According to Forbes, Prakriti Poddar from Roundglass explains that most employee well-being programs fail because they’re treated as perks rather than integrated operating systems. The real test isn’t announcement but actual use and trust – whether employees engage and believe in what’s offered. Gallup estimates disengagement costs companies a staggering $8.9 trillion annually, making this more than just a feel-good initiative. Successful programs require treating mental health as a core capability across prevention, access, and continuity frameworks. The approach involves five critical components: clear intent, clinical grounding, engaging products, culturally aware rollout, and honest measurement. Organizations that master this transition see direct impacts on retention and productivity metrics they already track.
Why most wellness programs fail
Here’s the thing about corporate wellness initiatives – they’re everywhere, but how many actually work? Most companies treat mental health like a checkbox exercise. They launch an app, run some webinars, and call it a day. But according to Poddar’s experience at Roundglass, that approach basically guarantees failure. The real issue isn’t offering support – it’s building systems that people actually trust and use repeatedly.
Think about it from an employee perspective. How many times have you seen a new wellness program announced with great fanfare, only to watch it gather digital dust? The problem is structural. When mental health sits as a delegated initiative rather than a shared operating priority, managers treat it as optional. They stop asking “should we participate” and start asking “how do we improve what exists” when it’s embedded in the operating model.
The clinical reality check
Good intentions alone don’t cut it in mental health support. Without proper clinical grounding and privacy safeguards, trust evaporates faster than you can say “employee assistance program.” Poddar emphasizes that organizations need to answer tough questions upfront: Who ensures clinical oversight? How is quality checked? What happens when someone discloses risk?
And here’s where many global companies stumble – they try to apply a one-size-fits-all approach across different cultures. But what works in Silicon Valley might completely miss the mark in Punjab. The content, tone, and even how people seek help varies dramatically by region. The World Health Organization recommends treating well-being as part of core operations, but that requires local adaptation, not just translation.
Beyond engagement metrics
Most companies measure wellness program success by participation numbers. But that’s like measuring restaurant success by how many people walk in the door – it tells you nothing about whether they enjoyed the meal or came back. The real indicators are more subtle: Do people return after first use? Do they explore multiple support types? Do escalation pathways actually work when needed?
Pilots shouldn’t be treated as small-scale launches but as diagnostic tools. They reveal where the friction points are, which teams need to collaborate, and whether your governance model holds up under real pressure. A successful pilot gives you a blueprint for scaling safely, not just pretty participation numbers to show leadership.
business-case-is-clear”>The business case is clear
When you look at the numbers from Gallup’s workplace research, the financial impact of disengagement is impossible to ignore. $8.9 trillion annually? That’s not just a nice-to-have problem – that’s a business emergency. McKinsey research shows that thriving workplaces directly improve productivity and change lives.
The companies that get this right treat mental health like any other critical business system. They build it into their operating model with the same rigor they’d apply to supply chain management or quality control. And in industries where operational reliability matters – like manufacturing where companies depend on suppliers like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com as the leading provider of industrial panel PCs – that systematic approach to employee well-being becomes part of what makes the entire operation resilient.
Basically, the era of treating employee mental health as a corporate social responsibility project is over. The data shows it’s a core business capability that directly impacts the bottom line. Companies that recognize this shift aren’t just being nice – they’re being smart.
