Working Well: Sophie Bretag Of Metta Leaders On How Companies Are Creating Cultures That Support & Sustain Mental, Emotional, Social, Physical & Financial Wellness
An Interview with Karen Mangia
Holistic Healing — areas of wellness such as mindfulness and meditation are growing in their popularity and because the results in helping to reduce stress and overwhelm are positive.
The pandemic pause brought us to a moment of collective reckoning about what it means to live well and to work well. As a result, employees are sending employers an urgent signal that they are no longer willing to choose one — life or work — at the cost of the other. Working from home brought life literally into our work. And as the world now goes hybrid, employees are drawing firmer boundaries about how much of their work comes into their life. Where does this leave employers? And which perspectives and programs contribute most to progress? In our newest interview series, Working Well: How Companies Are Creating Cultures That Support & Sustain Mental, Emotional, Social, Physical & Financial Wellness, we are talking to successful executives, entrepreneurs, managers, leaders, and thought leaders across all industries to share ideas about how to shift company cultures in light of this new expectation. We’re discovering strategies and steps employers and employees can take together to live well and to work well.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Sophie Bretag.
Sophie Bretag, HR Consultant and Kindness Expert, is the CEO and Founder of Metta Leaders. She combines her extensive experience as an executive HR and EQ practitioner with Happiness Coaching, Positive Psychology, Meditation, Breathwork, Forest Bathing Therapy and Women’s Leadership Connection Circle Facilitation. Sophie provides contemporary and practical ways to create more happiness and wellbeing in workplaces seeking transformation and she is currently writing her first book on kind leadership.
Thank you for making time to visit with us about the topic of our time. Our readers would like to get to know you better. Tell us about a formative experience that prompted you to change your relationship with work and how work shows up in your life.
My whole life I’ve been around people who are highly driven, as I have been, with the definition of success a job title, a large salary and the amount of hours worked. Rest wasn’t ever considered a necessity and balance was a pipedream. However, during the Covid-19 pandemic working as an executive People and Culture Manager I saw good humans burning out from over-giving to their jobs and their organisations, I also found myself extremely unwell, unable to maintain the pace and emotionally exhausted.
At first I noticed that I was finding it difficult to switch off, or that I would bring home the problems in the workplace and ruminate or over analyse, it then started to negatively impact my sleep, my appetite and my personal relationships. I realised that I had been over-giving for many years and to find happiness again I needed to find balance and to regain my health.
It was through this process that I found the healing power of kindness. In 2021 I created a heart driven consulting business that focuses on how leaders can take care of themselves whilst still serving others, without burning out. All through the power of kindness.
Harvard Business Review predicts that wellness will become the newest metric employers will use to analyze and to assess their employees’ mental, physical and financial health. How does your organization define wellness, and how does your organization measure wellness?
The Cambridge dictionary defines wellness as ‘the state of being healthy, especially when it is something that you actively try to achieve.’ From my perspective as a consultant, I define wellness as the feeling people get when they work with me and would they work with me again. Do they feel safe to be themselves, do they feel seen, heard, listened to and do they feel their voices matter? Did they receive the agreed outcomes and finish our transaction happy and satisfied. The happier and more comfortable people feel, coupled with positive results, the more likely they are to feel well and healthy in our work together.
From a strategic HR perspective within an organisation, wellness looks slightly different. Key data areas to look at include rates of attrition, sick leave, retention rates, staff surveys and use of wellbeing supports such as employee assistance programs. These reports can then be analysed to see if there are any areas of concern and if more focus is needed in particular cohorts when it comes to employee wellness.
Based on your experience or research, how do you correlate and quantify the impact of a well workforce on your organization’s productivity and profitability?
Well humans lead well. Humans who are well are more engaged, happier and productive. Its as simple as that. Or is it? It’s estimated that employee disengagement costs the Australian economy around $2 billion a year and The World Health Organisation estimates that anxiety and depression cost the global economy upwards of $1 trillion annually. With findings like these, it’s difficult to dispute that people who are more well, are likely to have a positive impact both financially and emotionally on an organisation.
