In 2015, in Gallup’s “State of the American Manager” report, then CEO and Chairman Jim Clifton made an assertion that startled many and quietly confirmed what others already suspected:
“Most CEOs I know honestly don’t care about employees or take an interest in human resources. Sure, they know who their stars are and love them—but it ends there. Since CEOs don’t care, they put little to no pressure on their HR departments to get their cultures right . . .”
Given the unique vantage point Clifton had into American business at the time, he offered a rather harsh and honest assessment. And, more than a decade later, the obvious question worth asking isn’t whether Clifton was right then. It’s whether top leaders are still operating as if he is right today.
If you ask the average American worker whether they feel their employer genuinely cares about them and their well-being, the majority will say no. Recent research shows that fewer than one-in-four strongly agree—a level roughly similar to pre-pandemic lows—and perceptions of care have steadily declined even as leaders insist they prioritize their employee experience.
In my new book, The Power of Employee Well-Being, and in articles I’ve recently written for Fast Company, I’ve argued that companies—and their leaders—must make a transformational pivot by prioritizing employee well-being as a core driver of performance.
Sadly, I’ve received many messages from readers suggesting I’m fighting a lost cause—that despite mountains of evidence, the leaders they work have no inclination to change. More often than not, they treat employee well-being as a complete and utter distraction from the “real work” of hitting goals and meeting targets.
I’ve heard this lament so many times that I had to ask myself why my message hasn’t gotten through. And my conclusion is that deep down, many leaders continue to fear that any support they give to their people will come at direct expense of productivity. Consciously or unconsciously, they’re convinced supporting well-being is a fool’s game.
Rarely stated outright, this belief system influences leaders’ decisions every day—how workloads are structured, how feedback is delivered, and how much time and energy are devoted to supporting employees in ways that make a difference. The problem is there’s a mountain of evidence that refutes this very fear. We now have irrefutable proof that well-being is one of the primary conditions that makes achieving goals possible.
Evidence Leaders Can’t Ignore
- Well-Being Drives Key Performance Metrics:
Drawing on 339 studies covering 1.8 million employees, a meta-analysis from the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre found a consistent and direct relationship between employee well-being and key business metrics—ones most leaders are directly on the line for: productivity, customer loyalty, employee retention, and profitability. - Well-Being Predicts Performance:
As separate reinforcement, a study in Population Health Management found that high employee well-being is a predictor of future productivity, lower absenteeism, reduced disability leave and lower turnover—even when controlling for other variables. Said another way, well-being doesn’t merely coexist with strong performance, it precedes it.
- Investment Boosts Profitability:
New research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) shows that organizations which meaningfully invest in employee well-being are four times more profitable than those that don’t—and are viewed far more positively by employees and job candidates.
- Well-Being Fuels Stock Growth
Irrational Capital analyzed S&P 500 companies over 11 years and found firms in the top 20% for employee well-being outperformed the bottom 20% in stock performance by nearly six percentage points annually. Companies that intentionally offered competitively better pay and benefits alone outperformed by just two points.
Why Resistant Leaders Are Wrong
Leading a team of people, and being accountable for its results, can feel formidable at times—and it’s a common response for managers to believe that pushing harder and demanding longer hours is a justified action. But humans are not machines who can work endlessly without meaningful separation from work and adequate rest. When workdays feel endless, and people feel a lack of empathy and support, their capacity to focus, solve complex problems, and collaborate effectively nose-dives. Creativity stalls, mistakes increase, and high-level goals become harder to achieve. In short, neglecting well-being directly undermines the very outcomes leaders need to achieve.
The High Cost of the Status Quo
Despite many leaders’ vows to prioritize their employee’s well-being, the current reality in our workplaces is stark. Recent surveys show burnout has reached epidemic levels, nearly 60% of American workers report feeling stressed “very often”—or “always” —on the job. And burnout is the leading reason employees quit. Consequently, mental health struggles are widespread with one in five workers reporting symptoms of depression directly linked to their workplace conditions.
And the stakes aren’t just emotional—ignoring well-being hits the bottom line. Replacing a burned-out employee can cost 1.5 to 2 times their annual salary, while disengaged or over-stressed workers lower productivity, slow innovation, and increase errors. In short, neglecting employee well-being isn’t just bad for people—it’s bad for business.
Leaders Won’t Fix This Overnight, But Must Take The First Steps
As the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, leaders must be realistic that they cannot solve all these conditions overnight. What they should do first is initiate support for their team’s well-being by addressing the specific things people crave most:
Emotional and Psychological Safety: Across multiple workforce studies, roughly 60% of employees say they want a culture where they can speak up without fear of negative consequences.
Belonging: Around 55% report that feeling part of a cohesive, collaborative team that values them personally is their top need.
Meaningful Work: About 50% prioritize having work they know connects to a larger purpose or makes a tangible impact.
Growth and autonomy: Neary half of employees—48%—seek support for skill development and more control over how they accomplish tasks.
More than a decade later, Jim Clifton’s jarring observation still resonates: many leaders have never cared because they’ve never thought they had to. But, ignoring employee well-being today puts leaders in direct peril. Well-being—something 84% of all U.S. workers now say is their number-one priority in life— isn’t a reward for hitting goals; it’s a condition for attaining them.
Organizations (and leaders) that invest in it see higher performance, retention, innovation, profitability, and market value. Those that don’t will fall behind, no matter how competitive their pay or perks.
The leaders who succeed in the next decade won’t choose between results and care. They’ll see this as a false dichotomy and embrace the new reality that thriving people sustainably produce uncommon results.
If this resonates, share it with a leader who needs to hear it.
Lead with care, and your organization will follow. Ignore it, and performance suffers. It’s really an easy choice.
