's okay. You know, I'll keep making what I'm making. And yeah, no, that's, and I'm gonna come back just for a moment to the subculture idea. I love her, so what, now what? Remember that, remember, so what, now what? And it's so powerful, it's like, you know, look, life is hard. We know that. Life isn't fair sometimes. It's not fair that you have a tough boss or a lousy environment, let's have the other. Now, what are you gonna do about it? As you said, control what you can control. I think that's great. And you can be more approachable, more, she says, accountable too. And that doesn't need to be a negative. It can be a positive because people want to be held accountable. When we go out and we speak or we train, what do we tell people? is like, think of the best boss you've ever had. Were they easy on you? Oh no, they were really asked a lot of me. So, but they knew me as an individual, right? They stretched me, they asked me to do things I'd never done before. Yeah, I think my biggest takeaway in self-care was it's okay to absolutely binge watch on Netflix for hours on end. I took that away too. I was right at it. I love that. She didn't say hours on end. I added that. But wasn't an issue. She said focus though on that because how many people nowadays they're watching Tick Tock while they're watching Netflix while they've got you know, multitasking. Yeah, you're not really doing anything. Well, I, I appreciate too, where she said, look, have a hobby outside of work, something that you're passionate about, that just disconnects your mind from everything, whether it's jogging or sports or collecting commemorative symbols. Please don't send me any commemorative symbols. Anyway, it really was delightful. And you know, it is interesting because, you know, we talk about anxiety at work and she's talking about creating great workplaces. And you know, if you or your employees are stressed or overworked or worried about uncertainty on the verge of burning out, you know what's coming here, Adrian. The book Anxiety at Work is a must-read guide for every leader in business and a professional who wants to build a resilient, high-performing team. You know, we pack our books with, you know, highly actionable tools. Our book Anxiety at Work is from Harper Business. It shows you how to create that culture of trust, support, productivity, even in uncertain times. So don't just manage stress, transform it into a competitive edge. There's great tips and anxiety at work. It's on Audible, it's on lit video books, it's on Kindle, and at fine bookstores everywhere. Did I get that commercial right, Adrian? Are you inspired? Well, the only problem is with Audible, they have to listen to us, but otherwise, it's great content. So, hey, you know who reduces our anxiety every day is our producer, Brent Klein. Wanna thank him, wanna thank Christy Lawrence for finding amazing guests like Tina and all of you who listened in. If you like the podcast, share it and learn more about what we do at thecultureworks.com. Gives you lots of free resources. And we love speaking to audiences, whether it's in person or virtual. We speak around the world on topics like culture, teamwork, resilience, mental health. Give us a call. We'd love to talk to you about your next event. Adrian, another wonderful time. Always time well spent spending with you. So I will give you the last word. Thanks, everybody, for joining us. Thanks, Chess, for all your insights. Until next time, everybody, we wish you the best of mental health.