Why a Workplace Wellbeing Strategy Is a Strategic Risk Priority

Stop calling workplace wellbeing a "nice-to-have" benefit. At the executive level, it's a fundamental risk strategy—and if you can't measure it, you can't manage it.

As organisations face increasing pressures, particularly around the mental load on their people, the conversation needs to move from programme implementation to psychosocial risk mitigation and measurable performance.

Throughout my career, I've seen the profound impact of connecting wellbeing directly to business outcomes whether that was by showing how imperative it was to get wellbeing right for our people at Bupa as we sold it to customers, or ensuring that Saga understood the direct impact of wellbeing on their business outcomes through data and dashboards up to Board level. 

3 Ways to Elevate Wellbeing and Embed a Workplace Wellbeing Strategy:

1. Integrate Risk Reporting: Wellbeing cannot live in a silo separate from Health & Safety. Treat psychosocial risks (e.g., high demands, low control, poor support) with the same rigor as physical risks. This ensures wellbeing is seen as a risk alongside health and safety.

   
   

2. Focus on Leading Indicators: Instead of just measuring absenteeism (a lagging indicator), track data that predicts future issues. This includes metrics around manager support, workload perception, and psychological safety.

   
   

3. Translate Impact into Commercial Value: The data you gather on employee health should inform your business strategy. During my time at Bupa, we leveraged our internal program insights to collaborate with commercial teams and inform corporate propositions. Your people's health is a source of innovation, not just an expense.

Is your organisation discussing wellbeing in the boardroom as a risk strategy? What is the #1 metric your board currently uses to track wellbeing and psychosocial risk?

Making Wellbeing Measurable, Accountable, and Strategically Led

If your board is still treating wellbeing as a benefit rather than a business risk, it’s time to change the conversation and create a workplace wellbeing strategy.

I help organisations integrate wellbeing into their governance, reporting, and performance frameworks — making it measurable, accountable and strategically led.

Get in touch to explore how to embed wellbeing as a core risk strategy.