You should invest in wellbeing because it matters – for both leaders and employees.

We get it. KPIs are often used to measure whether a company is successful. And performance indicators are useful in some areas of business. But when it comes to people, focusing solely on performance can be harmful. So unless you’re planning to rename them “Key People Indicators,” throw the KPI mindset out the window and start treating wellbeing as what it really is: a moral responsibility.

You probably already know why this matters. Stress and burnout are on the rise, and in the wake of COVID-19, people are re-evaluating their work-life balance. Gen Z won’t even consider working for you unless you’re actively investing in wellbeing and development. In fact, according to the Workforce Institute, 70% of Gen Z would take a pay cut for a job that prioritizes mental health.

If you don’t invest in wellbeing long-term, you simply won’t be able to compete for talent.

Wellbeing should be a strategy – and a shared value

Making wellbeing part of your company vision is a strategic move. It helps you stay competitive, attract talent, and remain relevant.
But more importantly, it’s your moral obligation as a leader.

In 2023 and beyond, we need a holistic view of work-life balance – because the truth is, very few people can fully separate the two. We know for a fact that stress from work spills into people’s personal lives. It affects their home life, their wellbeing, and their relationships.
(Workforce Institute, 2023, p. 2)

But here’s the real issue: there’s a clear disconnect between what companies think they’re doing – and what employees actually experience.

According to the Workforce Institute, 70% of employees want their companies to do more to support their mental health. (Workforce Institute, 2023, p. 7)

Avoid wellbeing washing: All talk, no walk

The most important thing for leaders is to avoid falling into the trap of wellbeing washing – when your wellbeing efforts sound good on paper but have no real impact in practice.

To truly improve wellbeing, you can’t treat it like just another KPI.

Why wellbeing should never be treated as a KPI

When we look at wellbeing through a KPI lens, our teams – our people – become a number in a PowerPoint presentation. A formula in a spreadsheet, sandwiched between financial metrics, used to quantify real, intangible, human experience.

When wellbeing initiatives are treated like sales goals – something to be calculated – we end up measuring the cost of the lunch program or the mindfulness seminar, and how much return we’ve gained from that spend.

Looking at wellbeing and mental health through purely financial terms – especially when there’s no immediate ROI – creates a dangerous tendency to deprioritize or dismiss it altogether.

But wellbeing is not a short-term investment. It’s a long-term commitment – and it should be treated as such.

Wellbeing should be its own measure of success – and always with a human focus. A successful wellbeing initiative results in happy teams, healthy people, and motivated individuals.

And the best way to understand whether your initiatives are working? Ask. Actively collect feedback. Keep an open, ongoing dialogue with your people.

If you want to implement initiatives that truly work, you need to understand how, where, and why something is working – or not. Only then can you adjust and build on what actually fits your team’s specific needs. Not based on a formula. Not based on profit margins.

So start there. Step back from the urge to quantify everything – because no one wants to feel like a statistic.
We all want to be seen as human.

And we know this: when we feel better, we do better.
At home – and at work.