Reimagining wellness for a healthier workplace

Breaking with Tradition

Welcome to Season 1, episode 8 of Breaking with Tradition, Catalyst’s podcast that explores trends and ideas that will impact the future of the global workplace. This episode is called Reimagining wellness for a healthier workplace.

What does it mean to design your workplace with human well-being at the forefront, especially when burnout is costing businesses between $125 billion and $190 billion annually in healthcare expenses and an estimated $2 trillion in lost productivity?

Join host Erin Souza-Rezendes and guest Jaqueline Oliveira-Cella, creator of 'Health at Work & People' on LinkedIn, as they take a deep dive into how innovative workplace design can create better workplaces and boost productivity. Together they explore how companies can personalize benefits to meet individual employee needs—whether addressing mental health, physical well-being, or financial security—rather than defaulting to a one-size-fits-all model.

Take a seat and listen to learn how to better craft benefits and cultures that prioritize holistic well-being, create trust through transparency, and address the pressing issues of employee engagement. Discover how companies can move beyond reactive solutions and build a resilient, healthy workforce for the future that strengthens their bottom line.

Host and guests

Erin Souza-Rezendes, Vice President, Global Communications, Catalyst

LinkedIn

Jaqueline Oliveira-Cella is a seasoned leader with over 15 years of experience in the health, employee benefits, and insurance sectors. Jaqueline has held influential positions at global firms such as IBM, Aon, WTW, AIG, and the World Bank Consulting Group, where her commitment to client-centric solutions is enhanced by her actuarial background, design thinking advocacy and compassionate leadership management.

Jaqueline founded wellBe Consulting and initiated the ‘Health at Work & People’ newsletter on LinkedIn. These collaborations focus on delivering actionable self-advocacy and practical insights into pressing workplace issues like menopause at work, mental fitness, chronic illness, and more.

LinkedIn

In this episode

• 1:45 | Tell us about yourself! Jaqueline breaks down her background and her personal definition of “well-being.”
• 6:13 | Burnout costs $$$. What are some first steps companies can take to address it at a systemic level?
• 15:29 | Benefits shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all. How can companies personalize benefits to meet employees where they’re at, especially caregivers?
• 23:59 | What does a truly supportive workplace look like? Jaqueline offers her wish list for the workplaces of the future.

Favorite moments

• 3:46 | Jaqueline: When I think about individual well-being, here is what comes to mind: “I feel good. I feel valued. I feel safe. I feel loved.” And that includes my individual professional, physical, emotional, social, mental, financial, and spiritual well-being... When I think about corporate well-being, instead of saying “I,” we say “we”: “We feel good. We feel valued. We feel connected. We feel safe. We feel like we can flourish at work.”
• 8:06 | Jaqueline: You don't start addressing burnout by going to the solutions. You start by understanding the root causes... Start with the groups that are most vulnerable to burnout, including high performers, and understand what the challenges are.
• 16:13 | Jaqueline: In terms of personalizing benefits, I always start with curiosity... Capture the voice of the employee through surveys, conjoint analysis, interviews—understand all the issues and how it’s impacting them. Then, build the voice of the market. What are the best practices? What are market trends, how is the industry evolving? How do I compete for talent? Third, consider the voice of the business: affordability, sustainability, alignment between benefits and values.
• 25:44 | Jaqueline: The number one action that I would love to see more and more is, let’s understand and train people managers. They are in that beautiful space between business pressure and asks of employees. You need to provide them with the training, the space to succeed, and be rewarded as such.
• 25:44 | Jaqueline: Well-being should be part of ways of working. It should be part of how companies structure their business, how companies structure rewards to employees—how companies work.

Mentioned on the Pod

• Business Insider: Employee disengagement could be costing the economy nearly $2 trillion
• Commonwealth Fund: Healthcare affordability in america
• SHRM: Special needs - Win employees loyalty and productivity by helping them care for their disabled or chronically ill children
• Gallup: 42% of employee turnover is preventable but often ignored
• Forbes: Why 5% of patients create 50% of health care costs

Catalyst insights you can use

• Remote-work options can boost productivity and curb burnout
• Addressing burnout in the workplace
• Supporting mental health in the workplace
• HR guide to global workplace menopause support
• Team dynamics on the front line: How managers and organizations impact this overlooked key to retention