Beyond the Buzzword: What Wellness Really Means

Contributor: Gord Hart, Senior Vice President, Sales & Growth, Group Benefits and Financial Services

The concept of "wellness" has grown to become quite the buzzword among businesses and employees. But what does it really mean? What encompasses the ever-growing idea of wellness?

While the term is often tossed around as a staple of positive workplace culture and standard employee benefits, its true meaning, and the complexity behind it, often remains misunderstood.

The reality of true wellness goes beyond a surface level definition. It’s not about simply offering gym memberships or health spending accounts. Rather, wellness is a multifaceted concept entailing physical, mental, financial, social and career well-being. To address and exemplify wellness within a workforce, so that it’s truly felt—and lived—by its employees, leadership must adopt a comprehensive and intentional approach that aligns with the diverse needs and challenges of their employees.

The Many Dimensions of Wellness

While it’s true that regular exercise and proper nutrition are conducive to achieving wellness, it doesn’t stop there. Approaching wellness holistically is the key to living a lifestyle that’s founded on wellness.

Employers have the ability to enable this holistic approach when they support the many dimensions of wellness as outlined below:

Physical Wellness: Supporting employees in maintaining healthy lifestyles through access to fitness programs and plans, ergonomic tools and equipment, and preventive healthcare initiatives such as virtual care options or broader coverage for services like physiotherapy and massage.
Mental Wellness: Addressing the increasing prevalence of stress, anxiety, and burnout by normalizing conversations about mental health, fostering supportive workplace cultures that advocate for strong work-life balance, and providing affordable access to services like therapy and counselling.
Social Wellness: Creating inclusive and diverse work environments where employees feel connected and valued, empowered to share ideas and innovate, and can build strong relationships.
Financial Wellness: Often overlooked, this critical dimension involves helping employees manage their financial health. Many Canadians face significant stress related to debt, insufficient savings, or lack of financial literacy. Employers can address this by offering resources such as budgeting workshops, financial planning services, and retirement savings programs.
Career Wellness: Encouraging and empowering employees to grow professionally through learning and development such as upskilling opportunities, mentorship programs, and clear pathways for career advancement.

The Business Case for Wellness

Investing in wellness isn’t just a feel-good initiative; it’s a strategic imperative. In today’s evolving workforce, Canadian employers are recognizing that comprehensive wellness programs can deliver measurable returns across multiple areas of business performance:

Reduced absenteeism and presenteeism

When employees are supported in their physical and mental health, they show up more consistently and contribute more meaningfully. According to the 2024 TELUS Health Mental Health Index1, physically active employees lost 14 fewer workdays annually than their sedentary peers. Those who felt unsupported in their physical wellness lost an average of 23 more workdays to reduced productivity.

Higher employee engagement and productivity

Employee well-being is directly tied to output and morale. A 2023 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report2 highlights that organizations with strong mental health and well-being initiatives see measurable gains in employee productivity, often ranging between 10-15%. This aligns with findings from other Canadian workplace studies, such as the 2021 Sun Life Workplace Wellness Study3 showing that investing in wellness positively impacts engagement and performance.

Improved talent retention and recruitment

In a competitive hiring landscape, wellness offerings help employers stand out. A 2024 report by Dialogue & Environics Research4 found that 43% of HR professionals observed improved retention tied to wellness programming, and 29% of employees said these initiatives increased their desire to stay with their employer.

Lower healthcare costs

Beyond engagement and retention, wellness programs can also reduce long-term healthcare spending. According to the same 2024 report by Dialogue & Environics Research4, 40% of Canadian HR professionals noted that their well-being initiatives helped reduce costs associated with absenteeism and benefits claims.

Similarly, the 2021 Sun Life Brightpaper on Wellness Study3 found that Canadian organizations with structured wellness strategies reported a return of up to $3 for every $1 invested in employee health and wellness programs—primarily due to fewer disability claims and reduced benefit utilization.

Moving Wellness From Intention to Action

As one of Canada’s leading commercial brokerages and financial services firms, Navacord is committed to helping employers redefine what workplace wellness looks like. Addressing a lack of wellness in your workplace is not an easy task, but it is a necessary one. Thankfully, Navacord’s advisors are here to help guide your business through the complexities, so your people feel supported enough across all the dimensions of wellness—meaning they have the capacity to focus on what matters in order to help your business thrive.

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