Characteristics of a Health-Aware CEO

THE TRAITS OF A HEALTH-SAVVY CEO The pandemic has already had a paradigm-shifting impact on every aspect of our modern life, including how we manage a business. It is the time for business leaders to reassess their priorities and redefine their responsibilities.

Deloitte has recently coined the concept of a ‘health-savvy CEO,’ a concept that focuses on how the modern-day CEO needs to have a heightened focus on the health and wellness of the employees.

The new challenges introduced by the sudden pandemic have pushed the business leaders to take a second look at their priorities beyond achieving the business and strategic goals.

CEOs today have to bear additional responsibilities to support the well-being of the employees and their work communities. As the decisions of the CEOs can impact the health and well-being of the employees, business leaders have already started taking steps to nurture traits of CEOs who are healthsavvy.

While we share the concept of employee health and wellness, our health-savvy CEOs have done a lot since the paradigm shift.

WHAT SHOULD BE A HEALTHSAVVY CEOS MINDSET? Over the last couple of years, health-savvy CEOs have realized that prioritizing employee health and well-being can have a huge impact on various business aspects. Here are a few traits of CEOs who pay attention to health:

REALIZING THAT MATTERS OF HEALTH CAN HAVE A HUGE IMPACT ON WORK CULTURE, TRUST, AND BRAND. Both the culture and the brand value of your establishment are closely tied to the trust you can build as a CEO; understanding this concept is the biggest trait of a CEO. Any decision that a health-savvy CEO makes (or does not make, for that matter) regarding the ideal healthcare of his employees affects the business. A culture wherein a company pays attention to the well-being of all the stakeholders is perceived by investors, customers, and the general public as a huge positive and helps build trust.

Organizations and CEOs must stop asking their employers to choose between their job and health during times like these.

An important trait of a CEO is understanding the importance of paying attention to their workforce’s health and well-being needs. They also know that every decision they make, every statement they issue will have a huge impact on their brand and business in general.

THERE IS NOTHING POLITICAL ABOUT HEALTH. Although healthcare can be a political topic, a health-savvy CEO understands that health is not. As many CEOs would attest, it pays to adhere to the safety standards laid out by authorities and governments and go beyond to help the workforce. Another important trait of a CEO is to understand that they need to rise above politics and take a more fundamental approach to the ideal healthcare of their employees.

IDEAL HEALTHCARE REQUIRES CEO-LEVEL STRATEGIZING. It is a trait of good CEOs to deal with the unknown and successfully manage the balance between risks and uncertain outcomes. Hence, it is critical for a CEO to have a solid, reliable ‘information council’ that can help them to meet the expert needs at any particular moment.

A health-savvy CEO personally stays well-informed and close to the latest science and information pertaining to the health and well-being of their employees. Even though delegation is an important trait of a CEO, it is no longer possible in times like these to delegate the task of being informed and aware of the ever changing situation.

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR A HEALTH-SAVVY CEO?

Even as we approach the end of the pandemic, the post-pandemic era will most certainly demand flexibility, resilience, and adaptability. CEOs who are better prepared for a future like this would be in a much better position to carry their enterprise to the heights of success as is expected of them.

A great trait of a health-savvy CEO is that they choose to invest resources to support all aspects of employee health: physical, emotional, and mental. The times can be challenging, and the CEOs might need to recalibrate and align the organization to meet new expectations.

TO CONCLUDE We are witnessing the dawn of a new era where the CEOs are working hard to design a new future filled with optimism and hope. More and more CEOs are realizing and gearing up to shoulder this added responsibility to be the committed emissaries of the new hope and optimism.