Happy Tuesday!

I’ve written about team momentum for you today, in part because of some work I am doing for a client. I hope you find it helpful. I’ve also shared what I posted on LinkedIn yesterday (you do follow and/or are connected with me, right?) about a specific situation that is really an example of a worrying trend. It is worth your time.

Thanks for the emails and notes about my Mother-in-law last week – they are much appreciated.

Make it a great Tuesday and remember…

You are Remarkable!

Kevin 😊

Improving Employee Well-Being Is More Than a Budget Line-Item

Some problems require money to solve. And because we are used to solving problems with money, we are seduced into assuming other problems have a money solution. This thinking affects us as individuals, businesses and governments.

Take the recent story about Deloitte and their $1,000/employee well-being subsidy. Along with gym memberships (and I presume many other things), in the fine print it apparently reads that employees get reimbursed for "Legos and puzzles.”

I applaud Deloitte (and other organizations) for recognizing the need to support the well-being of their employees, and I have nothing against Legos (or puzzles) as a way to relax. But throwing money at employee well-being, while well-meaning, misses the mark.

Reimbursing people for wellness activities can be part of the solution, but it addresses the wrong end of the problem. Like some medications, it addresses outcomes rather than root causes.

Ask yourself questions like:

• What are the root causes of poor or reduced employee well-being?

• Which of those are work related or work induced?

• What can we do to reduce or eliminate those causes?

Answering these questions will be harder than writing a check – but more illuminating – and likely help you improve far more in your business than employee well-being.

While I believe you will find the best answers by exploring these questions in your organization, here are some places to look:

• Work-Life Balance: How are work expectations, workload, and more impacting it? Are the boundaries at work clear? Is there flexibility in work schedules? Which of these are the biggest issues in your organization?

• Culture: Is there bullying in your workplace? Are leaders micromanaging? Do people find any joy in their work and their interactions with teammates? Can (and do) they interact with their teammates – outside of meetings? Do they feel like they belong and have a place at work?

• Leadership: Are communications clear? Do people know where they stand, how they are doing and what their future looks like? Do they understand the goals and purpose of the work? Are leaders a net positive to employee well-being – or not?

• Workplace environment: Are people physically safe? Do they feel psychologically safe? Do they have the tools they need to do their jobs most effectively?

This is a short list and is meant to help you get started. Notice that many of these areas can have a huge impact – positively or negatively – on the well-being of your team members.

And notice too if we address problems that might exist in these areas, we will likely get other significant boosts in quality, productivity, engagement and more.

Can we support our employees monetarily to help them with their well-being? Sure. But throwing money at outcomes isn’t the healthiest way, or even the most budget friendly way to address the well-being and mental fitness of our teams. Rather than (simply) creating a line item in the budget, leaders need to look in the mirror, look at the culture, and start with the root cause of the problems.

Building Team Momentum

The ball rolls down the hill and gains speed – that’s momentum driven by gravity. You see it in sports and a hundred other places – including on teams – and like that ball rolling down the hill it is driven by invisible (yet powerful) forces.

Team momentum is a powerful and invisible force that drives a team in a positive or negative direction. It can propel a team to greater success, performance, or accelerate a downward spiral to disengagement, turnover and a variety of other problems. While invisible, it is incredibly important.

Thanks for reading. Please reply at any time with questions or feedback for our team.

When you’re ready, here are a few ways we can help:

1. Work with me 1:1: Book a coaching or strategy session to help you achieve your goals for 2025 and beyond!

2. Book me for your next keynote or event: Not just “another keynote”, this is a message that inspires, engages and accelerates you, your team and organization to success!

3. Courses & workshops: check out our wide-array of learning opportunities - live & interactive workshops, micro and on-demand solutions and so much more.