By taking decisive steps towards building a healthy workforce, organizations will not only benefit employees but also enhance performance. Executives often view employee health and well-being programmes as a cost rather than as a strategic opportunity with a positive ROI. This report aims to change that. Yet, many executives would not know where to begin even if they were convinced of the need for change. Where to start? Six principles to address employee health Each organization has unique needs and opportunities to address employee health and well-being, based on size, organizational set-up, geographic spread and level of resources. This report suggests six simple principles each organization could follow to create a successful employee health and well-being intervention portfolio: 1. Understand the baseline and value at stake: As described in Briefing 3A, start by assessing the baseline health status of employees through surveys. Alongside the baseline, it is important for each organization to understand the potential value of revising a workforce strategy and the risks associated with doing nothing. 2. Develop initiatives for a sustainable healthy workforce: One-off efforts will not build a healthy workforce. Achieving sustainable results requires a long-term, systemic approach with high-quality, evidence-based interventions.97 This should be complemented by a clear vision of what the organization is attempting to solve, leading to a targeted approach to improving health, in alignment with the overall organizational strategy. Short-term projects may yield immediate benefits, but real change comes from a complete plan that includes clear leadership behaviours and effective tools. The updated strategy can then build on current efforts, such as programmes focused on diversity and inclusion and psychological well- being. This strategy should be sponsored by the board and empower lower-level teams to drive autonomous, aligned interventions.3. Pilot interventions to test and learn: Deploy, test and learn. Set up pilot programmes to try out and refine strategies. This allows for targeted testing, continuous improvement, learning from failures and ensuring that only the most effective interventions are scaled. Begin with small, manageable programmes addressing immediate needs to start building momentum and create longer-term impact. Interventions do not need to be complicated – simple actions, such as encouraging employees to take “movement breaks” during work or training managers to discuss mental health with their teams, can be highly effective. Shift away from offering reactive interventions at an individual level in favour of implementing more proactive interventions, especially those aimed at teams. 4. Track three to five metrics to measure success: Start with three to five KPIs that drive workforce health and organizational performance, ideally ones already tracked or easy to implement.98 Refine these KPIs for optimal insights. Assess broader effects by updating the investment case and re-surveying employee health. Use these insights to steer the strategy – whether that means stopping, redirecting or scaling interventions. Systematic measurement validates the investment in a healthy workforce. 5. Ensure leadership commitment and sponsorship: Real change starts in the boardroom with executives making employee health and well-being a strategic priority. Executives must set the vision, hold themselves accountable and integrate health and well- being into the core organizational strategy. They should also nominate an executive-team sponsor and a board sponsor as a signal of leadership commitment. The sponsor does not need to be the chief HR, people or medical officer; it can be very powerful if another executive takes the sponsor role. Executives will need to be transparent in their communication and authentic in how they role model. They also need participate in health initiatives to create a supportive environment where employees feel encouraged to engage and be open about their health challenges. As the executive sponsor of the well-being agenda at Standard Chartered, I believe that well-being at work is at the core of employee engagement and productivity. We want our people to feel able to bring their best selves to work and deliver sustainable high performance. I am passionate about using my role to help create a positive and healthy work environment. This means listening to colleagues about their needs and supporting them to build well-being-related skills – such as resilience and adaptability, empathy, and personal energy management. Having an executive sponsor outside of the traditional HR setting demonstrates that well-being is for everyone and it’s a shared responsibility. Diego De Giorgi, Group Chief Financial Officer, Standard Chartered Thriving Workplaces: How Employers can Improve Productivity and Change Lives 32

Thriving Workplaces How Employers can Improve Productivity and Change Lives 2025