Building a Holistic Approach to Employee Well-Being

Sponsored Content: This blog post is provided by Normandin Beaudry

In today’s rapidly evolving workplace, employees expect more than just a paycheque; they seek a work environment that supports their overall well-being. Organizations that prioritize holistic health and wellness, or ‘Health 360°’ not only foster a more engaged workforce but also strengthen their long-term success.

All organizations focus on the monetary aspects of total rewards, but those looking to stand out must invest in non-monetary components that reflect their unique cultural DNA. Unlike compensation, culture cannot be easily replicated, making it a powerful differentiator in attracting top talent and driving performance.

The Four-Step Journey to a Health 360° Strategy

Developing a comprehensive health strategy requires a structured, data-driven approach. Organizations that successfully integrate a Health 360° framework often follow these four essential steps:

1. Understanding the Organization

A strong health strategy is built on a deep understanding of the workforce, supported by a range of complementary indicators. The broader and more segmented the data collection, the more precisely organizations can target employee needs. Key data points include:

• Sociodemographic Data: Job type, income level, gender, age, seniority, geographic location, etc.
• Health Status Indicators: Plan usage trends, prescription drug data, disability incidence and causes, utilization of support services, pension participation, contribution and withdrawal levels in savings plans, leaves of absence, etc.
• Engagement and Perception Metrics: Employee participation in health initiatives, satisfaction levels, workload impact, and overall performance.  Employees’ health needs, employees’ perception of efforts made by their employer in offering support for their health, etc.

2. Targeting the Right Actions

With a clear understanding of employee needs, organizations can focus on the most impactful areas by addressing key strategic questions:

• What are the main risks and vulnerabilities?
• What health priorities should be addressed first?
• Which indicators should be influenced to drive meaningful outcomes?

3. Communicating and Promoting

For a health strategy to be effective, employees must be aware of available resources, understand their benefits, and know how to access them when needed. Best communication practices include:

• Adapting messages for different target audiences.
• Utilizing a variety of communication channels.
• Leveraging organizational programs and processes as an opportunity to promote health initiatives (e.g., onboarding, performance management, internal and external communications).

4. Measuring and Demonstrating Progress

Organizations must track and share progress to maintain stakeholder engagement and ensure continuous improvement, including:

• Senior Management: Reinforce commitment and secure ongoing support.
• Partners: Encourage collaboration between business sectors within the organization and foster synergy toward achieving common goals.
• Employees: Promote transparency and highlight the organization’s commitment to well-being.

Regularly monitoring indicators is crucial to identifying trends, evaluating the impact of actions taken, and making informed adjustments. By consistently assessing these metrics, organizations can ensure their health strategy remains effective and aligned with employee needs.

The Four Pillars of Employee Well-Being

Despite the benefits of a holistic approach, only 36% of organizations[1] integrate all four pillars into their health strategy. A truly effective Health 360° strategy must address:

• Physical Health: Encouraging healthy lifestyle habits, addressing musculoskeletal health, and managing chronic conditions.
• Psychological Health: Providing mental health support through assistance service and HR policies and practices that promote work-life balance and emotional well-being.
• Social Health: Fostering positive workplace relationships, community engagement, and social support networks.
• Financial Health: Promoting financial literacy of employees through access to savings solutions and independent financial guidance.

Integrating Health 360° into Total Rewards

Each element of total rewards can serve as a catalyst to promote employee health and well-being. To build a workplace culture that prioritizes well-being, organizations can integrate health-focused principles into key areas of their total rewards strategy:

• Group Benefits: Expand coverage options, implement effective disability management strategies, and offer long-term support for returning to health.
• Pension and Savings: Diversify savings options, provide increased flexibility and access to independent financial guidance to alleviate financial stress.
• Communication Strategies: Ensure available health resources are properly promoted and easily accessible to employees.
• HR Policies and Practices: Leverage performance management and leadership training to embed health and well-being into everyday management practices.

A Continuous, Adaptive Process

Developing a firmly rooted Health 360° culture is an ongoing journey that requires flexibility and alignment within an organization’s unique context. By integrating expert perspectives and leveraging a multidisciplinary approach, organizations can ensure consistency and effectiveness of all programs and policies.

Each organization must move at its own pace, but those that prioritize employee well-being as a strategic imperative will experience the greatest returns in workforce engagement.

[1] remun survey, Talent and culture (2024-2025), Normandin Beaudry.

Co-authors