Well-being – be it physical, mental, emotional or otherwise – is essential for a strong and productive workforce. According to a McKinsey Health Institute report, employers increasingly recognise that employee health and well-being are core to performance. Yet, many organisations struggle to find the right approach when it comes to implementing solutions that sustain both well-being and output.

For over a decade, I’ve worked with multinational organisations to design and deploy well-being and mental health programmes. Based on these experiences, I’ve found that despite their best intentions, many leaders get tripped up by a few common mindsets. That’s not to say these perspectives are inherently flawed. It only becomes a problem when they are the sole lens through which things are viewed, causing other important aspects to be overlooked.

Below, I elaborate on the ways of thinking leaders should avoid if they want to build sustainable and effective well-being programmes that catalyse real organisational change. I also offer practical suggestions for those ready to take these efforts seriously.

1. Let’s “fix” them: overly individual-focused

If an employee isn’t feeling well, a manager will likely suggest they take a day off. Some particularly empathetic managers may even grant short-term sick leave if they believe someone could benefit from a longer break, especially if that person is under intense stress or displaying symptoms of a mental health condition. “Perhaps they just need some time away,” their manager may think.

This works if it’s part of a more holistic approach to employee well-being. However, if the only solution is sick leave or even providing access to free counselling services, the implicit message to employees is: This is an individual issue, so go and work on yourself and come back ready to work again. 

This approach focuses on addressing the symptoms, not the root causes. It neglects other factors that might be at play, including workload, resource distribution, time constraints and team culture and dynamics. The stress of transitional periods, such as adjusting to a different boss, organisational restructuring or new business strategies, can also affect well-being in ways beyond an individual’s control.

Instead, managers could ask, “What else might be happening in the work environment to cause this employee distress?” before enacting the appropriate solutions, whether that’s extending a project deadline or designing a team intervention. As leaders, this is where you need to step in to examine and address the factors that might be compromising that person’s well-being, because no amount of sick leave or counselling sessions would ameliorate the situation. 

2. Let’s “change” them: overly short-term focused

Another mental trap is thinking that simply changing someone’s working conditions will eradicate the problem. I’ve seen leaders spring into action – be it by moving an individual to a different team or reducing their workload – in the hopes of improving an employee’s well-being, sometimes inadvertently sending that person into a panic because they assumed their manager no longer trusted them.

These actions are taken with good intentions and are often cited as best practices for workplace mental health. But they fail to consider one important thing: what the individual actually wants. What’s more, if the root of the problem is an organisational culture issue, such as harassment, bullying or a norm of toxic behaviour, then changing teams might offer some breathing space, but it won’t be long before the same negative patterns creep in again.

Asking, “How do I involve and include the employee and others in decision-making?” is one way for leaders to escape this thinking trap and resist the bias towards action. Rather than rushing to implement change, leaders can take the time to speak directly with the employee to understand their concerns and preferences. It’s equally important to consult other managers across the organisation to determine whether this is an isolated incident or a pattern requiring broader behavioural change. 

3. Let’s “educate” them: overly surface-level

Most companies run some variation of well-being training and educational campaigns. These are foundational for building awareness, and I think they are a good first step to getting buy-in and destigmatising thorny topics like mental health and suicide. Classic formats include guest speaker series, World Mental Health Day events and sending managers to Mental Health First Aid training.

These initiatives aren’t the problem. In fact, they are crucial. The issue arises if they’re all a company offers, or treated as a box-ticking exercise. Employees who attend these events tend to be self-selecting – often those who already know how to prioritise their mental health – which means that the people who need support the most may not be reached. Another challenge is that many of these initiatives primarily focus on building knowledge and delivering content, rather than establishing habits or longer-term follow-ups to support behavioural change.

Instead of piecemeal initiatives, focus on your overarching well-being strategy. Think of workplace well-being as you would any long-term business strategy: Design it across one-, three- and five-year time horizons, with building blocks that compound over time instead of repeated topics repackaged under a new name. Give employees a clear view of the learning journey ahead. Borrowing strategies from leadership development, such as coaching, can also help translate newly gained knowledge into day-to-day behaviours. 

4. Let’s “do something”: overly siloed

Many companies allocate a limited budget to well-being programmes, sometimes folding them into learning and development budgets and tacking them on to other training sessions. They may treat such initiatives as the purview of HR or the people and culture department, or as a theme that the communications or marketing teams can build on to boost camaraderie and staff spirit.

Without meaningful human and financial support from cross-departmental leaders, the board of directors and the wider organisation, these programmes are unlikely to have their intended effect. Treating them as one-off projects wears out the teams responsible for delivery and, if no real change follows, employees may grow cynical and view these initiatives as a nuisance rather than helpful.

To pave the way for sustainable change, leaders can ask themselves, “How do we embed well-being as a pillar of our business?” Well-being should be integrated into an organisation’s values and performance frameworks, and reflected in the behaviours modelled by leaders. This is where diverse perspectives are essential: Those making decisions about well-being strategies should include people with lived experience of various health conditions, ensuring that organisations don’t inadvertently sideline the very people they intend to support, nor design programmes that fail to speak to their needs.

A comprehensive approach

If any of the above resonates, it may be worth pausing to reflect on whether your current approach to workplace well-being is truly the best way forward. Good intentions are a starting point, but they must be translated into something strategic and comprehensive. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

Get your board of directors on board. Workplace mental health is a risk-management and sustainability issue for corporate governance. In many countries, directors have an obligation under local work and safety laws to ensure appropriate resources are in place to address such issues. A board that is interested in employee well-being will provide greater support to the organisation’s leaders and ensure accountability. 

Allocate an adequate, recurring budget to support your organisation’s long-term well-being strategy. People are the cornerstone of any workplace, and mentally fit employees are better equipped to adapt, remain agile and be productive amid inevitable business changes. Investing in your people should be no less a priority than investing in your latest product or service. 

Seek out your employees’ real experience. Metrics can be misleading, and many leaders place too much confidence in low utilisation rates of counselling hotlines or the absence of formal complaints as indicators of a healthy workplace. In reality, what gets reported and what is actually experienced can differ significantly. To close that gap, leaders need to create the conditions for honest conversations with employees and invest the time to listen without judgement.

Treat well-being as a non-negotiable. Every employee should have access to foundational well-being development, which should carry at least the same weight as mandatory compliance, regulatory and data privacy training. These all serve the same ultimate purpose: the long-term sustainability of the organisation.

By adopting a more holistic mindset, your well-being initiatives can move beyond surface-level gestures with fleeting impact – creating something that genuinely supports your people, strengthens your culture and delivers lasting and meaningful change.