Bringing Organizational Well-Being to Life

As the world faces the climate crisis, international protests for racial justice, a global pandemic, and an economic downturn, the social change sector is struggling. Organizations across the spectrum are experiencing funding delays and decreases, project slowdowns, and staff reductions. In the midst of these challenges, staff resilience, collaboration, and innovation are emerging as sector-wide priorities, and leaders are asking what steps they can take to create healthier organizational cultures that support these needs.

Our research at The Wellbeing Project (TWP) has shown that leaders who advocate for and model individual well-being and self-care, and engage with their staff in a well-being learning process can create healthier, more effective organizations. Self-care practices includes actions as diverse as self-inquiry, cultivating emotional intelligence, and spending time in nature. Leaders committed to promoting well-being within their organization can also benefit from working with a coach or facilitator experienced in group dynamics and dialogue, co-developing an organizational well-being strategy with staff, and integrating well-being strategies into the daily workflow through incremental changes to structure, policy, and practice. Indeed, many leaders believe that now—when so many organizations are necessarily changing the way they work—is an optimal time to enact small shifts that foster organizational well-being.

Centered Self: The Connection Between Inner Well-Being and Social Change

This series, presented in partnership with The Wellbeing Project, India Development Review, The Skoll Foundation, and Schwab Foundation, explores this important but often overlooked connection between inner well-being and effective social change.

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While organizations need to tailor their approach to their own unique needs and culture, those that commit wholeheartedly to organizational well-being, lay a strong capability groundwork, and engage all staff members in the process can boost both staff resilience and mission achievement. Below, we explore each of these aspects of implementation, and share how two of the eight organizations currently participating in TWP’s Organizational Exploratory Program (OEP)—a three-year, co-created program focused on organizational well-being—are integrating well-being into their daily organizational lives. Our initial research revealed how changes in individual well-being produced ripple effects at the organizational level, including creating new ways of working that foster staff well-being and institutional effectiveness.

Step 1: Commit Wholeheartedly

“There is a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”—Ken Blanchard

A wholehearted commitment from leaders to bring well-being into an organization’s culture and their active, attentive presence throughout the process are perhaps the two greatest determinants of overall success. Committed leaders recognize that their organization’s mission and values should serve both constituents and staff. They are willing to invest resources in a change process that honors all voices, encourages collaboration, and boosts morale and impact.

The following questions provide a reflective framework for sector leaders, boards, and funders to understand the current state of organizational well-being, prior to engaging with staff.

How, specifically, does your organization live its stated values internally? Where can it improve? Where can you improve?
How motivated, energized, and engaged are you and your colleagues on the leadership team at this time? And how motivated, energized, and engaged are your staff members? How do you know?
What would staff say about the frequency, focus, openness, and humanity of your organization’s regular connections and communications? How do you know?
What are the ways your organization currently supports staff members to take care of their physical, mental, and spiritual health, as they work to contribute to the mission of your organization?
In what ways does your organization model a leadership style that encourages collaboration and co-creation, and shows you trust the capabilities of your staff? Would your staff agree? How do you know?
What are your hopes for the overall impact of the well-being learning process on your organization?
What resources (including time, people power, money, and expertise) do you believe your organization needs to allocate to this effort? What is the case you will make for each?
How willing and able are you to be a champion for the effort, even when roadblocks present themselves or other issues compete for attention?

Each of the leaders involved in the OEP program previously took part in TWP’s Inner Development Program (IDP), an 18-month program designed to foster individual well-being. IDP helped them model a commitment to inner well-being; welcome healthier ways of working within their organization; and engage with staff, colleagues, and peers in a more open and collaborative way. Leaders are now applying these mindsets to organizational well-being in ways that meet the unique needs of their organization.

Take VillageReach, which is based in the United States with core offices in Malawi, Mozambique, and Democratic Republic of Congo, and has 200 staff worldwide dedicated to increasing access to health care in sub-Saharan African. The organization’s senior advisor and other leaders understand that the individual well-being of staff members strongly influences the quality of care they are able to provide, and that sustained growth requires balancing a healthy internal culture with external demands. Its well-being plan therefore focuses on reducing stress and burnout among all staff, and on creating a resilient culture across its different locations.

Meanwhile, the founder and other leaders at Tostan are motivated to bring well-being into the organization’s culture in a different way. The community-development organization has 130 staff working in Senegal, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, and The Gambia. Its strong focus on learning and development, and a desire to internally reflect the values it promotes in the communities it serves, are the driving forces behind its commitment. Leaders also recognized that a commitment to well-being could have a positive impact on the transition to a new CEO. Tostan’s leaders consciously model well-being practices, and include the concept of well-being in decision-making, action plans, and strategic planning. They also let staff know that they are doing it.

Step 2: Lay the Capability Groundwork

“Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.”—Arnold Bennett

When organizations develop and implement new technology platforms, they tap into the expertise of both internal staff and external consultants. The same approach should apply to assessing and planning for well-being initiatives.

