Executive Summary: Well-being is a critical factor for employee engagement, productivity, and retention. However, many organizations struggle to cultivate a culture that truly prioritizes and supports holistic wellness. Why? Two key ingredients for success are transparency and open communication around matters of health and well-being, particularly from leadership. When executives lead by example and create safe spaces for vulnerability, it empowers employees at all levels to prioritize self-care without fear or stigma. This article explores the importance of transparency, the barriers preventing openness, and strategies for leaders to foster an environment where well-being is openly discussed and actively nurtured.

Transparency and Openness: Keys to Fostering a Culture of Well-Being

The Importance of Transparency

In Deloitte’s research, a striking gap emerged between how executives perceive workplace well-being and how employees actually experience it. While leaders overwhelmingly believe they understand struggles their people face and that their organization supports well-being, employees tell a different story.

This disconnect is exacerbated by a profound lack of transparency around matters of health. Only 22% of employees report that their executives share information about their own well-being journeys and challenges. Yet 73% of the C-suite claims to be open about this.

When leaders aren’t transparent, it erodes trust, reinforces stigmas around prioritizing self-care, and prevents employees from feeling safe to be honest about their own needs. This breeds an environment of pressure to uphold an unrealistic “always on” expectation at the expense of personal health.

In contrast, organizations that nurture openness and vulnerability around well-being reap substantial benefits:

• Improved holistic well-being and quality of life for the workforce
• Higher engagement, satisfaction, and sense of belonging
• Increased trust and modeling of work-life integration
• Greater creativity, innovation, and sustainable performance
• Stronger talent attraction and retention

True role modeling and transparency from the top communicates that an organization authentically cares about the whole person, not just their labor output.

Barriers to Transparency

Despite the advantages, many leaders still struggle with openness around personal well-being. Common barriers include:

• Concerns about appearing weak, vulnerable, or incompetent
• Discomfort discussing private physical/mental health matters
• Lack of understanding around how to discuss well-being appropriately
• Fear of discrimination, bias, or career repercussions
• Not seeing transparency modeled by peers or superiors
• Perceptions of well-being as a personal rather than professional issue

For employees, barriers like job insecurity, workplace stigma, and lack of psychological safety often prevent them from feeling they can be open without risking consequences.

Strategies for Promoting Transparency

To overcome these hurdles and create a culture of openness, leaders should:

Lead by example: Be upfront about your own well-being experiences to destigmatize the topic. Share small moments as they arise.

Provide training: Educate managers on how to have empathetic well-being conversations and respond appropriately.

Revise policies: Update HR guidelines, codes of conduct, and job expectations to support open dialogue.

Celebrate vulnerability: Publicly recognize employees who model transparency to shift perceptions.

Establish safe spaces: Create forums dedicated to well-being discussions like ERGs, listening sessions, etc.

Reinforce consistently: Make openness an ongoing part of company culture, not just a one-time initiative.

Partner with well-being experts: Engage counselors, coaches, and professionals to guide transparency efforts.

While personal health details should never be forced, normalizing open dialogue from the top helps create an environment where employees feel empowered to prioritize self-care.

Summary

Fostering a culture of transparency and openness around well-being is critical for enabling employees to bring their full, healthy selves to work. When leaders have the courage to be vulnerable about their own wellness journeys, it gives others permission to do the same without fear or stigma. This foundation of openness unlocks substantial benefits including improved quality of life, engagement, trust, innovation, and talent retention. While overcoming barriers to transparency takes continuous reinforcement and commitment, the competitive advantages of a truly open, supportive well-being culture make the effort invaluable in today’s workplace. By creating safe spaces for dialogue, leaders can empower their people to prioritize self-care while also modeling the authentic work-life integration that drives sustainable success.

Sam Palazzolo, Principal Officer @ The Javelin Institute

Reference: Fisher, J., & Silverglate, P. H. (2022, June 22). The C-suite’s role in well-being. Deloitte Insights. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/leadership/employee-wellness-in-the-corporate-workplace.html