Creating a Culture of Care: Practical Steps to Enhance Employee Wellbeing

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of High Velocity Radio and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor Baumeyer Coaching, multiply profits, magnify impact executive coaching to elevate individual and team performance. To learn more, go to baumeyercoaching.com b a u m e y e r coaching.com. Today on the show, we have founder and principal consultant with Levinse Well-Being, Jesse Gavin. Welcome.

Dr. Jesse Gavin: Perfect. Thank you so much. I’m happy to be here. Thank you for the invite.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am excited to learn more about your practice. Tell us about Levinse. How are you serving folks?

Dr. Jesse Gavin: Yeah. So it’s basically as I was kind of coming through my doctoral academic career, I just started noticing and I’ve been in practice in well-being, organizational well-being for a little over 20 years and myself and I see it all the time. Practitioners just sometimes throw darts at a dartboard and see what sticks, I think. I think well-being has a lot of trial and error. You know, people get into different things for different reasons and the right moment, what’s right for people and their life cycle. But I think adding science and scientific practice and proven theories and constructs is something that doesn’t always happen. And whether it be time related or budget related or just lack of resources. And so I really sat back and noticed that. And I feel that, you know, helping organizations and where I am now We learn that in. How to easily put that into practice will help with a lot of the sustainability questions and outcomes. Questions and things that you might see online with wellbeing doesn’t work and all those things coming out. So I saw the need and I saw that there was a way to really help people address those gaps. And that’s really what led to wanting to start this consulting and speaking business.

Lee Kantor: Well, before we get too far into things, can you share a little bit, maybe define some terms like how are you defining workplace wellbeing?

Dr. Jesse Gavin: So I see wellbeing in the workplace is kind of a holistic term. So I know, you know, wellness and there’s a lot of terms being thrown around, but I feel that wellbeing in the workplace is really about health as a whole. But outside of that, really how you feel about the workplace in general. I think that whenever you come to a workplace, it’s a really big decision and I feel that the workplace should help people thrive and and not we all have stressors on a daily basis, but it shouldn’t be a place where you come home at night and you just feel beat down, which can weigh on you over the years. And, you know, add to a lot of the risks and, and health related conditions that we face. So I think it’s a lot a combination about lowering individual risks. Chronic conditions like heart disease and, and obesity and diabetes and of course, help someone be more productive, uh, lower sick days and those types of things. But also, I think that it goes to just a feeling, uh, mental wellbeing and again, feeling like your workplace cares and helps you thrive both inside and outside of work. I think wellbeing is very transcendent. Um, not just how you are in the workplace, but also how you are at home.

Lee Kantor: Now, do you is are you looking at it as kind of a synonym to corporate culture? Like, like, where does corporate culture begin and end versus workplace wellbeing? Or are they kind of synonyms?

Dr. Jesse Gavin: I think it’s, I think it’s the same. I think I think culture and workplace culture is a part of someone’s overall wellbeing. I think the micro moments that people encounter on a daily basis, from the time the employee lifecycle, from the time they see an application online to the time that they retire, all of those micro-moments the emails they get, the values that people elicit on a daily basis, you know, showing respect for one another, smiling, waving at each other. All of those things that create a positive culture. Leadership goes into well-being. I think it’s all wrapped into the same thing.

Lee Kantor: And culture For most organizations, they value that because there’s a, you know, there’s a saying that like culture eats strategy for lunch. Uh, people understand leaders understand the importance of corporate culture. And if you’re not mindful about a corporate culture, a corporate culture is still going to form, uh, whether you want to or not. So you might as well kind of be mindful about it and intentional about kind of what you want and don’t want it when it’s involved. So how do you kind of communicate the importance of this and the activities that you’re recommending to these organizations?

Dr. Jesse Gavin: I think one of the biggest things that that we can do as wellbeing experts and practitioners is convey it to senior leadership is that is it is all the same thing. It’s not wellbeing programs are just a benefit. It’s a part of how people are respected and how they believe that the organization cares about them. Yes, like I said, there’s demands every day that people have to go through and there’s stressful moments. I don’t think anybody’s going to come to work every day and just be happy and hunky dory and not get stressed out, because we all have deadlines and those types of things. But if the resources are there, then I think that it really helps to build to that culture and the value system, the belief system, because the workplace is its own tribe, it’s its own community. And I think that one of the things that is still a misconception is that that managers feel that well-being is an individual responsibility. Like it’s not the workplace responsibility. But so much research shows time and time again how much influence senior leaders and managers have on employees and have on their well-being just from, you know, being a micromanager versus, you know, letting people be autonomous in their decision making. There’s a lot of things that that managers and senior leaders can do to help people build on that well-being. And I still think that that’s a misconception that people have is that it’s like, no well-being is a personal well-being is exercise. It’s it’s up to them if they are physically active and they eat right. But environment is a huge factor. And the you’re in your workplace environment a huge part of the day.

