“Now Go Do Something BIG.” Corporate Wellness Institute Inspires People Leaders for Second Year
A global shift has occurred within Corporate Wellness programming. The classic, ‘nice-to-have’ health plan approach is no longer enough; employees are craving highly integrated wellbeing experiences that will determine how supported they feel when they show up for work everyday, which affects multiple facets including an organization’s cultural values to employer value proposition to turnover rates. How organizations create these positive experiences and embed the concept of holistic wellbeing into their organizations is now a core leadership responsibility.
Building off the success of last year’s inaugural program, from November 6th – 8th, 2022 the Corporate Wellness Institute reunited people leaders once again at The Langham Hotel in Pasadena to uncover strategies for navigating through the above considerations and changing workplace dynamics, exploring the concept behind and approaches to practicing, human-centered leadership.
Wellness is no longer the sole responsibility of Benefits Departments; how senior executives think about wellbeing is now an essential leadership capability, and the Corporate Wellness Institute (having big shoes to fill from the program’s 2021 inception), was all the more fearless in challenging attending executives to think not about what they can do as a leader for the business, but what they can do for their corporate community.
Thought leaders from Fortune 500 organizations including Xerox, The National Football League, Starbucks, United States Steel Corporation, Saks Off Fifth and so much more were given the spotlight to showcase how they are making a difference for their corporate communities through a prioritization of wellness and culture-enhancing initiatives – progressively moving away from the necessary step to address employee struggles within mental, financial, physical or emotional health onto how to take action by weaving wellbeing as a fundamental business priority into the fabric of the organization. If 2021 was all about bringing tough subjects into the limelight, this year was all about how to rework the system to combat them.
Thought leaders from Fortune 500 organizations including Xerox, The National Football League, Starbucks, United States Steel Corporation, Saks Off Fifth and so much more were given the spotlight to showcase how they are making a difference for their corporate communities through a prioritization of wellness and culture-enhancing initiatives – progressively moving away from the necessary step to address employee struggles within mental, financial, physical or emotional health onto how to take action by weaving wellbeing as a fundamental business priority into the fabric of the organization. If 2021 was all about bringing tough subjects into the limelight, this year was all about how to rework the system to combat them.
Ultimately, the subject matter at the Corporate Wellness Institute has the potential to burden leadership by opening eyes to how much work there is to do within the corporate wellness space, yet the enthusiasm displayed, the practical tools and resources explored, and the optimism channeled was more than enough to motivate attendees to see their work as a mountain worth climbing. This sentiment was summed up nicely by Ron Crawford, VP of Benefits from Starbucks who implored the audience at the end of his dialogue on combatting mental health in the workplace to ‘go back and do something BIG.’
Wellness as a priority must come from the top-down and leadership rather than having the obligation, has the opportunity to make a big impact. The program will continue to serve as a safe space for leaders to get together to discuss how – regardless of industry, budget constraints, limited resources – one can make a difference, create an impact, and think BIG.
We would like to thank the 2022 Advisory Committee, Speaker Faculty, Sponsoring Partners, and Delegation for making this program a huge success. This remains an important and necessary program and we are honored to work with a group of dedicated and passionate executives. We look forward to continuing the conversation and providing further opportunities to explore human-centered approaches to work and innovation in the corporate wellness journey.
To contribute to the next Corporate Wellness Institute as an Advisory Committee Member or as part of the 2023 Speaker Faculty, please contact Jennifer Holmes at jholmes@ipmionline.com.