Organizational well-being programs focus on the human-centered aspects of organizational life. Engaging the full staff community in an organization-wide learning process, providing opportunities to get to know colleagues beyond their professional roles, and transparent governance procedures all contribute to a culture of well-being. Developing individual capacities such as self-inquiry and active listening builds community and shared understanding, helping organizations better cope with uncertainty and change. A well-being process begins by determining the unique set of capabilities, experience, and knowledge an organization needs to make well-being a part of its culture. These include:

Knowledge of group dynamics and unbiased facilitation skills
Skill in building trust, in order to design and create spaces that feel safe for people to have honest, courageous conversations
An understanding of the predictable human emotions we experience as we go through change
An ability to listen with the heart and ask tough questions to increase awareness
Skill in coaching and supporting leaders to step out of their comfort zones as they begin to model the collaborative, co-creative changes staff wants to see

If these resources are available in-house, use them. If not, engage a facilitator or coach—including individuals whose usual focus is strategic planning or leadership development—to support the design and implementation of the process. (While the abilities listed above are essential, knowledge of the social sector and expertise in inner well-being are not.) A successful change process takes time, as organizations let go of unhealthy structures and behaviors, and develop new skills, procedures, and habits. Organizational leaders should actively engage with staff and any coaches or facilitators to clarify roles and responsibilities, define new ways of working, and create a built-in mechanism for giving and receiving feedback about what’s working and what’s not.

VillageReach leadership and staff, for example, are working with an organizational change coach an average of 1.5 days each month. So far, they have defined broad well-being objectives, conducted a survey to assess well-being priorities, and created a shared definition and vision for future organizational well-being. Staff have also brainstormed unique well-being goals for different locations. VillageReach leaders note the importance of having a shared well-being language and a framework for well-being across diverse locations. These encourage conversations about how well the organization supports staff and remind everyone of their common humanity.

Tostan’s leadership is also working with a coach to develop well-being priorities and plans. To broaden the process, staff in various locations have worked with local facilitators, discussing how to support individual and organizational well-being, and the responsibility of both staff and leadership in creating an atmosphere where well-being can flourish.

Both organizations have emphasized the critical role technology has played in keeping staff connected during the COVID-19 lockdown, as well as the positive impact of ongoing conversations about individual and organizational well-being.

Step 3: Encourage Active Staff Participation

“If you want to fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”—African Proverb

Involving all staff in all aspects of developing organizational well-being, as noted above, greatly increases organization-wide commitment, as well as ownership over the process and its outcomes. But enthusiastic staff participation requires that everyone understands the reasons for change and the organization’s approach to making it. Leaders must offer a clear, consistent, compelling invitation that demonstrates their own commitment. They may choose, for example, to discuss specific challenges and opportunities facing the organization, ways to better align organizational culture with stated values, or how fatigue and burnout decrease with improved organizational well-being. They should also point out that a focus on organizational well-being can positively impact mission achievement, foster organization-wide collaboration, and increase staff resilience and organizational sustainability.

Implicit to any change process is the opportunity for those taking part to redefine how they work together. Leaders must ensure that all staff feel safe to talk openly about the perceived current state of well-being and to take part in the development of a shared vision for future well-being.

In response to COVID-19, the leadership team at VillageReach is encouraging frequent communication to acknowledge and address uncertainty. This includes check-ins focused on how staff are coping and using icebreakers to start meetings. The organization is sharing successful well-being initiatives between locations, offering psycho-social support to staff, and launched a fund to support individual team members in one location.

To foster teamwork and connection, staff at Tostan created an inter-country volunteer committee, and invited interested staff to form a group of well-being “champions” to plan activities and track micro-shifts supporting well-being. With pandemic lockdowns in place in most countries, the organization’s work is on hold. While clearly not ideal, this has allowed leaders to directly address concerns about ongoing funding, mission achievement, and job security. A near-term contingency plan has given staff a sense of safety and security, and a well-being plan for 2022 based on an organization-wide feedback, is under development.

Learning to Stand Together

“Real learning gets to the heart of what it means to be human. Through learning we re-create ourselves. Through learning we become able to do something we were never able to do. Through learning we re-perceive the world and our relationship to it. Through learning we extend our capacity to create, to be part of the generative process of life.”—Peter Senge

In summary, to bring organizational well-being to life, social change leaders must actively commit to implementing, encouraging, learning, and leading by example. Assisted by an experienced facilitator or coach, organizations can collaboratively develop and integrate small well-being initiatives—customized for their unique needs and culture—into policies, procedures, and activities without placing additional burdens on staff or funding sources. And including all staff voices in the design and implementation process will deepen commitment, and foster staff ownership and engagement over the long term.

The organizations involved in TWP’s well-being programs are showing that following these steps can boost staff positivity and resilience, and increase organizational sustainability and impact. Organizational well-being is new territory for the social sector, but when leaders and staff learn to stand together in their own humanity and create a culture of well-being within their organization, they’re more equipped to fulfill their mission, even in the face of massive global challenges.

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Read more stories by Linda Mitz Sadiq.