As wellbeing strategies mature, many organisations are beginning to recognise that the original model of wellbeing champions, built around enthusiasm, visibility and voluntary support, is no longer enough to meet today’s cultural and operational demands.
This article explores what the next iteration of the champion role looks like, why traditional networks plateau, and how a more strategic, insight-driven “Champions 2.0” approach can strengthen a whole-systems wellbeing strategy. It sets out the shifts leaders need to make, the capabilities champions now require, and the ways champion networks can connect more closely with structures such as ERGs to drive meaningful, measurable impact.
The evolution in a whole systems approach to wellbeing
Over the last decade, wellbeing champions have become a familiar feature inside organisations. They’ve raised awareness, signposted support, hosted events and acted as a positive voice for wellbeing at a time when many businesses were still early in their journey. But in many organisations, wellbeing has matured faster than the champion programmes created to support it.
What once felt fresh and energising can now feel disconnected from the real challenges employees and leaders are facing. Many networks have stalled, lost momentum or are struggling to demonstrate meaningful impact. At the same time, leaders are increasingly expected to show not just that wellbeing activity is happening, but that it contributes to measurable improvements in culture, risk reduction, engagement and organisational effectiveness.
This creates a pivotal moment, and a powerful opportunity, to evolve the role of wellbeing champions from “version 1.0” to a more connected, strategic and insight-driven model aligned to a whole-systems approach.
“Wellbeing can’t sit on the shoulders of volunteers alone, it must be reinforced through every part of the system.”
Davina Jenkins
Why many Champion networks stagnate
To understand why a refreshed approach is needed, it’s important to recognise the systemic reasons why many champion networks struggle to maintain momentum.
When champion networks first launched, the focus was on enthusiasm, visibility and awareness. This was essential in the early days, especially during the frantic early days of the pandemic when many champions were implemented. But as wellbeing becomes more embedded into organisational policy, leadership capability frameworks and strategic priorities, the original model is beginning to show its limits.
Across sectors, several familiar challenges come up again and again:
1. Champions become disconnected from the system
Many networks operate in isolation from HR, DEI, L&D, Health and Safety or people strategy. Champions are passionate, but not necessarily aligned or connected. As research on organisational networks shows (MIT Human Dynamics Lab, 2020), culture change accelerates when informal networks plug into formal systems, not when they sit outside them.
2. The role becomes unclear over time
Champions often drift toward what they personally enjoy rather than what the organisation needs. Some organise events, others overstep into counselling roles and others disengage entirely. Studies on volunteer-based wellbeing roles (IOSH, 2022) show that unclear boundaries are one of the main predictors of burnout and withdrawal.
3. Momentum fades after 12–18 months
Without structured support, shared learning, and visible leadership sponsorship, networks lose energy. Champion programmes that lack regular touch points (quarterly forums, manager links, feedback loops) are significantly less likely to sustain impact.
4. The organisation evolves, but the model doesn’t
Hybrid work, rising complexity, capacity strain and cultural fragmentation mean that organisations need more, not less, from their internal wellbeing structure. A champion model designed five years ago will not meet the realities of today’s workforce. (Just think how much your business operations and focus has shifted over the last five years!)
In short: the situation we find ourselves in isn’t because the idea is wrong, but because the system around the role has matured, and its time now for the role needs to mature with it.
The Opportunity: Champions connecting to a whole-systems wellbeing approach
If organisations want to embed wellbeing into the everyday culture of how people work, not as an initiative, champions can play a powerful role.
In the next iteration, Champions 2.0 are not only awareness raisers. They become:
→ Culture messengers
Highlighting local issues, themes and lived-experience insights that help leaders understand what’s really happening across the organisation and on an employee level.
