Dr Richard Safeer of Johns Hopkins Medicine: Five Things Business Leaders Can Do To Create A Well-Being Work Culture

Leadership engagement — It’s not enough to say well-being is important. To be the best boss, leaders need to put employee health on the high-priority list and actively support well-being. This includes being a good role model, having great management skills, and removing barriers to having a well workday.

As a part of my series about how leaders can create a “fantastic work culture”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Richard Safeer.

For the past 20 years, workplace health pioneer and thought leader Richard Safeer, M.D. has assessed cultures, trained leaders, and conducted and explored research on the intersection of individual and organizational behavior.

Dr. Safeer currently serves as the Chief Medical Director of Employee Health and Well-Being for Johns Hopkins Medicine where he leads the Healthy at Hopkins employee health and well-being strategy. Previously, he was the Medical Director of Preventive Medicine for CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield in Baltimore, Maryland.

In January 2023, with publisher Wiley, Dr. Safeer will release A Cure for the Common Company: A Well-Being Prescription for a Happier, Healthier, and More Resilient Workforce. Dr Safeer is the first author to provide a step-by-step roadmap for creating a well-being culture that integrates science with practical solutions as demonstrated by the numerous real stories from successful companies.

He is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Medicine, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, and the American College of Preventive Medicine. He serves on the New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst Insight Council and previously served on the board of directors for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. He’s published dozens of papers and spoken nationally for more than 20 years on health and well-being.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I finished my training as a family doctor when HMOs dominated health care. I was seeing patients with complicated health problems every 15 minutes. Enough time to write a prescription, but not nearly enough time to help my patients understand the cause of their problems and what they could do to fix it without medicine or surgery. I became physically and emotionally exhausted from the pace and futility of the treadmill I was on.

After reading a journal article on Johnson & Johnson’s Live for Life program, I was hooked. I knew I wanted to be a company doctor and impact thousands of lives at a time. More than a decade later, during the interview process at Johns Hopkins Medicine, I grew intrigued when I realized they didn’t have a strategy to support the health and well-being of the workforce; only to pay the medical bills. After accepting the offer, I set out to do the job I was hired for AND the job I was creating. My first foray would likely be a barometer for my tenure. I steered Johns Hopkins Medicine away from soda and sugary beverages and toward healthy drinks and ultimately a healthier workplace culture. Two promotions later, I’m the Chief Medical Director of Employee Health and Well-Being.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

One day, about three months into my new job at Hopkins, I came across a big red truck outside of our main Johns Hopkins Hospital. It turned out to be the largest soda truck I ever saw, and it was parked under a sign that simply had the letter ‘E.’ It was the old emergency room that appeared to have been transformed to a delivery dock. I used a picture of that ironic scene to inspire the institution to address sugary beverages. Since then, we went from being below benchmark on the Center for Disease Control’s Worksite Health ScoreCard to the 95% percentile for health and social services organizations and large employers. You can read our case study on the CDC website.

Are you working on any exciting projects now? How do you think that will help people?

My book, A Cure for the Common Company, just released in January of 2023. After 25 years in the employee health and well-being space, it was time to help more leaders and human resource professionals not only understand their role in creating a healthy workforce, but also give them the practical steps needed to start seeing results.

Many employers have spent a lot of money on workplace wellness and are disappointed with the outcome. Readers will learn that when implemented, the six well-being culture building blocks will create a happier, healthier, and more resilient team and organization. Our health and well-being during the workday is much more dependent on our manager, our co-workers, and the decisions of the company than which wellness benefits are being offered. We need to learn how to integrate well-being into our workflow to optimize our health, not only designate a specific half-hour for a well-program.

Ok, let’s jump to the main part of our interview. According to this study cited in Forbes, more than half of the US workforce is unhappy. Why do you think that number is so high?

I’m not surprised. The American Psychological Association reports that almost half of American workers had at least one symptom of depression last year, so that supports the findings in the Forbes article. There are of course the national issues of political strife, social discourse, and the smoldering impact of the pandemic, which all play a role in the current mental health crisis.

However, the workplace itself contributes to the poor state of mental health in America. Many of us recognize that our managers either support our well-being or harm it. In that same Forbes article, the author states most employees who left their job, did so because of ‘lack of appreciation.’ Who hasn’t had a restless night of sleep because of something our boss said or did? Yet few managers have been appropriately trained on how to lead with well-being skills. The companies that do invest in creating a well-being culture in the workplace are also the ones that end up on the Great Place to Work® lists.

Based on your experience or research, how do you think an unhappy workforce will impact a) company productivity b) company profitability c) and employee health and wellbeing?

When employees are unhappy with their job, they leave. Plain and simple. Recruitment and training costs, along with lost institutional knowledge, is an economic drain on the organization. Of course, being unhappy is tied to increased risk of depression, heart disease, obesity, and a weakened immune system. Being unhappy or more seriously, being depressed, increases health care costs, which eats into profits.

For unhappy employees that stay, there is no doubt that they are less engaged and less committed to their job. This ultimately results in poorer performance, which in turn impacts the bottom line. It’s not just unhappy employees we should worry about in the workplace. We each influence each other’s emotions through something called emotional contagion. A real concern is that unhappy employees who stay can influence the happy employees’ decision to change teams or leave the organization altogether. Most people are unaware of this subconscious influence on our emotions.

