Balancing Wellness and Performance: A False Dichotomy

Last month, I joined Janet McDonald for the final segment of Onsite's webinar series for leaders. We discussed the backlash Salesforce's Marc Benioff faced when he criticized the company's Slack channel, claiming that "wellness culture overpowered high-performance culture during the pandemic." This incident highlighted a common belief among leaders: you can't prioritize both people and profits.

Three years since the pandemic began, the impact on employees' mental health is still significant. At the same time, the economy is softening, and companies are focusing on lean strategies. In this shift, employee well-being is often overlooked. Prioritizing business health without considering employee wellness is shortsighted. Leaders must balance both.

Benioff's false dichotomy suggests that performance and wellness can't coexist. He argues that fear of dealing with people-related issues makes managers hesitant to address performance. In reality, research shows people appreciate accountability. However, many leaders avoid giving feedback because they lack the training and tools to do so effectively.

At Amplify, we've seen that people want to be held accountable, but managers are often afraid to do it. This isn't about choosing between performance and wellness; it's about equipping leaders with the right skills.

I've spent years studying workplace wellness. The problem is we treat it in silos: "Healthy Person" vs. "Healthy Company Culture." These two sides are interconnected. In his book Wild Mind, Bill Plotkin writes, "We cannot become fully human without healthy, mature cultures." This applies to companies too.

In a recent culture diagnostic for a client, I found that burnout wasn't due to workload but the nature of the work itself. Employees were frustrated with redundant tasks and political maneuvering. Bureaucracy costs the US over $3 trillion annually.

To foster a healthy company culture and employee wellness, we need a holistic approach. It's about creating conditions where employees can flourish. Organizations should push their cultures towards health, reducing churn and workplace suffering.

Today's leaders must understand that productivity is impossible without employee wellness. A wellness culture isn't at odds with a performance culture. It's time to ask the tough questions: Is our organizational culture healthy? Are our people flourishing? If not, everything else becomes irrelevant.

You can find a recording of the webinar here. If you happen to listen, send me your thoughts. I’d love to know what you think we missed.