Real well-being Is built into work
Balance
Herlé Otto
It is tempting to treat well-being as a calendar item: a month of activities, a visiting speaker, a set of posters, or a mindfulness app. But well-being that works is not an event. It is a way of designing work so people do not need to recover from it. The real levers lie in the everyday.
Workloads that fit the hours available. Managers who ask how you are — and mean it. Flexibility that treats adults like adults. Clear priorities that let people switch off without guilt. Most employees already know what would help them feel well, but systems do not always allow it. While not every pressure can be removed, the pressures that can be fixed must be fixed. Recognising that balance is neither perfect nor permanent allows leaders to focus on what is within their control, rather than pretending everything can be solved at once.
Start by removing friction. If approvals take weeks, reduce layers. If meetings steal the day, set a default of shorter, fewer, clearer sessions. If emails flood evenings, agree on response norms. These are not soft changes — they free energy for better work and reduce costly turnover. Well-being is also about safety: the kind that lets people speak up without fear. When someone says they are overwhelmed, the right response is not resilience training; it is addressing the cause. Trust is built by acting on feedback and showing what has changed because of it.
Managers are multipliers. Equip them to notice early signs of strain, to have human conversations, and to balance empathy with standards. Role modelling matters: if leaders never rest, never unplug, and only praise late nights, people mirror that behaviour and burn out quietly. Recognition matters too. Thanking people for collaboration, learning, and supporting teammates signals what truly matters. It shows that employees are seen for more than just output. Small rituals help: a weekly check-in asking what people need, a Friday wrap celebrating wins and lessons, a pause after big pushes so recovery is built in.
Real well-being is not about perks. It is about dignity at work: clarity, fairness, and flexibility wrapped in respect. It accepts that life and work will sometimes pull unevenly, but ensures people are not left to carry the weight alone.
When this is done right, performance rises because people have the space to be both human and excellent at the same time.
It is tempting to treat well-being as a calendar item: a month of activities, a visiting speaker, a set of posters, or a mindfulness app. But well-being that works is not an event. It is a way of designing work so people do not need to recover from it. The real levers lie in the everyday.
Workloads that fit the hours available. Managers who ask how you are — and mean it. Flexibility that treats adults like adults. Clear priorities that let people switch off without guilt. Most employees already know what would help them feel well, but systems do not always allow it. While not every pressure can be removed, the pressures that can be fixed must be fixed. Recognising that balance is neither perfect nor permanent allows leaders to focus on what is within their control, rather than pretending everything can be solved at once.
Start by removing friction. If approvals take weeks, reduce layers. If meetings steal the day, set a default of shorter, fewer, clearer sessions. If emails flood evenings, agree on response norms. These are not soft changes — they free energy for better work and reduce costly turnover. Well-being is also about safety: the kind that lets people speak up without fear. When someone says they are overwhelmed, the right response is not resilience training; it is addressing the cause. Trust is built by acting on feedback and showing what has changed because of it.
Managers are multipliers. Equip them to notice early signs of strain, to have human conversations, and to balance empathy with standards. Role modelling matters: if leaders never rest, never unplug, and only praise late nights, people mirror that behaviour and burn out quietly. Recognition matters too. Thanking people for collaboration, learning, and supporting teammates signals what truly matters. It shows that employees are seen for more than just output. Small rituals help: a weekly check-in asking what people need, a Friday wrap celebrating wins and lessons, a pause after big pushes so recovery is built in.
Real well-being is not about perks. It is about dignity at work: clarity, fairness, and flexibility wrapped in respect. It accepts that life and work will sometimes pull unevenly, but ensures people are not left to carry the weight alone.
When this is done right, performance rises because people have the space to be both human and excellent at the same time.
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