Can you share 5 things that managers and executives should be doing to improve their company work culture? Can you give a personal story or example for each?

It’s hard to limit my answer to five when there is so much a leader can do to create and support a healthy workplace culture. However, below, I’ve outlined some initial key focus areas that can make a profound difference.

Peer support — Whether we are trying to lose weight, quit smoking, or exercise more, we will be more successful with a co-worker or buddy supporting us along the way. Encourage your team members to work together and ask for help in creating or keeping their healthy habits.

Leadership engagement — It’s not enough to say well-being is important. To be the best boss, leaders need to put employee health on the high-priority list and actively support well-being. This includes being a good role model, having great management skills, and removing barriers to having a well workday.

Norms — These can be described as the expected group behavior, which can be healthy, like getting outside for a break each day, or unhealthy, like eating by ourselves at our desk while working. Have a conversation with your team and figure out one healthy norm you’d like to build or an unhealthy norm to demolish. Then plan the steps to get to a healthier practice.

Social climate — Feeling like we belong, working in an upbeat environment and that we are contributing to the team goals are ingredients for good employee morale. Leaders would do a great service to their team by just smiling more. I keep a sticky note on my computer monitor frame that says “Smile.”

Remember to take care of yourself. When you are not well, it will be difficult to be your best and to help others. If you can only remember one thing to do during the workday for self-care, then breathe. Yes, slow down and take a deep breath so you feel it in your belly. It’s free, you can do it anytime and anyplace, and it only takes a few seconds. You’ll be a much better person to be around.

It’s very nice to suggest ideas, but it seems like we have to “change the culture regarding work culture.” What can we do as a society to make a broader change in the US workforce’s work culture?

I think the younger generation is making that decision for us. They are voting with their feet. They’re not staying put in organizations that don’t respect work life boundaries, and they’re not tolerating managers who don’t care for them as individuals. The market forces will play out, and the companies that don’t adapt and make well-being culture a top priority will lose the fight for talent.

While capitalism has certainly contributed to the growth of the American economy, we also know that policies that provide a common set of rules and a more competitive market are good for everyone. Furthermore, certain basic benefits will allow our workforce to focus on their job because there will be fewer stressors outside of work.

How would you describe your leadership or management style? Can you give us a few examples?

I lead with well-being. That means I see each person on my team and in my organization as a person first and as an employee second. This philosophy allows me to better appreciate the attributes and challenges each of us shows up to work with each day. I regularly ask each person on the team separately about their challenges and what is standing in the way of their well-being, which often, also impacts their work performance.

By taking a caring approach, it affords me the patience I need to provide guidance, offer growth opportunities, and make effective decisions when needed. In return, our team has a high level of trust, and we are committed to supporting each other’s well-being and to being successful together.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

It was the last day of cutting lawns before going to college. I was finishing up at the customer’s home when the father of the family pulled in. I had only previously spoken with his wife. After making introductions, he prompted me with a few questions. After sharing that I would be studying ‘pre-med’ with the hope of getting into medical school, he invited me to visit him at the VA hospital when I returned for winter break.

Dr. Alvarez was the head of the emergency department at that hospital, and I hadn’t known. At the end of my winter break visit, he offered me an opportunity to volunteer that coming summer and I immediately said yes. There were no doctors in our family or in our neighborhood. I used to put the lawnmower in the back of our station wagon to take my business to the better paying neighborhoods. Had it not been for his kindness, I’m not sure how or if I would have been able to gain experience in healthcare during college, which was beneficial for my medical school applications.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

American adults spend most of their waking hours working. It’s not a surprise then that our jobs and the people we work with play a major role in our health and well-being. In addition to helping more companies navigate the path toward healthier workplace cultures, so that more employees will benefit, I also take time to provide career advice to a couple of budding professionals each month. At this stage of my career, I’m looking to extend my experience to magnify the impact we each can play in the health and well-being of those with whom we work.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Breathe.

Too many people, including myself, get carried into a flurry of activity throughout the workday, and we don’t recognize the stress we’re under and how that emotion is impacting our well-being as well as the well-being of those around us. The workplace stress also negatively affects the quality of our work.

Taking a breath allows us to calm our minds, loosen our muscles, and clear our head. My well-being journey has afforded me the skill of identifying when my muscles are tense, which almost always means that I’m holding my breath. This feedback loop has brought me more patience which, in turn, has helped me make better decisions, lower my blood pressure, and be a nicer person to be around.

Breathing is easy, we can do it at any time, and it’s free. Breathe.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

More than 150 million Americans are in the workforce. Most managers don’t recognize the influence they have on the health and well-being of their teams and their organization. If I could, I would inspire every leader, every human resource professional, and every health care provider to recognize that Well-being is a Team Sport™ and they are the captain. Each reader of Authority Magazine can shape a well-being culture on their team and in their company. There is a prescription to follow that will create a happier, healthier, and more resilient workforce. There is ‘A Cure for the Common Company.’

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you continued success!