Episode 203: What if work genuinely enhanced your life? Reframing Wellbeing – Geoff McDonald, Former Global VP HR at Unilever, Wellbeing and Mental Health Advocate

Geoff poses the bold question: what if (like going on a run or eating a healthy meal) work genuinely enhanced your life? Reflecting on the evolution of his thinking around workplace wellbeing, Geoff champions the idea that organisations must create cultures where people feel safe, energised, and able to thrive. He shares how the pandemic sparked wider recognition of HR’s role in wellbeing and how energy - fuelled by health and purpose - should sit at the heart of business strategy.

Geoff challenges the current approach to wellbeing, questioning the impact of surface-level initiatives without addressing deeper cultural and structural issues. He calls for a shift from doing wellbeing to employees, to embedding it in an organisation - in leadership, systems and everyday practices. He highlights how short-term business pressures, outdated success measures and fear in the C-suite all contribute to wellbeing being undervalued.

As a practical step, Geoff suggests integrating wellbeing into development conversations - asking how people are doing physically, mentally and emotionally. He encourages HR leaders to think beyond wellbeing and to consider colleagues’ energy - and to recognise that the energy of an organisation’s people is its most valuable asset.