Katie Pace: A question for all panelists \u2013 how do you define wellbeing today?<\/strong><\/p>\n CRB:<\/strong> Wellbeing isn\u2019t the absence of disease. It\u2019s really creating conditions that allow people to function at their highest possible levels.<\/p>\n AV:<\/strong> As an HR business partner, wellbeing is empowering our employees with the tools and resources to make sure not only that they can bring their best selves to work, but have the full, holistic gamut of physical and mental wellbeing support that they may need.<\/p>\n GS:<\/strong> Traditionally companies have focused on physical wellbeing, like preventing illness \u2013 but we\u2019re now broadening those dimensions to incorporate physical, emotional, cognitive, spiritual, financial \u2013 anything that may impact an employee\u2019s ability to function and be well. Maintaining a healthy level of function across multi dimensions of health would be how I define wellbeing today.<\/p>\n KP:<\/strong> This past spring, results from our latest study of global leaders revealed something we found quite surprising \u2013 that their top workplace concern in the coming year will be employee wellbeing. A lot of people might be wondering, why have leaders elevated the issue of wellbeing to the top of their list now?<\/p>\n KP: Amy, let\u2019s start with you \u2013 what\u2019s happened to cause leaders to prioritize wellbeing in the workplace?<\/strong><\/p>\n AV:<\/strong> People are the heart of our company, and they\u2019re the ones working on our promise to deliver mRNA medicines to patients. We grew quickly during the pandemic \u2013 going from about 500 Massachusetts-based employees to almost 5,000 global employees in 20 different countries. The cost of hiring new employees \u2013 training and onboarding time \u2013 is critical to our business and our mission. If we don\u2019t put our employees and their evolving needs at the forefront, we\u2019re going to miss out. Retention is a key factor in our ability to deliver medicines, and that will continue to be significant. Top of mind for our leadership teams is how our employees are doing. We are transparent in that we expect a lot of our employees, performance-wise, and making sure we have the tools, benefits, and ensuring that we\u2019re constantly listening to their needs is key to our success in the future.<\/p>\n KP: Gary, why do you think wellbeing has moved to the top of leaders\u2019 priorities?<\/strong><\/p>\n GS:<\/strong> I think it\u2019s important to recognize that employees are really a company\u2019s only renewable resource. Employees are impacted by things happening in the workplace \u2013 both positive and negative \u2013 and things happening outside \u2013 things in their personal lives and globally. When you boil it down, it\u2019s a human person performing a task. So often, we think of the tasks themselves, but we lose sight of the employee. Are they coming to work physically, emotionally and cognitively healthy? Can they function socially with their leaders and coworkers so they can continue to perform at a high level? We must be cautious as a company to make sure we\u2019re not doing things that make our employees less healthy, and at the same time look at how we can enhance the health of our employee population.<\/p>\n KP: Gallup research has revealed people don\u2019t believe their organization cares about their wellbeing. Yet leaders are telling us it\u2019s their top priority? Carol, what do you think is causing this disconnect?<\/strong><\/p>\n CRB:<\/strong> Nothing will sharpen your focus when it comes to health and wellbeing like a pandemic. In fact, we\u2019re still seeing signs of PTSD from the pandemic. All our patterns were disrupted. We got used to cocooning, when we really needed to expand our interactions. Even though things are slowly returning to normal and COVID is at bay, we\u2019re still kind of cocooning and that\u2019s not a healthy thing for us because humans are really wired to connect. Businesses want to get their people back in the office, which sounds self-serving. To an employee, they may think the reason is just so their boss can keep a closer eye on them, or they may feel more pressure to perform and be present in the office. But companies also want to create culture. You can create culture virtually, but it\u2019s harder \u2013 you can read body language when you\u2019re in-person, you can see if someone\u2019s not responding well to something that\u2019s being discussed. Those are things you can\u2019t do in a virtual meeting. So I think for a lot of employees, it may seem like control. However, many companies want to foster a relationship between teammates and between the company and the employee. Companies want that positive, productive culture and they feel like they\u2019ll get that if people are in person where they can create ties to one another, as well as the company.<\/p>\n KP: We know our environment can have a profound impact on our wellbeing. What can be done in the built environment to have a positive impact on human health? Carol, you have studied this topic as a designer for many years \u2013 what have you learned?<\/strong><\/p>\n CRB:<\/strong> Over the years I\u2019ve created a mnemonic device for wellness: ABCD. \u2018A\u2019 stands for active design. \u2018B\u2019 stands for biophilia. \u2018C\u2019 stands for community and \u2018D\u2019 stands for daylight.