We have known for quite some time about our planet’s sustainability crisis, but since the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing the human sustainability crisis in the workplace has also taken on a new urgency.
The hallmark of this crisis is a pervasive lack of employee well-being, which has led to widespread stress, with over half of workers looking for new employment. Studies indicate that 40% of workers still feel exhausted, 22% experience negative emotions, and 22% report experiencing burnout.
In fact, a 2022 Gallup World Poll found that stress among workers throughout the globe is at an all-time high since Gallup began surveying adults in 2005.
Wellness programs have cropped up to address this crisis, becoming a 51 billion-dollar industry. Yet a recent report by the University of Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre showed that these wellness programs are often ineffective because they merely address the symptoms of poor workplace well-being.
Adopting a coaching culture, on the other hand, can help organizations address the root causes of poor employee well-being, reinvigorate workplace wellness programs, and support human sustainability.
The Challenges of Workplace Well-Being Programs
Traditional work models — like the ones depicted in movies such as Office Space and 9 to 5 — are a relic of the past. Today, thanks in part to the advent of remote work since the pandemic, newly empowered workers must manage multiple career changes and rapid technological advancements while organizations navigate a shrinking global talent pool.
Recognizing that the workplace needs a new orientation, forward-thinking organizations have attempted to prioritize the well-being of their workforce. However, traditional wellness programs are still beset by a number of problems. First and foremost, their well-being strategies are often more reactive and ad-hoc rather than an organic part of the organizational culture.
A reactive approach to workplace wellness entails responding to adverse events after they’ve happened. These approaches often focus on worker productivity rather than the holistic needs of employees as people. In fact, by the time it takes to implement a particular wellness strategy, employees may already become burnt out.
Another problem is that there may even be an entrenched culture of anti-wellbeing in the workplace. So, while such companies may even have holistic wellness programs, they lack the structural support to ensure they succeed.
How a Coaching Culture Can Help Overcome Challenges in Workplace Well-Being
The unprecedented level of stress and resultant burnout in the modern workplace, combined with the well-intentioned but poorly executed wellness programs frequently employed as band-aids, calls for creating new visions of employee well-being.
One promising framework is the notion of “Harmonic Leadership,” a coaching-informed approach that can foster human-centered leadership in the workplace. Harmonic Leadership prioritizes inclusive, mindful caring through coaching tools, behavioral research, and leadership philosophy.
In other words, adopting this approach means viewing employees as individuals with diverse needs and goals and identifying leaders who can balance work-focused and people-focused energies to facilitate a caring, diverse, and sustainable workforce. Here, coaching can be pivotal in helping leaders adopt and effectively implement these roles, contributing to a workplace culture that prioritizes well-being.
Another framework known as the “Ethics of Care” emphasizes the importance of giving and receiving care as members of a broader community in an interconnected world.
It entails moving from general solutions to a person-centered approach that honors the complexities of each individual life. By acknowledging the autonomy and dignity of each individual, coaches can empower clients to make decisions aligned with their specific values and goals.
An organization using the Ethics of Care framework recognizes worker well-being as an asset contributing to overall organizational success by valuing mutual growth, ethical decision-making, and reciprocal, empathetic relationships.
Frameworks like these can help organizations create rigorous, comprehensive wellness programs that are more successful in attracting and retaining talent, nurturing deeper social connections among employees, and fostering more empathy for each other’s needs and experiences.
The resulting reduction in stress and increased psychological safety helps create an organizational culture where employees feel valued, secure, and fundamentally healthy—and a healthier workforce typically means lower healthcare expenses and reduced absenteeism.
A Call to Action for Coaches
While there may not be much that individuals alone can do to address the planet’s sustainability crisis, coaches can significantly impact the human sustainability crisis.
By helping organizations uncover the root causes of burnout that lead to poor employee well-being, coaches can be key drivers in facilitating a workplace transformation that supports human sustainability reimagining work to support employee thriving.
Learn more about workplace well-being from the ICF Thought Leadership Institute.
