You probably already have a wellbeing strategy. You probably already offer plenty of benefits and support – EAPs, gym discounts, flexible working, maybe even our resilience or wellbeing workshops.
But here’s the question: is your wellbeing strategy fit for purpose?
- Is it being used?
- Is it leading to the results you want—engagement, retention, performance?
- Could you confidently present its impact to your board or executive team?
- Do you know what “good” actually looks like in today’s changing world of work?
With teams restructuring, becoming more complex, or adopting AI, many leaders are now asking: is our wellbeing strategy still aligned with how our people actually work?
That’s why most companies come to us. Almost everyone has something in place already—but often it isn’t being used, or it isn’t delivering the outcomes it should/ that the senior leaders care about. And if you don’t have a strategy yet, the good news is you can start from scratch and nail it the first time.
Step one: Get board-level/ executive clarity and commitment
A wellbeing strategy without senior leadership behind it is pretty much dead on arrival.
That starts with clarity:
- What are we measuring for/ what are the KPIs? Health and happiness? eNPS? Belonging? Profitability?
- Do we have a baseline? If you want to prove impact, you need data to benchmark against.
- Is it embedded? If it only lives in HR or D&I, it won’t deliver. It has to sit in the organisation’s DNA.
And here’s why: Companies with the highest wellbeing scores outperform the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Without embedding wellbeing, you’re leaving performance on the table.
Step two: Get company-wide buy-in
It’s not enough for the board to sign it off—staff need to believe this is being done for them, not to them.
That means:
- Being transparent about why it matters.
- Involving staff in shaping it.
- Making it a shared responsibility: the company creates the environment, but individuals must use the support available.
- Like elite sport—you can have the best facilities, but you still have to show up and train!
Step three: Data analysis
The data phase is where you build momentum:
- Double down on what already works.
- Identify gaps in what doesn’t.
- Tailor delivery to each role, team, or location.
For example, with a telecoms company in Jersey, wellbeing had to support office staff, frontline engineers, and 999 call handlers. Manager training for over 100 mangers, and a series of tailored wellbeing and resilience training sessions made a measurable difference.
These interventions worked because they were needs-based, promoted as part of the company’s DNA, and reinforced by success stories – including ones from company Directors.
And then—after six or twelve months—you remeasure and report results back to the board.
Step four: Implementation – toolkits vs external support
There are plenty of toolkits and frameworks online, and many organisations have successfully used them to build wellbeing strategies and explore implementation. They can be a great starting point.
We’ve seen this ourselves—for example, we supported a global fiduciary services organisation to implement its internally designed wellbeing strategy. The result? A 25% increase in employees’ sense of organisational support, boosted eNPS and a 22x improvement in self-reported mental and physical wellbeing globally – helping them move from below industry benchmarks to above.
But here’s the challenge: many people tasked with building wellbeing strategies aren’t specialists, and strategy design is just one of many priorities on their already full plates. Even with the best toolkits, I’ve seen strategies stall, take too long, or lose momentum before they’re fully embedded – or they stay on the shelf, go stale, and ultimately lose senior support and wider company buy-in.
If you’re reading this and thinking, “Yes, we’ve seen the toolkits, we’ve thought about this, but we haven’t moved it forward,” take this as your nudge: the impact is too big to keep waiting.
Getting external support can make all the difference. It ensures your strategy goes back on the priority list, gets done quickly, and is implemented in a way that delivers results. Whether that’s with us at Ridgeflow Performance or with another credible provider (check the MAD World Summit suppliers list), the key is to start—and start properly.
Step five: Remeasure and report
Re-measurement is where credibility comes from. Without it, you can’t prove value.
And the data is clear:
- Aon: Improving employee wellbeing can lift company performance by 11% to 55%.
- FT: Poor mental health costs UK businesses £5,300 per employee annually, but investing in wellbeing drives 40–60% productivity gains.
It’s almost silly not to reevaluate and improve your wellbeing strategy when the return is this strong.
Our case studies: Where we’ve seen it work
As external performance and wellbeing consultants, here are a few examples of where we’ve seen strategies deliver real results:
- DP World – Needed to understand the specific wellbeing needs of each of their 60 business units. We created a traffic-light benchmarking tool covering 100+ countries, providing an incentivised, leader-led, and localised approach to wellbeing in a complex multinational. Local teams then acted on the results to move their units up the scale.
- Asics EMEA – Through a needs analysis and action plan development process, we created division-specific strategies across 18 countries, aligned with their “sound mind, sound body” ethos. We also supported the implementation phase to ensure impact.
- Rimi Baltic – Designed and delivered a tailored wellbeing strategy for 15,000 staff across 300 stores, head office, supply chain, and central kitchen. The result: improved wellbeing scores and stronger Net Promoter Scores (NPS).
- Global Pharmaceutical Group – Following global data analysis, we helped localise and tailor wellbeing support across manufacturing divisions in seven countries, including Egypt, USA, UK, and China.
- ACS International Schools – Developed a whole-school wellbeing strategy based on needs analysis data and board KPIs, covering teachers, non-faculty staff, students, and parents.
The bottom line
A wellbeing strategy that works isn’t about more benefits – it’s about:
- Board-level/Exec clarity on purpose and measurement.
- Company-wide buy-in that feels authentic.
- Data-driven analysis to double down on what works and fix what doesn’t.
- The right support model, because most HR teams can’t do this alone.
- Remeasurement to prove results and keep leadership engaged.
When you get this right, wellbeing isn’t a nice-to-have – it’s a driver of engagement, retention, performance, and profitability.
That’s wellbeing that works. See our MAD World Supplier page if you would like further support.
About the Author:
Khalil Rener is the founder of Ridgeflow Performance and a top-tier leadership consultant, performance coach, and wellbeing expert. With a BSc and MSc in Sport and Exercise Science from Loughborough University, his work focuses on applying the principles of elite sport to help people and teams thrive at work. Khalil has supported organisations including DP World, Novartis, the NHS, JT Global, NatWest, Sport England, and many more—from global companies to schools, councils, and frontline teams. His breadth of experience spans industries, team sizes, and career stages, from senior leaders to students and early-career professionals.
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