I recently attended my second HCANZA conference in Brisbane and one of the session was with Claire McCaffrey who spoke about corporate healthcare, and it really hit home. She’s been around long enough to see workplace wellbeing shift from something fluffy on the side to a central part of organisational strategy. And her message was clear: we’re at a pivot point. Wellbeing is no longer about beanbags, yoga sessions, or the odd free lunch. It’s about how organisations are designed, led, and measured.
Claire shared some tough stats. Burnout and mental health struggles are rising. Engagement is dropping. Productivity is sliding. Hybrid work has blurred boundaries — giving us flexibility, sure, but also putting work in our lounge rooms and on our kitchen benches. The old “leave it at the office” line just doesn’t apply anymore.
And here’s the kicker: companies that get wellbeing right don’t just have happier staff — they perform better. Claire highlighted research from De Neve, Kaats and Ward (2024) showing the stock performance of the Wellbeing 100 outpaced the market in 2024. In other words, there’s now hard evidence that looking after your people is good for business, not just the right thing to do.
So, what actually works? Claire’s view:
- Make wellbeing strategic. It belongs in board papers and business plans, not as an afterthought.
- Fix the structure, not just the people. You can’t yoga your way out of a 70-hour week. Workload design, autonomy, and smart policies matter more than perks.
- Role-modelling is everything. Leaders who live healthy boundaries give permission for others to do the same.
- Measure and act. Assess psychosocial risks, track wellbeing, and respond to what the data tells you.
- Back your managers. Coaching and training for leaders have ripple effects across the whole organisation.
The line that stuck with me? “The quality of conversation, determines the quality of the organisation.” If we can’t talk honestly about workload, burnout, or mental health, nothing else will shift.
It’s time we stop treating wellbeing as a side hustle for HR and start seeing it as central to performance. The data is there, the case is made. The only question left is: are we willing to act?
👉 Is wellbeing right for your organisation, you now know it is if you didn’t already, let’s have a coffee and a chat? Book a time here