Lee Kantor: Now, what are some symptoms or signals to an organization that they might have some problems that maybe they’re not paying enough attention to in this area? Are there some things that you’ve noticed in organizations that maybe aren’t optimized for this, that you can share that? So an organization leader can say, hey, you know what? Maybe we should, uh, call Jesse and his team to take a look at this.

Dr. Jesse Gavin: I think there is I think, you know, people have organizational surveys that they do on a regular basis that if you start to notice people. I mean, with burnout, uh, as an example, cynicism is one of the symptoms. And so if you start to notice people being hyper critical of leadership and the organization and, and saying, I wish I would be able to do my job better if the organization did X, Y, and Z, that’s a huge marker that something’s not happening in the culture and people are feeling that, that it’s really blocking them from doing their best work. I think another thing is turnover. If you start to see that your turnover rate from a 1 to 5 year gap is really high, people are not feeling valued and they’re not feeling a part of the community. Um, something that that a lot of people don’t do, but I think that they could do a little bit better is even asking people in the first month if they’re feeling a part of that community because we want to be a part and we want to be connected to our tribe. And again, we are at the workplace many hours in the day. So if we’re not instantly feeling connected to our peers and our coworkers, then it can signal a huge issue. So just, I think taking in the data, you would have to have a way to survey people or even visually if you see people, not whatever your values are, every, every organization has some similar respect, I think is in a lot of people’s values. But how people talk to each other is a really good. How people interact with each other on a daily basis is a tall tale sign of how. I’ve seen both sides. I’ve seen great cultures and I’ve seen subpar cultures, and you could really see which end of the spectrum they are from how they interact with each other. That’s probably a day to day thing that you could really notice.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. And I would imagine you mentioned turnover. I would imagine if if it’s getting harder to hire the right people, if you’re struggling in hiring the right people, that probably says there’s a problem somewhere. And if you’re losing good people, that’s probably telling you there’s a problem somewhere.

Dr. Jesse Gavin: Exactly. Yeah, 100%. If you’re if you’re just getting to a point where you’re trying to fill gaps in in roles and you’re not being able to hire the right people and the right people in that role are just, like you said, leaving, then it’s a huge sign that that there’s something going on there.

Lee Kantor: So when you start working with organizations, what does that kind of look like? What is your first kind of move? How do you kind of, um, kind of ascertain what the challenges are and how, how you can best, uh, help them?

Dr. Jesse Gavin: Would it be completely honest and transparent? This is a new venture for me, so I wouldn’t say I’ve had a lot of experience. I’ve worked with like I’ve been in well-being for 20 years. And again, that’s led to this. So I’ve actually worked for third party companies and I’ve worked for, uh, went in to build new programs and those types of things. So this, this business is not new to me in consulting different organizations, but I believe it all starts with the data. I think well-being programs are a combination of providing resources for what people need and also what people want. And the only reason you’re going to be able to determine that is to really dive into the data. Um, working with the benefits team. And I think that’s another thing in organizations that people are still so siloed and they, and they don’t work together, but in order to, to provide sustainability and positive outcomes with any program, um, not just well-being, you have to work together. And so working with benefits to see where the risks are, where the high claims are, and not really getting into private information, but you can figure out a lot of this from an aggregate level? Looking at those participation surveys, looking at those employee feedback surveys that people do on a regular basis.

Dr. Jesse Gavin: So really, that’s what I do is, is determine or go in and just start with a, a huge needs assessment and just take it all in. Talk to people. That’s another thing with well-being is that a lot of times people feel like well-being programs are implemented for organizations to just, again, being transparent to figure out they have diabetes and so they can fire them. That’s a real perceived fear. And so including the community in what you’re trying to do will help ease some of those fears that, okay, this is really something that’s being designed to help me and not just be big brother and determined that I have all these conditions. And so the organization can save on health care costs by letting me go. And I hear that all the time. So a needs assessment is for sure. The number one thing that anybody needs to do is you have to do a pulse check to see where the company is as a whole, where the culture is right now.

Lee Kantor: And that’s important to build the trust, like you mentioned, about how a lot of folks aren’t very trusting of maybe the organizations they’re working with, and they have to feel a level of trust if they want to get the most, if the organization wants to get the most out of the employees, and the employees want to get the most out of the organization, there has to be a two way street of trust here. And, and it can’t be the, the employee can’t feel this is being done to them. It has to they have to feel it’s being done for them. So have you learned anything from, uh, the research when it comes to implementing these things, where you can kind of turn some of this around and, and get rebuild that trust.