<\/p>\n A: Active Design<\/strong><\/p>\n We all know exercise is good for your body. We also know through other research that exercise is great for neuron growth in the part of your brain that deals with memory and cognition. Being sedentary all day long leads to body responses that can create a foundation for long term chronic disease. Making it easier for people to change postures, take advantage of alternate work settings – like sit-stand desks<\/a> that combat the negative effects of sitting in one place for too long – are all good things. There\u2019s another feature of \u2018A\u2019 that I\u2019ll call awe. Awe is one of those things that when you walk into a space, you feel like you\u2019re part of something bigger. That\u2019s important, too. We know studies have shown that the more people feel awe in a space, the more it activates their curiosity, which in turn helps them perform better.<\/p>\n B: Biophilia<\/strong> C: Community<\/strong> D: Daylight<\/strong> KP: Amy, Moderna has been doing some piloting work with spaces \u2013 can you tell us about them and what you\u2019ve learned.<\/strong><\/p>\n AV:<\/strong> We\u2019ve had an interesting problem over the pandemic \u2013 with our mission to get the Covid vaccine to patients around the world, we\u2019ve hired amazing talent, and in fact, more people than fit back into our spaces. We have a lot of different personas of employees at Moderna. Our researchers, scientists and manufacturing teams never left the office during the pandemic, but those of us in corporate functions did have the flexibility to work from home. As we think about returning to work, we do believe in an in-person culture \u2013 collaboration, mentorship and innovation being some of the benefits that come with being in-person. But we knew this would be a big exercise in change management \u2013 getting people to adjust to having colleagues working next to each other and having shared spaces<\/a> and desks. It\u2019s quite a mission to think about how we fit into our new spaces, and what\u2019s important to each employee and team now. For us, the key aspect was allowing employees to have a voice when going on this change journey and bringing people along and letting them know we do care about their wellbeing, productivity and experience in the office.<\/p>\n We really were trying to understand what are the preferences and focus areas of individuals and teams and what are the communal spaces and how will those be used? Our researchers and scientists prefer the focus lounges and shielded focus areas that allowed them to do heads-down work and signal when they were busy. Whereas a lot of the personas in our corporate groups appreciated the collaboration spaces for touchdowns in between meetings.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/c_limit,dpr_auto,q_70,h_1024,w_1024\/v1700589404\/23-0221945.jpg\")
\nAnother way to lower stress and blood pressure and restore both mental and physical energy is to be exposed to nature. Biophilia literally means the love of nature. Even a five-minute exposure to nature or nature analog \u2013 a natural material \u2013 makes our cortisol levels drop, our blood pressure drop. If you are feeling stressed or you\u2019re stuck on something, go outside for a five-minute walk in a natural setting \u2013 you\u2019ll feel a little bit better afterward \u2013 for good reason.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/c_limit,dpr_auto,q_70,h_1024,w_1024\/v1700589486\/23-0221943.jpg\")
\nAnxiety and depression have always been a part of society, but during the pandemic they became much worse. Human connection really lies at the heart of human wellbeing. From the moment we\u2019re born, one way we measure success in life is by our social connections \u2013 having a network of friends, being close to family, etc. We\u2019re wired to connect. We seek belonging and attachment to feel worthy and feel loved. Loneliness has the same neural signature that going without food does. So, creating environments that allow people to engage in an activity or that allow them to be exposed to things going on around them, help us make connections and not feel so lonely.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/c_limit,dpr_auto,q_70,h_1024,w_1024\/v1700589551\/23-0221942.jpg\")
\nEach of our major organs has a clock that’s regulated by a master clock in our brain \u2013 the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). That master clock creates a circadian rhythm and it regulates all of our body systems. Our blood pressure rises and falls during certain times of the day, hormones rise and fall \u2013 all of these are automatic functions we don\u2019t think about. And they\u2019re all regulated by daylight. It comes from when we were hunter-gatherers and most of what we did was during daylight hours when the sun illuminated our world. The lightbulb is a relatively new invention, so for most of our history our activities were regulated by the sun. Because of that, our bodies still run by where the sun is during the day. Morning light is blue in color, so your SCN reads this and gives you a shot of cortisol \u2013 wakes you up and sends you on your day. Evening light is yellow in color, so your SCN reads that and gives you shot of melatonin to prepare you for a night of sleep and restoration. When we\u2019re in rooms that don\u2019t have a lot of natural daylight, our bodies are searching for those cues and they\u2019re not getting them. Making sure we\u2019re washing daylight as deeply into space as we can becomes important to make sure that everyone has daylight equity.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.steelcase.com\/image\/upload\/c_limit,dpr_auto,q_70,h_1024,w_1024\/v1700589620\/23-0221941.jpg\")
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