→ Connectors
Acting as a bridge between employees, managers, people teams and leaders. Wellbeing champions are an untapped resource here. Research on Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) is especially relevant. Studies from Gartner and McKinsey (2021–2023) show that organisations with strong ERGs see:
- Higher inclusion and psychological safety
- Faster identification of cultural risks
- Better representation of employee voice
Wellbeing champions can integrate with ERGs, sharing insight, supporting intersectional wellbeing issues and ensuring wellbeing isn’t siloed. This integration is a key indicator of mature, whole-systems organisations.
→ Early warning radar
Spotting early signs that people or teams are struggling, whether that’s due to workload, culture or team dynamics, long before it appears in engagement data.
→ Change agents
Making wellbeing part of how people behave, communicate and work together day to day — not just something we talk about. Piloting practical solutions, testing ideas quickly, and feeding back what works (and doesn’t) so that wellbeing practices adapt to real-world needs.
This shift reflects what many leaders now need: the ability to sense, respond to and influence culture in real time. When refreshed and aligned properly, champions become the connection that supports the whole system approach.
Four pillars for Wellbeing Champions 2.0
1. Alignment: Clear purpose, priorities and boundaries
Champions need clarity on what they are and are not here to do. Alignment with organisational priorities prevents drift and protects boundaries.
2. Capabilities: Skills for influence, listening and action
Champions require more than passion — they need practitioner-level skills in signposting, influence, pattern-spotting, boundary-setting and psychologically safe communication.
This aligns with CIPD and BITC findings (2023) that capability building is the number one predictor of successful wellbeing networks.
3. Community: A network, not individuals
Momentum, support and cross-functional connection keep networks alive. Research on high-impact ERGs shows that regular rhythms and leadership touchpoints significantly increase sustainability.
4. Data & Insight: Champions as an intelligence layer
Champion networks can act as an early, qualitative insight system — complementing engagement surveys and dashboards. When champion insight feeds into quarterly reporting, strategy becomes grounded in real employee experience.
What business leaders should do next
- Review your current network
Is it operating as version 1.0, or is it evolving with the organisation? - Refresh the model, not just the training
Purpose, boundaries, support and system connections matter just as much as skills. - Connect champions into ERGs and organisational rhythms & culture
This multiplies impact and reduces duplication.
4. Treat champions as a strategic asset
They provide unique insight into culture, risk and the lived employee experience.
5. Celebrate and recognise them
Recognition boosts sustainability and signals that wellbeing is valued culturally, not just operationally.
For example, connecting champions into ERG meetings or quarterly people insights sessions provides leaders with early cultural signals they would otherwise miss.
Wellbeing Champions 2.0 is here
Wellbeing champions are not going away, they are evolving.
A whole-systems approach requires alignment, capability, insight and connection across the organisation. Champions 2.0 are uniquely positioned to deliver humanity, cultural intelligence and ground-level feedback in ways that formal systems alone cannot.
The question is no longer whether you should have a champion network — but whether yours is ready for its next evolution.
The organisations leading the way have already made the shift.
Is yours?
About the author:
Davina Jenkins is the Wellbeing Programme Lead at SuperWellness, helping organisations move beyond standalone wellbeing initiatives toward a whole-systems approach that strengthens culture, leadership and performance.
With over 25 years’ experience in leadership development and a foundation in CIPD HR practice, Davina brings deep insight into how culture, behaviour and systems interact. She designs and delivers strategic programmes that empower leaders and employees to build environments of psychological safety, clarity and sustainable performance.
Her work includes Leading Through Uncertainty, Psychological Safety for Managers, Menopause Awareness, and the development of Wellbeing Champions and Leads.
Davina leads SuperWellness’ Wellbeing Champion Training supporting organisations to evolve their networks, embed culture change and build the internal capability needed for long-term impact. Wellbeing Champions & MHFA | SuperWellness
Want to explore what a whole-system wellbeing approach looks like in practice?
Join us at the upcoming Catalyst event, where we’ll take you inside the SuperWellness whole-system model — including real examples of Champions 2.0 in action, practical tools to get started, and insights leaders can use immediately to strengthen culture and performance.
Click here to reserve your place at the Catalyst event.
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