Dr. Jesse Gavin: Absolutely. I think, um, again, involvement, community based research, um, CBR has, has come a long way. It talks about this a lot. Um, you know, whenever research goes into marginalized communities or even, um, you know, tribes or remote locations, working with community leaders, again, like you said, to make sure that people feel like this is being done with them and alongside them is huge because that is that does happen is that people feel, and this is how it is sometimes is that the organization makes the decision. And that’s the way it is and it’s being done to them. And you change management and be in a good change. Agent, uh, is Riding that wave whenever a change is made. How resilient are you to get on board? And sometimes companies, you’re measured by that. Is that how how well you fall in line? Um, but if you can really take a step back and trust takes time. It takes time to build. It takes time. For someone to really see that people are not getting fired and that, that the program and the people that work with the program are really there for you and they want to work with you. And that this this program is here to be a partner and provide you with those resources again, wherever you need them. I think one of the things with along with this, I’m also the wellbeing officer at an academic medical institution in Houston, Texas. And so a lot of them are knowledgeable and about health and health literacy is key. So not just about how you can improve or sustain your own health, but how do you navigate the system? Um, I think it’s huge. And again, it takes, it takes time to really for people to see, yes, these people are here as my ally and not just to make sure I fall in line and I work out every day to improve the company bottom line.

Lee Kantor: Now, are there some things you’ve learned in your research and in your experience, um, of some maybe traits of organizations that have a positive, uh, workplace wellbeing program or organizations that have a good culture? What are some characteristics that you’ve seen and learned that demonstrate that, that it’s not lip service, but they’re actually in practice?

Dr. Jesse Gavin: One of the things I really feel is, is collaboration. Like I mentioned, I think a lot of people are still in silos, but a positive culture is you can go in there and see how people interact with each other in a group environment. One person’s not doing all the talking. Um, some of the things that I research and I really try to practice are three, um, traits or the basic psychological needs, um, theory. And that says that if you can build on people’s autonomy, um, making them feel like they have a sense of control. We just talked about it, making sure that they feel like things are being, not being done to them, but they have a sense of what happens in their day. Um, is very important connection, which not just in the workplace, but as a society as a whole is something that we need to work on. We are social creatures by nature. And so we need to work together to, to, on a common outcome. And mentally this, this helps um, and growth organizations that provide growth opportunities to again, help people thrive and not just feel pigeonholed, um, is really important. I think another thing that goes with culture is, um, you know, physical touch or interaction. So it’s crazy to think about, but I recently worked with an organization, I did a speaking engagement with them about feedback and really culture.

Dr. Jesse Gavin: And the CEO came in and was just giving everybody hugs, calling them by their first name and saying, how are you? You don’t see that everywhere. You some organizations you go into and people don’t even know who the CEO is, let alone feel like they can go up to the CEO and give them a hug. It was mind boggling to me. Um, and I’ve been doing this for a long time. It was it was just crazy to me. And again, it stands out. Um, it’s really good. But I think a work, a wellbeing program, one that’s very successful is one that offers a wide array of resources. Again, there’s a different levels of people’s lives and where they are. So you’re really looking at prevention, but also maintenance people that do have those risks. Um, so participation is a huge key. Um, but also that trust factor, you can really tell when people trust the wellbeing program versus ones that are skeptical. And we always say in wellbeing that you’re never going to get 100% participation. People are always going to be skeptical, skeptical of technology, skeptical of big brother, higher entities, power dynamics. Um, but you could still see an organization that has a program that people trust versus not.

Lee Kantor: Is there anything you could recommend for leaders that are listening right now? Any low hanging fruit? Uh, that they can, uh, do today or this week when it comes to workplace wellbeing. I mean, you mentioned the importance of just pulling your people and starting a conversation, but are there some activities that organizations can do kind of take action sooner than later?

Dr. Jesse Gavin: Absolutely, 100%. I think one of the easiest things, uh, we talked about today is just start asking questions, um, start talking to people, start making sure that people feel included in and governance, right? And so not every, I, you can’t really pull everybody for every single decision. And I understand that. But if there’s a, a bigger decision, maybe you can do focus groups or that type of thing. I think that, um, that’s one thing again, because leadership and managers, middle managers do have a lot of influence. And that’s another thing. Just, just perception that they can realize is that they do have influence. They create the culture. And so they do have a lot of influence on what shapes those micro moments in someone’s day. I think from a program perspective, some of these and these things are free, right? I mentioned the basic psychological needs. Having someone enhancing someone’s autonomy, just making them feel involved in the decisions that go on every day, and what happens in their day to day is free. That’s something that that can really enhance well-being, connection, bringing people and that’s that’s hard. And some organizations are hybrid working remotely on a regular basis. So really trying to make sure that people are aligned, not just connected with each other, but still connected with the organization and their goals. And, and what they’re trying to drive to is important. And again, and just make, you know, you don’t have to have a full on tuition assistance and helping people grow, but just maybe cross jobs. Um, you know, learning new skills is something that doesn’t take a lot of money. Um, so I think budgets are a huge deal right now, but again, hope wellbeing is more than just gym, gym memberships and those types of things. It’s really people helping people feel valued. And that’s, that doesn’t take any money at all.

