How to Build an Employee Wellbeing Strategy That Works

From my experience working with HR leaders across the UK and Europe, here’s what really makes the difference when it comes to creating employee wellbeing strategies that deliver a clear return on investment.

Why You Can’t Afford to Wing It With Workplace Wellbeing

As HR leaders, we’ve all felt it, that deep pull to create a working culture where employees genuinely feel seen, supported, and psychologically safe. You want more than surface-level wellbeing initiatives. You want to create a thriving organisation where people don’t just survive the workday, they feel empowered and energised by it.

But let’s be honest: Crafting a truly effective employee wellbeing strategy can feel overwhelming.

With so many aspects to consider, mental health, emotional resilience, physical wellbeing, financial education, psychological safety, where do you even begin?

If you’re tasked with designing a wellbeing strategy and wondering, “How do I do this in a way that makes a difference?” you’re in the right place.

This post guides you through the essential pillars of a successful employee wellbeing strategy, drawing from my 13+ years of experience in HR, workplace mental health training, and leadership development.

First, Start With the End in Mind

Before you launch into ideas and initiatives around employee wellbeing, ask yourself one powerful question:

👉 What does success look like?

From my experience, the most impactful wellbeing strategies start with clarity.  Imagine we were sitting down 12 months from today, what would you love to tell me your wellbeing strategy has delivered?  What will be the key factors that let you know the strategy has been a success?

Many HR leaders can feel overwhelmed when it comes to creating a wellbeing strategy because they aren't trained in mental health and wellbeing, and I completely understand.  In the same way, sales and marketing strategies start with the end in mind, and then reverse engineer how to get there; that's all we are doing, too. 

• Do you want to reduce absence rates or long-term absence cases? And if so, what's the goal i.e. 3%?

• Are you aiming to improve your retention? What do you consider a healthy turnover? i.e. 10%

• Do you want to create a more psychologically safe workplace? What does that look like? 

• Is prevention over cure a key part of your wellbeing strategy? 

• Are there specific mental health issues you are looking to overcome, such as stress and burnout?

Once you’re clear on the outcomes, then you can reverse engineer the strategy to get you there.

Take a snapshot of your current landscape:

• What are employees saying in engagement surveys?

• What are the trends in mental health-related absence?

• What’s already working—and what’s falling flat?

This is the groundwork of a data-driven wellbeing strategy.

Align Your Wellbeing Strategy with Company Culture and Values

It sounds obvious, but I can’t tell you how many organisations overlook this.

A disconnected wellbeing strategy, no matter how well-intended, won’t land if it feels like a tick-box initiative. Your people can feel when something’s performative.

When your wellbeing strategy is woven into the fabric of your values, it becomes real. Tangible. Trusted.

For example, if one of your core values is openness, ask:

• Are your leaders modelling openness when it comes to mental health?

• Are employees encouraged to speak up without fear of judgement?

If the answer is no, there’s your starting point.

Get Leadership Involved (Not Just HR)

Here’s the truth:
Employee wellbeing is not HR’s job alone.

You can design the most thoughtful wellbeing programme in the world, but if your leadership team isn’t onboard, it’ll stall at the starting gate.

From my experience, the organisations that see real culture change are the ones where:

• Senior leaders speak openly about their own wellbeing journey

• Managers attend mental health training (and take it seriously)

• The board sees wellbeing as a strategic priority, not just a “nice to have”

If you want real momentum, your first job might be building a business case for wellbeing. Show how a proactive approach to wellbeing improves performance, engagement, and retention. (And if you need help with that, get in touch—this is what we do.)

Think Holistically: Go Beyond Mental Health

A comprehensive employee wellbeing strategy goes beyond stress management training and wellbeing webinars.

You want to address the whole human, not just the part that shows up to Zoom meetings.

This includes:

• Mental and emotional health: stress, burnout, trauma, overthinking

• Physical health: sleep, movement, chronic illness support

• Financial wellbeing: money stress is one of the top causes of anxiety at work

• Social wellbeing: connection, belonging, healthy team dynamics

You don’t need to launch everything at once.
Start with the red flags, such as burnout, high absence rates, and low engagement, and build out from there.