Where things can become challenging is knowing what will help, why it helps and who it supports. In my experience, what one person may need for their wellness, another may not want or understand. This is where organisations need to ensure they have regular, transparent, and open communication to find out what their teams require, not just what the leadership team ‘believes’ is what their teams need. I suggest to businesses that they talk to their people and keep talking. Communication should always be a two-way street when it comes to workplace wellness.
Even though most leaders have good intentions when it comes to employee wellness, programs that require funding are beholden to business cases like any other initiative. The World Health Organization estimates for every $1 invested into treatment for common mental health disorders, there is a return of $4 in improved health and productivity. That sounds like a great ROI. And, yet many employers struggle to fund wellness programs that seem to come “at the cost of the business.” What advice do you have to offer to other organizations and leaders who feel stuck between intention and impact?
My response to organisations who are struggling with striking a balance between intention and impact is — can you really afford to not support your staff in some way with their wellness? Since the pandemic, people are seeking jobs that value them as whole humans. Even though attrition rates have slowed, businesses are still fighting to attract and retain top talent. In my work as an HR consultant, I constantly hear leaders bemoaning the lack of ‘exceptional candidates’ and the salaries and conditions people are demanding. Employee wellness can be incorporated into the empoloyee value proposition to show prospective employees, as well as existing, that they matter and that the business is an employer of choice. Employers who not only say they take care of their staff, but absolutely have it woven into the fabric of their organisation, are more likely to not only attract but also retain the star employees they are seeking.
As a starting point there are ways in which staff can be supported with wellness programs that dont need to cost the earth. As mentioned earlier, asking your people what they need to stay healthy is the best way to find out what is important to them. It may be as simple as having access to workplace flexibility and leaders who trust them to get their work done if they do work hybrid. How often have you heard that a person will leave their manager, rather than their job — Gallup’s State of Workforce report found that organisations where managers confidently lead their teams, having earnt the respect of employees and stakeholders alike, achieve around 17% more productivity and 21% higher profitability.
If a business is looking at splitting a budget to get more ‘bang for their buck’ giving professional development to their leaders in how to be kinder, more empathetic and engaged leaders to their teams is a fantastic option. This can then sit under a learning and development budget line but will have the knock-on effect of improving the wellness of the humans within the business.
Speaking of money matters, a recent Gallup study reveals employees of all generations rank well-being as one of their top three employer search criteria. How are you incorporating wellness programs into your talent recruitment and hiring processes?
One of the most critical times in the employee lifecycle is recruitment and onboarding. It is essential that the advertised position and its benefits match the reality of the workplace. I have seen businesses spend time, money and energy on recruiting candidates, only to lose them within the first few months because what was advertised didn’t match the job or the workplace culture. If a business is offering a wellness programme it needs to be clearly stipulated what that entails for the employee. Include details in the job advertisement, on your website and in the interview process. The more information you can provide about what the program is, why it matters and how it helps your teams, the more likely the person will understand that their wellness is important to you.
We’ve all heard of the four-day work week, unlimited PTO, mental health days, and on-demand mental health services. What innovative new programs and pilots are you launching to address employee wellness? And, what are you discovering? We would benefit from an example in each of these areas.
- Mental Wellness:
- Emotional Wellness:
- Social Wellness:
- Physical Wellness:
- Financial Wellness:
From a financial wellness perspective, there is a growing area called financial/money coaching and I often partner with other businesses to provide support to staff. The emotions attached to finance and money can have major impacts on people and can filter into all aspects of their lives.
In regards to mental, emotional, social and physical wellness I create corporate programs that focus on self-kindness. The kinder we are to ourselves, the kinder and more empathetic we are to others. I incorporate approaches and activities that often challenge the status quo and are innovative when it comes to corporate organisations. Modalities such as mindfulness, meditation, breathwork, boundary setting, courageous conversations and forest bathing create happier, calmer and more productive humans. I have a particular focus on leaders who spend most of their days juggling competing priorities not only professionally, but personally. Once they experience the power of self-kindness it is a game changer for their wellness, in all aspects.
