Gail Voisin, executive leadership and lifestyle/wellness coach,
quite literally wrote the book on this subject (All Together Now:
Vision, Leadership and Wellness) – four years before the Ivey
Business School published their research results. Voisin’s model
is unique and makes the case that by aligning vision, leader-ship
and wellness, both personally and organizationally, leaders
naturally position themselves and their businesses to achieve
extraordinary success.
HR Professional recently caught up with Voisin to learn
more about how organizations can make effective, sustainable
wellness happen.
How do you define personal wellness?
Gail Voisin: I would define it as having a healthy mind and body
that can consistently sustain the energy reserves you need – not
just to navigate the day to day, but also to meet exceptional cir-cumstances
beyond your control, both in business and family life.
Why should organizations make
employees’ wellness a priority?
GV: Wellness sustains performance and sets employees up for
extraordinary success. It’s like nudging the rudder of a large ship;
just a small change can make a dramatic improvement in life’s
long-term course.
cover feature
BIG-PICTURE FACTORS
INFLUENCING
ORGANIZATIONAL
WELLNESS
The Ivey Business School at Western University
published a report in 2015 on organizational wellness,
called “Behaviours Drive Workplace Wellness
Program Results.” The authors proposed that senior
management involvement and leadership were keys to
ensuring the success and sustainability of workplace
wellness. The paper highlighted several key areas of
influence, including:
Business strategy alignment. Management should
have goals and plans that align with the organization’s
strategy. They should also campaign for the development
of employee health and set annual objectives for
employee wellness improvement.
Supportive environment. Supervisor support must
be visibly evident to employees. That can take the
form of incentives for healthy choices, integration
of health benefits or the development of committees
offering support for employees participating in
wellness programs.
Organizational culture. Senior management’s values
about workplace wellness can help to establish a culture
in which employees are encouraged to participate in the
firm’s health initiatives.
Communicate clearly and frequently. CEOs who
regularly and effectively communicate the message
of workplace wellness programs tend to have more
successful outcomes.
Management seen to participate. In order to have
legitimacy in promoting wellness to employees, senior
managers need to embrace health as a personal priority.
Delegate responsibilities. The more people who
take on formal responsibilities for the organization’s
wellness initiative, the more likely it is to succeed over
time and the more likely it is to become part of the
organization’s culture.
To read the full report, visit: bit.ly/bdwwpr-report.
“WELLNESS SUSTAINS
PERFORMANCE AND
SETS EMPLOYEES UP FOR
EXTRAORDINARY SUCCESS.”
– GAIL VOISIN
Courtesy of Gail Voisin
30 ❚ FEBRUARY 2019 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
/bdwwpr-report