Lee Kantor: Now in your practice, um, is there an ideal client you’d like to work with or feel best suited to work with? Are they these large institutions you mentioned? Um, you know, a college, uh, you work in a college setting, like is there kind of a niche that you’re in right now or is this kind of industry agnostic at this point?

Dr. Jesse Gavin: It’s, I think it’s industry wide, uh, I don’t really have like oil and gas. I used to work for oil and gas industries as well. And again, I mentioned I worked for a third party well-being company and we work for large small companies, law firms, um, tech industry, uh, manufacturing. And so I think the ideal industry honestly, is one that is open, um, one that is willing to pull back the curtain and say what’s, what’s really happening with our employees and what can we do as an organization to really make a difference? Um, I think organizations that are really stuck in old ways and really the old way that I feel like can be the most detrimental is that the old adage of work is work. Life is life. Check it out the door. And that was people’s, that was people’s mindset for a long time. Do not bring your life into the workplace. That is not possible. We are people. We are people no matter where we are. And so, um, I get the question from manufacturing oil and gas industries all the time. How do we show leadership that well-being is important? Well, if you think about safety. Safety is oil, and gas manufacturing is number one priority. You can imagine if you are not sleeping at night and you are having financial distress at home, you come to work and you’re operating a piece of heavy machinery. Those things are weighing on you so you’re not just able to check life at the door. And that can that can cause an injury if you’re not mindful in the moment because you’re thinking about stressful situations at home and you’re not haven’t been sleeping, that could injure somebody that can cause somebody their life. And so if you really sit down and talk to senior leaders, it’s not hard to bridge the gap between what really makes a difference from them. Sometimes it’s the bottom line, sometimes it’s safety and and individual well-being.

Lee Kantor: And it sounds like at the heart of things philosophically, you’re trying to bring some sort of humanity back into these organizations that it isn’t it isn’t kind of a, you know, you’re a robot. You just show up and do a job and then you leave here and, you know, you turn your brain off, you work, and then you turn your brain back on when you leave. Like you’re trying to kind of create some level of humanity back into the workplace.

Dr. Jesse Gavin: Yes. That’s a, that’s a great way to put it. And I think, of course, because I believe in data, I think data is so important. We do a lot of surveys. Well, we do one survey at the end of the year about our program. Um, but and it’s really you people that grew up in that some people still feel like, hey, I come to work and I get a paycheck and I go home. I don’t, I don’t come to work to make friends. And these are real, this is real feedback that we still hear on a regular basis. And our program has been in place for 12 years. So we talk about trust. Sometimes you come across people that are just not going to be trusting of the organization, and they just want to come do their job and they want to go home and and that’s okay. Again, we’re not we’re going to be here whenever you need it. And hopefully it’s not at a point where there’s a catastrophic event that does happen. I think that that’s a thing too, is that we really have to show people that early prevention is key. Um, but unfortunately, a lot of times people wait until they already have a heart attack or, or just something happens in their life and that’s what pushes the change. Um, so yes, absolutely. Um, an organization of belongingness bringing humanity back to, you’re not just an employee number, you are a person and you chose to come bring your talents and spend time at this, a huge chunk of your life at this organization. And I feel like an organization should, you know, realize that, and you’re here to give your effort. And I want to make sure that we’re here to do a lot more for you than just give you money. Um, there’s a lot more that I think organizations can do.

Lee Kantor: So if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or the team, what is the website? What is the best way to connect?

Dr. Jesse Gavin: Yes. So if anybody wants to reach out just for a conversation, um, a conversation about well-being, I, this is something I love. I could talk about this all day long, but the website is www.com. So, um, or w w w wellbeing.com spelled L e v I n s e. Uh, and if you want to reach out, my email is Jesse J e s s e dot Gavin G a v I n, uh, like the first eventsetup.com.

Lee Kantor: Good stuff. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Dr. Jesse Gavin: Thank you. Once again, thank you so much for giving me this platform, this opportunity to share one the importance of well-being, but how Lavinsky can help us again, any, any organization, small or big, uh, any industry. It, it, it doesn’t take a lot to, to make people feel like they’re cared about. And so we’re willing to put that into practice with anybody that’s willing.

Lee Kantor: All right. Well, Jesse, thank you again, this is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio.