reasonable to expect to be treated with fundamental human regard, pay equity, and a recognition of our intrinsic worth.
The Rise of Wellness, DEI, and Purpose at Work
Given the ways in which work can be distorted from “enhancing our capacity to love,” it is no surprise that we have seen the rise of corporate wellness programs to cope, and, in some ways, to re-create, the social capital that was once found in neighborhoods, churches, and community centers. Corporate wellness to reinstate more balance into work life has been around for more than forty years. Johnson & Johnson's Live for Life program, often referenced as the prototype for corporate worksite wellness programs, was started in 1979 and was seen as groundbreaking, offering their employees on-site access to behavior modification tools and educating them on topics such as stress management and nutrition. In 2008, Johnson & Johnson acquired the Human Performance Institute, founded by Dr. Jim Loehr and Dr. Jack Groppel. Corporate wellness programs have become the norm for many US-based companies; over 80% of companies in the US with more than 50 employees offer some sort of corporate wellness benefit. The global coronavirus pandemic accelerated the urgency with which corporations addressed the fundamental mental well-being of their workforce. When offices closed and much of corporate work went virtual, millions of people found themselves not working from home, but living at work.
In addition to the rise of wellness programs, we have seen diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs take on new meaning and urgency with #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo movements in the past decade. Every single company listed in the Fortune 1000 has some form of DEI initiative in place, and many are taking moves to publish transparency reports. In 2003 an MIT professor noted that US companies spend about $8 billion dollars per year on diversity programs.
The impact and outcome of these programs seem less robust. Black people account for approximately 12% of the population in the US, but in 2019 only accounted for .8% of all Fortune 500 CEOs according to the Center for Talent Innovation. In 2020, the New York Times conducted research on the leaders of industries across the US, from heads of police and military chiefs to heads of universities, news outlets, music producers, and sports team owners. They concluded that 80% of the most powerful people in the US are White. And an almost equally large number were men. In terms of career progression, Asian women are most likely to be individual contributors at 73%, and only 2% of Asian women make it to the executive level, while 4% of White women make it to the highest ranks.
We have seen the rise of language about meaning and purpose in work. More than 70% of millennials expect their employers to focus on societal or mission-driven problems. In 2018, BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink made headlines when he asserted, “Society is demanding that companies, both public and private, serve a social purpose.” A year later the Business Roundtable announced that 181 CEOs signed a statement committing their companies to the benefit of all stakeholders, customers, employees, suppliers, communities, and shareholders. Organizations are appointing purpose officers and creating purpose statements tied to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in record numbers. And we know from the 2021 Deloitte Global Marketing Trends survey of 2,447 global consumers that consumers notice when companies behave in a purpose-driven way. Almost 80% of respondents were able to recall certain brands responding to COVID-19 by helping their customers, workforces, and communities.
Purpose at work matters, whether it is an organizational, team, or individual purpose, with a variety of reports tying purpose to company performance, valuation, or return on equity. Stephen Covey is often credited for initiating and championing the purpose movement in the 1970s. Covey said, “There are certain things that are fundamental to human fulfillment … to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy.” He goes on to say that these are all related to the human need for fulfillment and purpose. CEOs are taking up the challenge to create purposeful work. According to the 2019 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report, for the first time ever, CEOs cited societal impact (diversity, inequality, and the environment) as the top factor used to measure success when evaluating annual performance. But what many of these efforts focused on purpose lack is a perspective on the fundamental human need to feel loved and worthy at work.
While the current taxonomy in the corporate workplace of wellness, diversity, equity and inclusion, and purpose take much-needed steps in the right direction, I believe that the discrete parts of these corporate programs do not add up to the true worth of each of us as human beings. How could they when our workplaces are a part of our culture that privileges the few over the many and when almost half of us show up struggling to feel worthy before we even start the day? Programs that promote wellness, DEI, and purpose each play a meaningful part in the journey to recognizing individuals' worth at work, but stop short of recognizing the fundamental human need to love and be loved. To flourish. Something central to the human experience is missing in our ability to feel worthy inside and outside of work. I believe that thing is love.
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