💡 Small, strategic wins build trust and traction.

Invest in Mental Health Training for Managers

This is one of the most overlooked levers in workplace wellbeing.

Managers are the first line of support for your people, yet many don’t feel confident having conversations around mental health.

That’s why mental health training for managers is a core part of any effective strategy.

In our training sessions, managers learn:

• How to spot the early signs of burnout or emotional dysregulation

• What to say (and not say) in difficult conversations

• How to create psychological safety within their teams

• How to hold space without trying to fix everything

From my experience, when managers are equipped with these tools, everything changes: team dynamics, absenteeism, and even performance.

Psychological Safety Is Non-Negotiable

A workplace culture that lacks psychological safety is like building on sand.

You might think your organisation has an “open-door” culture—but do your employees feel safe to speak up?

Creating psychological safety means:

• Employees feel heard without being dismissed

• People are allowed to have emotions—without judgment

• Feedback flows in all directions, not just top-down

Psychological safety doesn’t just boost wellbeing—it drives innovation, engagement, and retention. It’s a strategic asset, not a soft skill.

Use Digital Tools to Scale Impact

We live in a hybrid world—and your wellbeing strategy needs to reflect that.

That’s why I created our Employee Wellbeing Portal - a holistic digital platform packed with:

• On-demand videos covering anxiety, sleep, and stress

• Tools like breathwork, EFT tapping, and resilience training

• Inspirational wellbeing interviews with experts such as Dr. Peta Stapleton, Dr. David Hamilton, Dr. Amy Johnson and Andrew Craig

It’s about meeting people where they are—in the moment they need support, whether that’s 2 pm in the office or 2 am when they are lying in bed overthinking and can't switch off.

Don’t Forget to Measure Impact

Here’s where many wellbeing strategies fall flat. They launch with good intentions, but they don’t track what’s working.

Several years ago, I attended an employee wellbeing at work conference, and was listening to a large, well-known financial organisation on stage talking about the wellbeing strategy they had launched. The HR Leaders described some of the wellbeing initiatives they had rolled out as part of the strategy, such as monthly wellbeing webinars and mindfulness training. 

At the Q&A section, I raised my hand and asked the speaker how they measured the impact of what was clearly a big financial investment.  The HR speaker froze, and I could see the look of panic on his face! He said that the feedback from staff had been fantastic, but they hadn't put any specific metrics in place to measure.  I spoke to the man afterwards, who said he'd been dreading someone asking that question!

In the same way sales and marketing strategies have their way of measuring success and monitoring what's working well (and what isn't), I highly recommend doing the same with your wellbeing strategy;

You want to look at both quantitative and qualitative metrics:

• Absence data such as absence %, long-term sick cases, and number of days absence

• Retention rates

• Pulse surveys

• Manager feedback

• Focus group insights

Wellbeing isn’t a one-and-done project. It’s an evolving conversation, one that requires regular check-ins and tweaks.

From my experience, when organisations keep listening, measuring, and adjusting, they build long-term trust. And that’s the foundation for everything else.

Final Thoughts: Employee Wellbeing Is a Culture Shift, Not a Campaign

You can’t fix burnout with fruit bowls. You can’t train resilience in a day. And you can’t create psychological safety without leadership walking the talk.

But you can build something meaningful.

A workplace where people feel emotionally supported, mentally resourced, and genuinely valued.

That’s what a great employee wellbeing strategy makes possible.

And if you’re ready to start building yours, we are here to help.

🎯 Ready to Create a Wellbeing Strategy That Works?

If you want to craft a wellbeing strategy that’s clear, practical, and deeply impactful—without trying to do it all yourself—let’s talk.

🗓 Book your complimentary call today and discover how we can support your organisation in creating a truly effective employee wellbeing programme.

👉 Click here to schedule your strategy call now