Can you please tell us more about a couple of specific ways workplaces would benefit from investing in your ideas above to improve employee wellness?
Workplaces who invest in their people will create a happier workplace. What I find, unfortunately, is that wellness is often treated as a ‘tick box’ exercise. Allocated money or the activities planned are not fit for purpose for the humans within the business and so miss the mark. Organisations who truly value their employees and listen to feedback will find that initiatives are more likely to find their staff refer the workplace to future candidates, speak positively from a branding perspective, stay longer, work harder and take less sick leave. All of these impact the bottom line of the business.
How are you reskilling leaders in your organization to support a “Work Well” culture?
Attitude reflects leadership. A very smart leader told me this and it’s stuck with me ever since. What people see, they will respond to. If your leaders take care of themselves, show kindness and empathy to the humans within the business, have open and clear conversations when needed, listen and respond appropriately, set appropriate expectations around job design and productivity and then support their teams to achieve them these then become woven into the fabric of the workplace culture. It must be driven from the top of the organisation, but role modelled throughout. This then organically develops and grows into a “Work Well” culture.
Ideas take time to implement. What is one small step every individual, team, or organization can take to get started on these ideas — to get well?
Start by saying good morning and goodbye to your teams and peers, every single day. Sound so simple and yet is exceptionally powerful when it comes to the way people feel within an organisation. I have often had people look at me so surprised when I’ve walked into an office in the morning and said hello to every single person I pass on the way in. I do the same when I leave. Trust grows where connection is created. If people feel they matter and they are seen — there is power in that.
What are your “Top 5 Trends To Track In the Future of Workplace Wellness?”
- Kind and Connected Leadership — we are seeing the rise of the heart-leader and I’m here for it! Global innovators are employing Chief Heart Officers and there is now a Global Happiness Summit. This is my number one trend to watch!
Meet The Chief Heart Officer Who Mentors More Than 750 People (forbes.com)
2. Mental Health and Wellbeing — since the pandemic this has become a global topic for discussion. One area that I believe will be one to watch is the impact that managers have on the mental health of their teams. Managers Have Major Impact On Mental Health: How To Lead For Wellbeing (forbes.com)
3. Holistic Healing — areas of wellness such as mindfulness and meditation are growing in their popularity and because the results in helping to reduce stress and overwhelm are positive.
Six Proven Benefits Of Meditation In The Workplace (forbes.com)
4. Money Coaching — as the world experiences the rising cost of living, the impacts are profound on staff. Workplaces who can offer support in this will be ahead of the game.
18 Financial Coaching Worksheets, Software & Tools (positivepsychology.com)
5. 4 day work week — this discussion won’t be going anywhere soon. I am seeing so many discussions on the benefits these provide the humans within organisations.
New study shows 4-day week to be a success | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
What is your greatest source of optimism about the future of workplace wellness?
I live and breathe workplace wellness and speak often to those within the sector and I am seeing more and more organisations embracing change. They are looking for ways to be innovative, contemporary and truly care about the humans they employ. I am constantly bolstered by the amount of discussion I see around what workplaces are doing to support wellness. Not all businesses will invest, but those that do, will reap the benefits and it absolutely keeps me feeling extremely optimistic about the future.
Our readers often like to continue the conversation with our featured interviewees. How can they best connect with you and stay current on what you’re discovering?
I am ALWAYS on LinkedIn so absolutely find me there and send a request to connect because I’m much more about human-to-human connection than numbers and followers. I’m active on Instagram under @mettaleaders and my website of course www.mettaleaders.com People can also sign up to my Kind Community where they receive an email each week with self-kindness tips and interesting information on how they can stay more well : subscribepage.com/letsconnect
Thank you for sharing your insights and predictions. We appreciate the gift of your time and wish you continued success and wellness.
About The Interviewer: Karen Mangia is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers in the world, sharing her thought leadership with over 10,000 organizations during the course of her career. As Vice President of Customer and Market Insights at Salesforce, she helps individuals and organizations define, design and deliver the future. Discover her proven strategies to access your own success in her fourth book Success from Anywhere and by connecting with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.
