In a world where burnout and chronic stress are driving record levels of long-term sickness absence, most workplace wellbeing strategies still focus on treatment rather than prevention. But what if the true antidote lies not in another mental health point solution, but in engagement itself?
That was the provocative question that sparked lively discussion at the start of our recent Make A Difference webinar in partnership with YuLife.
Recognising that “engagement” means different things to different people – and that employers are at very different stages of their wellbeing journeys – we began by gauging attendees’ starting points. The results were revealing:
Key webinar takeaways
The ensuing discussion was far-ranging. Writing on LinkedIn, one attendee, Angela Cobble summed up:
“I recently attended a fantastic session hosted by Make A Difference Media exploring the connection between lifestyle behaviours, health, and wellbeing, and how true engagement goes far beyond simple incentivisation”.
Some of Angela’s key takeaways:
- YuLife’s gamification and thoughtful design can help drive daily engagement, but rewards alone aren’t enough.
- Social cohesion matters. Wellbeing thrives when people feel connected and supported.
- Recognition should include those who consistently practice wellbeing, not just those achieving visible milestones.
- Entain and how they are using data to drive wellbeing strategies, shaped by forums, surveys, and real feedback, help ensure relevance and inclusivity.
- Brain training for inclusivity and mental wellbeing, especially for those with disabilities or limited access, is a powerful way to reduce inequality.
- Baringa shared how wellbeing is built into how they work, with tools and resources tailored to life milestones like maternity leave, sustainability, and long-term balance.
The discussion around using new technologies to focus on prevention, rather than waiting to respond to crises, was particularly insightful. It highlights just how much mental health and wellbeing strategies have evolved, and the direction they’re heading in. Wellbeing shouldn’t be a “nice to have”, it should be embedded into everyday culture.
Your burning questions answered
Questions from the audience came in thick and fast. Here the panel members have added responses to those we weren’t able to fully explore during the webinar.
Q1: Senior leadership and management role modelling and advocating for these preventative approaches are key to embedding health behaviours. Any tips or thoughts on how to achieve this?
Panel member Jessica Fitz-John, Group Senior Wellbeing Manager with Entain suggests: “It’s always going to be a journey, start small. Even one leader on board is a great start. Focus on doing wellbeing work that’s relevant to your organisation, demonstrate its impact, and use that success to bring more leaders along. Keep building from there.
There are plenty of reports that evidence the value of wellbeing (for example, the well-known Deloitte one), but what makes it truly powerful is when you can link it to your own internal data and outcomes.
One practical initiative could be securing leadership buy-in to roll out wellbeing training for managers, helping them to role model the behaviours and culture you want to embed. This has worked really well at Entain!
Meanwhile Sam Hunkin from Baringa explains: “We recently got the Managing Partner and COO to do shout outs in our company meeting encouraging people to take part in a specific company challenge, and give an example of how they build healthy habits into their work. Our Managing Partner is training for a marathon (I appreciate this won’t always be the case) and he gave examples of how he carves out time in his schedule to ensure he gets his runs in”.
Q2: How do you engage your wellbeing champions / network across the business – especially as they are mainly volunteers?
In response to this question, Jessica outlines that having leadership support for the wellbeing network helps volunteers feel empowered to use part of their role time on wellbeing, making top-down backing really important.
Recruiting the right people into the network is also key. A lesson she’s learned is that numbers are not always enough, you need individuals with the right mix of passion, influence, and practical skills to make a real impact. Once you have the right people, keeping them engaged means connecting their work to local needs and data.
At Entain, for example, they have global wellbeing initiatives, but the wellbeing leads and champions are encouraged to take ownership locally, creating activities that reflect their specific locations and personal passions alongside global initiatives.
She believes that recognition is another important factor, it’s vital to shine a light on the amazing work they do, especially as many are balancing this role alongside their day jobs.
Finally, offering training and development opportunities helps build their confidence and ensures they feel equipped.
Sam adds that at Baringa they have made monthly meetings virtual so that they are more easily accessible, and a teams channel that is kept updated with any significant updates. She also admits that some Champions are a lot more proactive than others, and this is a challenge that they are still reviewing.
For more on this topic, you might also be interested in this article which summarises responses to the same question that we posted on LinkedIn.
Q3: I wonder about the focus being further on the individual approach and use of IT. I worry about the downside of this and the further impact on personal relationships and team working. What are your thoughts on how this can be addressed?
In response to this question, Jessica explains that: “at Entain, we use a wellbeing platform to give people personalised insights and support, but it doesn’t replace the human side of things. The technology is there to complement that connection. For example, managers are trained to provide wellbeing check-ins, HR and ER support colleagues, and from a wellbeing initiative or campaign perspective, we use the technology to bring teams together through team training and fun competitions.
Meanwhile Sam speaking from her experience as a YuLife client, Sam suggests that: “Depending on the size of the organisation, you could run company events [via the YuLife tool]. Or if large split this into smaller team or unit challenges – with the unit leaders encouraging it”.
She adds that at Baringa they have found that using business unit town halls to promote activities and calling out the leaders of the leaderboard, is an effective way to drive both social competition and belonging.
You can find out more, view the recording of the webinar and download the PDF of slides shared here.
You might also like:
