The growing gap between wellbeing strategy and employee reality  

Employers are being urged to move beyond policy, as burnout, menopause and sedentary work dominate workplace wellbeing discussion 

Speakers at a wellbeing event, hosted by Hussle EGYM last week, warned that workplace wellbeing is at risk of becoming disconnected from the realities employees face every day unless organisations take a more practical, human-centred approach to performance and support. The event brought together leaders across workplace wellbeing, movement, women’s health and people strategy to explore how organisations can build healthier, more sustainable working environments as pressure on employees continues to rise. 

A recurring theme throughout the event was the growing gap between wellbeing strategies on paper and the lived experience of employees navigating high workloads, emotional pressure and increasingly sedentary working patterns. 

Jess Pressland, CEO of JP Training, opened the event by focusing on the emotional toll placed on HR and people leaders themselves. Speaking about mental toughness and sustainable performance, she described how many HR professionals are operating under constant pressure while simultaneously supporting others through organisational change, conflict and wellbeing challenges. 

Rather than advocating productivity hacks or resilience rhetoric, her session centred on practical boundaries and recovery. Pressland encouraged leaders to identify “non-negotiables” that protect energy and prevent burnout, while recognising the cumulative strain that emotionally demanding roles can create over time. 

The discussion then shifted towards physical health and workplace design, with Gavin Bradley outlining the long-term risks associated with sedentary work. 

Bradley, founder of the Get Britain Standing campaign and On Your Feet Britain, argued that awareness alone is no longer enough. Drawing on more than a decade of research and behavioural data, he showed how inactivity has become structurally embedded into modern work. 

His session highlighted the links between sedentary behaviour and a range of health risks, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, musculoskeletal issues and mental health challenges. Other data referenced workplace inactivity trends, step count research and the widening disconnect between wellbeing intentions and actual daily behaviour. 

Bradley’s central argument was that organisations need to move from passive wellbeing messaging towards measurable changes in how work itself is structured, including movement prompts, active working practices and redesigned workplace habits. 

The conversation around performance and sustainability continued with Faye Chapman’s session on why high-performing women burn out. 

Chapman spoke critically about the limitations of many workplace menopause policies, arguing that too many organisations still treat menopause support as a compliance exercise rather than a retention and performance issue. 

Her session explored the intersection between hormones, stress, leadership pressure and metabolic health, particularly for women in midlife leadership positions. 

Statistics shared during the presentation highlighted the scale of the issue. Chapman focused heavily on practical interventions rather than awareness alone, including better manager understanding, sustainable workload expectations, strength training, recovery, nutrition and psychologically safe conversations around women’s health at work. 

The final session from Suubi Christie, Chief People Officer at Hlx Life Sciences, brought the discussion back to organisational culture and leadership. 

Speaking about scaling high-performance teams, Christie reflected on the importance of ensuring wellbeing remains embedded as organisations grow, particularly in high-pressure environments. 

Rather than positioning wellbeing as separate from performance, she described the importance of designing environments where people can perform consistently without compromising long-term health or sustainability. 

Hosting the event was Seb Finburgh, Business Development Manager at EGYM Hussle, who emphasised that closing the gap between strategy and reality requires a fundamental shift in how businesses approach physical activity.

“What really resonated from the discussions at the event is that we are dealing with an incredibly diverse workforce facing vastly different challenges, from midlife leadership burnout to the structural inactivity highlighted by the Get Britain Standing campaign.” 

“One-size-fits-all wellness approaches simply cannot survive in modern business. We have to support employees in different ways, which means finding flexible benefits that genuinely suit everyone, regardless of their geographical location or working setup.

Ultimately, we have to get employees moving. Fitness can no longer be viewed as a standalone perk; it is a core driver in actively shaping the health, resilience, and daily reality of our workforce.”

Throughout the event, speakers repeatedly returned to a broader workplace challenge emerging across the sector: whether organisations are focusing too heavily on visible wellbeing initiatives, while overlooking the underlying conditions shaping employee health and performance every day. 

The event reflected a growing shift within workplace wellbeing conversations, away from standalone benefits and towards deeper questions around work design, leadership behaviour, energy management and sustainable performance.