What well-being policies often overlook
Well-being is high on the HR agenda. Organisations invest in mental health, encourage physical exercise, adopt a preventative approach and set up numerous initiatives. Even so, HR often still struggles to determine what really makes a difference and how the various approaches fit together into a coherent whole.
The biggest challenge, therefore, lies not in setting up yet another initiative, but in adopting a broader and more integrated view of well-being.
Why well-being initiatives often don’t have the desired effect.
KBC Insurance and Vlerick Business School have been working together to better understand the obstacles employers face today in implementing their well-being policies.
Inge Hermans, Head of Solutions Support at KBC Insurance, is involved on behalf of KBC, while Prof. Katleen De Stobbeleir and researcher Elke Van de Wiele are working on the project on behalf of Vlerick Business School. Together, they’ve been investigating how organisations can adopt a broader and more integrated approach to well-being, and what role employers can play in this.
The overlooked pillars of well-being
In many organisations, well-being is approached primarily from a physical or mental perspective. These pillars are of course important, but they don’t tell the whole story.
An employee may be physically healthy yet still feel unhappy. Someone may experience little stress, yet still feel disconnected from their colleagues or uncertain about their future prospects. After all, well-being doesn’t arise from a single factor, but rather from the interplay of different dimensions and factors.
That’s why we work with five pillars of well-being at KBC, says Inge Hermans: physical, mental, social, professional and financial well-being. This broad view helps ensure that well-being is not reduced to standalone initiatives, but is seen as a coherent whole, as these pillars are inextricably linked.
Financial worries can have an impact on mental well-being, and a lack of social connection often affects professional well-being too. Katleen De Stobbeleir argues that many organisations today hold two fundamental misconceptions. They treat well-being as an HR issue and as something that concerns individual employees, whereas it’s shaped at least as much by the organisation and its culture.
As a result, interventions often focus on boosting individual resilience, while the working environment remains largely unchanged. Burnout is rarely the result of simply having too much work.
While many organisations today invest in well-being, they all too often treat it as a collection of disconnected actions. According to Katleen De Stobbeleir, this is precisely where they are falling short. When well-being is defined too narrowly, organisations run the risk of adopting primarily a reactive approach. They try to solve problems when employees drop out, whereas the factors that have the greatest impact often lie elsewhere, namely in the work environment, within teams, in leadership and in the way work is organised
Professional well-being – the feeling that you’re growing, making a contribution and doing meaningful work – therefore deserves much more attention. The same applies to social well-being, i.e. feeling a sense of belonging, building relationships and being able to count on support.
Genuine well-being doesn't exist separately from work. It is shaped by the day-to-day experience of work.
AI makes well-being even more relevant
The rapid rise of artificial intelligence highlights the importance of adopting a broader view of well-being.
The debate on AI now often focuses on efficiency, productivity and how AI could lead to the loss of jobs. Far less attention is paid to how it impacts people. According to Katleen De Stobbeleir, AI threatens not only to change certain tasks, but also to affect people’s sense of purpose and connection at work.
When technology replaces human interaction, there’s a risk that social well-being will suffer (Crawford et al., 2024) . What’s more, people who work extensively with AI sometimes feel that their sense of meaning at work is diminished (Bankins & Formosa, 2023) . At best, they feel like little more than intermediaries, acting as conduits for information with no input, creativity or responsibility of their own.
That doesn’t mean organisations should slow down the adoption of AI. Rather, they should view its introduction not just in terms of efficiency, but as a choice that shapes the nature of work itself. By using AI to take over routine tasks and free up time for the uniquely human aspects of work – such as judgement, creativity and connection with colleagues and customers – organisations can strengthen employees’ sense of meaning.
Clear communication, engaged leadership, training and team interaction play a crucial role in this. For caring employers, the implementation of AI shouldn’t begin by asking ‘How do we get our people on board?’, but by asking ‘What work do we still want people to do?’.
1. Crawford, J., Allen, K. A., Pani, B., & Cowling, M. (2024). When artificial intelligence substitutes humans in higher education: the cost of loneliness, student success, and retention. Studies in Higher Education, 49(5), 883-897.
2. Bankins, S., & Formosa, P. (2023). The ethical implications of artificial intelligence (AI) for meaningful work. Journal of Business Ethics, 185(4), 725-740.
The most underestimated pillar of well-being
If there is one pillar that’s often overlooked, it’s financial well-being. Financial worries have a direct impact on stress, well-being and even long-term absenteeism. Despite this, many people still find it difficult to talk about money.
Financial peace of mind is about much more than just what you earn. It’s about knowing what happens if you fall ill, understanding what protection your employer provides, having insight into building up your pension and feeling confident about the future.
Employers are already doing a lot, as is clear from the initial results of a survey conducted by Vlerick Business School in collaboration with KBC Insurance. According to the survey, 80% of employers offer hospitalisation insurance and 72% have a supplementary pension scheme in place. However, employees are not always aware of these benefits. More than one in three employees (37%) say they don’t receive clear information about their total remuneration package. The problem is often not a lack of effort, but a lack of guidance and knowledge.
A survey conducted by CBC confirms this finding: six in 10 Belgians don’t have a clear understanding of what their pension will look like in the future. This feeling of uncertainty affects their peace of mind today and this is precisely where employers can make a difference. Not only by offering solutions, but by increasing transparency and improving financial literacy. Uncertainty is often harder to bear than reality itself.
Well-being is a shared responsibility
An integrated well-being policy can only succeed when everyone plays their part.
- Employees take responsibility for their own well-being.
- Employers and teams create a safe and supportive environment.
- Managers ensure well-being can be discussed openly and lead by example.
- Organisations provide the right culture, structures and support initiatives.
It’s the interplay between the different levels that determines whether well-being becomes sustainably embedded.
Where should you start tomorrow?
For organisations that don’t pursue an integrated well-being policy at the moment, the first step doesn’t have be complicated. Start by listening.
Talk with employees and managers. Find out what initiatives are already in place, but more importantly what has been overlooked and what the current needs are. If the focus is primarily on physical and mental well-being, perhaps it’s time to make a point of including social, professional and financial well-being as well.
Ultimately, well-being isn’t about standalone programmes. It’s about whether people feel connected, have the opportunity to grow, experience financial peace of mind and find meaning in their work. Organisations that succeed in creating such an environment not only produce healthier employees, they also foster better engagement, sustainable performance and a stronger future.
