The Workplace Wellness Leadership Summit was a first-of-its-kind convening hosted in partnership between IWBI and the Garrison Institute.
On May 17, 2019, I arrived in New York City jet-lagged and a bit ungrounded. I had just taken a 30-hour flight from South Africa to the U.S. and said goodbye to my partner. After a spirited weekend of friendship and exploration, I headed up the Hudson Valley to attend the Workplace Wellness Leadership Summit, a first-of-its-kind convening hosted in partnership between the International WELL Building Institute and the Garrison Institute.
The summit was exactly what I needed. I had just finished a year of exploratory wellness programming in South Africa, which the Indigo Wellness Index recently named the most unhealthy country in the world. My particular focus was on introducing trauma-informed mindfulness practices to communities. While it was an incredible growth experience as a facilitator, it was also lonely and difficult to offer appropriate support with limited resources.
When I arrived at the summit, I eased into the Garrison Institute’s natural and restorative setting, giving my mind space to lean into the summit’s innovative programming. Connecting with fellow attendees, with whom enthusiasm and conversation flowed with ease, also helped me reconnect with myself. I was inspired to see that leaders from companies like Walmart, Aetna and SAP came to the summit to share insights from their wellness and inclusion programs and discuss the future of human-centered workplaces. It felt so good to geek out on the ROI of corporate mindfulness and creative business models aimed at helping more people feel human at work. The experience helped me integrate my South African experience into a bigger world picture of health and gain better insight into connecting people and resources.
For me, Kay Sargent, the Senior Principal of WorkPlace at HOK, was the highlight of the conference. Kay spoke primarily on the forthcoming motivation for workplaces to better accommodate neurodiverse talent. Neurodivergence accounts for 15-20 percent of people and includes autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia, among others. Kay reminded us that while many individuals who fall into the neurodiverse category receive accommodations while in school, these same considerations disappear in the corporate world, often leaving highly capable and intelligent people in a workplace where their talents are not fully revealed or adequately supported.
This reality, however, is changing. Primarily motivated by innovation-driven corporates to win the “war on talent,” companies such as SAP, Microsoft, Deloitte and IBM are investing in their HR practices and workplace environments to attract and retain neurodiverse workers. A shift in hiring combined with a more human-centered approach to design and management is helping corporations become both inclusive and innovative.
As a late millennial, I felt validated and relieved by the tone of this summit. Millennials make up the largest proportion of the U.S. labor force (35 percent), and while many institutions bemoan the requests of this generation, attendees and speakers at the summit predominantly see requests for healthier, more inclusive cultures as rooted in efforts to enhance wellness and equity. In exchange for the intense education that top candidates achieve for a spot in America’s top companies, workers today want to treat their bodies in a sustainable way and to be recognized for unique abilities. As Kay succinctly put it, “Your highest performers will leave first if they think the workplace is toxic.”
I believe that giving a voice to all people and their diverse ways of thinking is a crucial next step towards creating truly inclusive workplaces. I came away from the summit even more firm in my belief that all workspaces must find ways to support physical and mental wellbeing; that all hiring practices need to support discovery of unique talents; and that the health of a business is inextricably connected to the health of the people who show up to work for it every day. These are not radical ideas — they are basic and human.
About the author
Erin Lee Henshaw is an international mindfulness facilitator and entrepreneur, as well as the co-founder of The Mind Body Project, an initiative that creates science-backed mindfulness programs for schools, companies and communities. Contact her at: erin@themindbodyproject.com