Are Corporate and Wellness Compatible?

Wellness starts with self.

Wellness starts with having conversations.

Last week we hosted a conversation with wellness expert and practitioner Krystal-Joy Williams.

(Listen to the entire conversation here)

When asked about the relationship between self-care and wellness, she shared:

It all begins with self-care. So before beginning to thrive in wellness, or even focus on wellness… self-care is where it begins…[U]ntil you're caring or care about yourself, how could you possibly thrive in all of the areas of wellness, and that actually goes for companies as well… if you want your company to thrive, and you really care about your company, then you need to think about the wellness of your employees….

Here are eight of my favorite moments (the conversation was FULL of gems) and the time stamps if you want to take a listen:

• [7:12] Small interventions can have a massive impact. For example, Ileka Falette shared, "we can incorporate self-care into our everyday lives to reduce things like stress, overwhelm, and burnout."
• [12:41] Sajithkumar ✓ Swaminathan reminded us, "One thing that we have to take care of before we want to help others is to take care of self and take care of oneself."
• [20:16] We all agreed that companies must educate their employees on burnout and create processes, channels, and feedback systems so employees can give feedback on their emotional, physical, and mental health.
• [23:37] Lauren 'LC' Wells shared her story about burnout and her life partner. Her partner was willing to take a pay cut to get a better balance in his life.
• [26:46] Folake Adeniyi-Adeleye GPHR, PCC reminded us of the importance of ensuring wellness is inclusive to keep women in executive positions, "…where we talk about retention, we're seeing more and more women…transition into organizations or into spaces where wellness is inclusive." 
• [31:30] Meenakshi Iyer, MBA, ACC (ICF), stated that "senior leaders [are] prioritizing their well-being vacation days [and are] using that as a point of negotiation," but that we should allow all levels of employees to prioritize their well-being not just those at the top.
• [35:09] craig lackman shared a short case study from his multinational company that prioritizes wellness. They have a range of interventions, and "corporate wellness is, is one of our top priorities that we drive as a culture in our organization."
• [40:32] Please listen to a simple but powerful exercise from Pushkraj Deshpande related to wellness.

We wrapped up the conversation with Krystal-Joy reminding us that at the beginning of implementing wellness initiatives, it might feel like prioritizing wellness costs additional time. Still, it is worth it in the long term.

We will have a Part 2 to this conversation soon, so watch this space.

(Listen to the entire conversation here)

Reach out if you want a reminder.

P.S. Listen to my latest podcast episode about rebooting your operating system - especially if you want to shift your perspective on your health and wellness. Click here to listen now.