Don George, the CEO of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Vermont (BCBSVT), has made employee wellbeing his number one priority, even before a financial performance and market share.
Shocking? Hardly. To Don, who points out that healthy and engaged employees are the critical engine that begets operational success, however, defined, and without employee wellbeing, success is elusive at best. And results under his tenure are remarkably good, including a full financial turnaround under trying circumstances and greatly improved market share.
Don has done this by making employee wellbeing core to everything BCBSVT does. They take care of their own so that they can give exceptional service in Vermont and elsewhere.
To succeed, Boards and CEOs must ensure that employee wellbeing is factored into all business decisions and becomes an embedded part of how they conduct business. And for that to happen, the CEO must lead employee wellbeing passionately, persistently, and personally. Moreover, Boards must be convinced that wellbeing is not giving out candy to employees; it’s a mission-critical business strategy for future success.
While CEO, C-Suite, and Board leadership are crucial, just as important is that everyone in any leadership position throughout the organization make employee wellbeing central to how they lead and do business. Without the enthusiastic and emphatic support of all leaders and managers throughout the organization, this strategy is doomed to failure.
Managers (these are your front-line supervisors, by whatever name, who have direct employee reports) are crucial in implementing a culture of wellbeing and supporting wellbeing programs. Gallup’s studies show that “Managers set the mood and tone of work environments–wielding the power to make or break the development of a culture of well-being.”
Research shows that the single most important factor in how much an employee likes his/her job is their direct manager. Gallup’s survey results bear this out, with a very high percentage of employees hating their job and hating their immediate boss worse.
A caring, capable, empowering manager allows employees to thrive and achieve wellbeing. An uncaring, arrogant, and unfair manager is toxic to employee wellbeing.
How important are managers? Listen to Jim Clifton, CEO of Gallup:
“Here’s something they’ll probably never teach you in business school: The single biggest decision you make in your job—bigger than all the rest—is who you name manager. When you name the wrong person manager, nothing fixes that bad decision. Not compensation, not benefits—nothing.”
“When leaders in the United States of America…wake up one morning and say collectively, ‘Let’s get rid of managers from hell, double the number of great managers and engaged employees, and have those managers lead based on what actually matters,’ everything will change. The country’s employees will be twice as effective…” Gallup CEO Clifton, addressing “Leaders” in “From the CEO in Gallup’s State of the American Workplace (2013).”
Dee Edington and Jennifer Pitts, who’ve interviewed and worked with hundreds of organizations to implement organizational health promotion, workplace wellness, and workplace wellbeing strategies, note in their book Shared Values, Shared Results: “In every organization we have worked with so far, the middle and frontline leaders have been the least enthusiastic about efforts to support positive health and thriving.”
Overcoming this resistance to wellbeing initiatives is critical, given that managers are central to implementing change. CEOs must take steps to ensure that managers (1) understand the strategy and how it aligns with their organizational and personal success and (2) receive the training and resources needed to implement it at ground zero.
