Well-being is a popular workplace topic today, but many employers focus only on avoiding the costs and dangers of poor well-being. Organizations often just offer programs and resources to help their people avoid crises: burnout, obesity, heart problems, chronic anxiety, depression, and substance abuse.
Of course, these are serious problems that we all want to avoid. Yet, the mere absence of a crisis does not mean you are performing to your full capability.
According to a survey by the global consulting firm McKinsey, fewer than one-third of those in advisory roles (e.g., accountants, bankers, consultants, lawyers, etc.) reported burnout symptoms. Even so, that does not mean all the others are thriving. Less than half of the survey respondents indicated they were “faring well.”
While most advisors are not burnt out, heavy workloads and other factors leave many merely surviving and struggling to stay afloat. Few reap the performance benefits of optimal well-being.
The stronger you are—physically, mentally, and psychologically—the better you perform at work. A growing body of scientific research supports the undeniable link between greater well-being and higher performance.
As stated in McKinsey’s Thriving Workplaces report, “There is a clear investment case for improving employee health and well-being… The evolution in lifespan, age-related diseases, what we work on, and how we work will require people to be in better physical and mental health for longer and be more resilient and adaptable to change.”
Gallup estimates that unhealthy employees in the U.S. miss 450 million more days of work each year than their healthier counterparts. This absenteeism costs U.S. employers more than $150 billion in lost productivity annually.
Even more astounding is the cost of presenteeism, which is when employees show up at work but fail to perform at their full potential. Personify Health (a personalized health platform company formed by the merger of Virgin Pulse and HealthComp) estimates that the costs of presenteeism are more than ten times those of absenteeism.
“We need to stop talking about how many sick days people are taking and focus our energy on what they’re doing when they’re actually at work,” says Dr. David Batman, former Chief Medical Officer at Global Corporate Challenge (GCC), a corporate well-being program acquired by Virgin Pulse before it became Personify Health.
If you hold a leadership role, the latest research on well-being should capture your full attention as you consider your team’s and organization’s performance. Regardless of your position, the message is clear: Optimal well-being must be the goal. Merely avoiding burnout and other crises is not enough.
References
- Barbara Jeffery, Brooke Weddle, Jacqueline Brassey, and Shail Thaker, “Thriving Workplaces: How Employers Can Improve Productivity and Change Lives,” McKinsey Health Institute, January 16, 2025, https://www.mckinsey.com/mhi/our-insights/thriving-workplaces-how-employers -can-improve-productivity-and-change-lives.
- Dan Witters and Sangeeta Agrawal, “Unhealthy U.S. Workers’ Absenteeism Costs $153 Billion,” Gallup, October 17, 2011, http://www.gallup.com/poll/150026/unhealthy-workers-absenteeism-costs-153-billion.aspx.
- Sandy Smith, “Presenteeism Costs Business 10 Times More than Absenteeism,” EHS Today, March 16, 2016, https://www.ehstoday.com/safety-leadership/article/21918281/presenteeism-costs-business-10-times-more-than-absenteeism.
About the Author
Pete Leibman helps ambitious professionals build the energy, focus, and resilience to sustain high performance. He delivers keynotes, workshops, and webinars for leading consulting firms, law firms, financial services firms, and professional associations. Pete is the author of three books and more than 300 articles on sustainable high performance. His latest book is Stronger Advisor: High-Performance Habits for Consultants, Lawyers, and Advisors.
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