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The well-being of employees has become an essential focus for organizations in the modern workplace, with demands and pressures ever-present. Creating a harmonious and productive workplace has become a fundamental focus for organizations today, and HR has a key role to play in enabling it. Leaders and HR professionals are important in supporting employee well-being, acknowledging its importance, and taking proactive measures to foster a supportive environment.
Key Takeaways
- Presenteeism, not just absenteeism, is the hidden HR cost. Deepshika draws the distinction: physically present but not fully productive is what a chronically stressed workforce looks like. Wellbeing investment shows up in lower turnover, lower healthcare costs, and the recovery of those "ghost" hours.
- 95% of employers plan to expand mental health programs. Her data-led case to HR leaders: 84% of employees say wellness programs improved their overall wellbeing, and employees are 20% more likely to stay where a well-established program exists. Wellness is now a retention lever, not a cosmetic perk.
- The PwC desk-death was a wake-up call, not a headline. She references the case of an employee who died at their workstation on a festive night. Her conclusion: the likelihood of burnout is the single biggest thing HR must now design against — clear workload expectations, unlimited or flexible PTO, encouraging (not grudgingly approving) time off.
- Set technology boundaries at the policy level. Volkswagen and Daimler limit email communication during non-working hours. Leadership-backed "you don't have to respond" policies are what lets employees disconnect and come back with vitality — individual willpower isn't enough.
- Train managers directly — Deloitte trained 15,000 and 95% felt more confident supporting wellbeing. Most managers don't know what employees are going through because there's no structured opportunity to find out. Stigma reduction starts at the people-manager layer, not in a policy document.
- Peer support networks beat top-down programs for stigma. She cites Facebook's Bloom (ERG focused on mental health), Airbnb's travel credit, GitHub's unlimited maternity and paternity leave, and Buffer's transparent salary formula. The thread: policies that bake wellbeing into daily operations rather than treating it as a separate lane.
- Leaders model wellbeing — or absence of it — and teams copy. Organisations with supportive leaders are 2.5× more likely to have comprehensive wellbeing programs. When leaders prioritise their own wellbeing and allocate resources transparently, teams follow.
- Remote work needs deliberate belonging architecture. Virtual buddy programs, "zero bench" initiatives between projects, regular one-on-ones, virtual counselling, and AI-enabled wearables that can flag distress in real time. The face-to-face loss may not come back — so inclusivity has to be engineered.
- The 8+8+8 rule as a personal blueprint. Eight hours of honest work, eight hours of good sleep, eight hours for friends, family, faith, health, hobbies, and soul service. Simple enough to audit against.
In Deepshika's Words
On why wellbeing is a retention lever
When you're in good health, it reduces absenteeism, reduces presenteeism — being physically present but not fully productive — and reduces turnover. People are 20% more likely to work and stay in an organisation with a well-established employee wellness program. 84% of employees report that wellness programs improve their overall wellbeing.
One out of four people are having stress-related issues — let's face it. Reducing the stigma, the dogma around it, and seeking help when you need it has to be promoted in organisations in a big way.
On the manager gap
Most of the time, managers don't even know what employees are going through. The immense amount of stress at work percolates into people's personal lives and it raises stigma — people don't talk about it. Deloitte trained around 15,000 managers in their group to raise mental health awareness and resilience, and 95% of those managers reported being more confident supporting employee wellbeing.
On burnout and boundary policies
A few months back there was an employee who died on their work table on a festive night. It sent ripples that people are dying at their desks because of the stress they're going through. Reducing the likelihood of burnout is the big thing.
Leading companies like Volkswagen and Daimler establish technology boundaries — limiting email communication during non-working hours — so people can connect, disconnect, recharge, and bounce back with vitality.
Gone are the days when employers were stingy about leaves. Employers now push employees to take more leaves. That is how it should be.
On leaders modelling the behaviour
When leaders prioritise their own wellbeing, it positively influences employees. The leader's wellbeing behaviours have a direct impact — I lead from the front, my team learns from me and emulates my behaviour. Organisations with supportive leaders are 2.5 times more likely to have comprehensive wellbeing programs in place.
On remote-team wellbeing
The personal touch going away is a loss that might not come back, especially after Corona. Inclusivity is missing in virtual teams. Virtual buddy programs, mentorships, zero-bench initiatives where employees get downtime between projects for skill-building and self-care — these are how you engineer belonging back in.
AI can help a lot in this domain — wearables that monitor stress levels, heartbeat, pulse rate and alert caregivers in case of emergency; chatbots that offer empathetic conversations and guide users to mental health services. Provided organisations prioritise it and encourage employees to come out of the inhibition that if I have a mental problem I cannot talk about it.
On the individual side
Set realistic expectations. Under-commit and over-deliver so you delight yourself if not your manager. Learn to say no — overcommitting leads to burnout. There's the eight plus eight plus eight rule: eight hours toward work, eight for sleep, eight for friends, family, faith, health, hygiene, hobbies, soul-service — spread smile, talk more, do not alienate yourself.
About The Speaker
Deepshika Bhowmick is an HR Consultant. A seasoned people person with a strong experience of 10+ years in the areas of Performance Management, Talent Management, Digitalising HR, Talent Transformation and taking various OD interventions, also instrumental in creating Performance and Learning strategy to organizations and translate them to action to enable decision-making across organizations.
Connect with her on LinkedIN.
Show Notes
(01:26) What is the importance of employee health and well-being, and how can employers measure it?
(02:29) How can HR departments effectively promote and prioritize employee well-being within organizations?
(06:47) What key strategies and initiatives can HR professionals implement to support employee mental health and well-being?
(10:08) How can HR departments foster a culture of work-life balance and prevent employee burnout?
(12:52) What role does leadership play in championing employee well-being, and how can HR collaborate with leaders to create a supportive work environment?
(17:08) In the era of remote work and virtual teams, what unique challenges HR faces in ensuring employee well-being, and what innovative solutions can be adopted to address these challenges?
(22:45) Would you like to suggest some valuable tips to our listeners and tell us where they can find you?
