Employee happiness, engagement, and work-life balance have moved to the forefront of business concerns. Workers need connection and a feeling of value to build a culture where every worker is vital to the company’s overall success. To accomplish such a feat, C-Suite executives must take time to invest in the company’s cultural health.

Although 94% of organizations offer mental health benefits to address a range of issues, the primary reason organizations are still unable to reduce stress levels and boost innovation is due to our country’s overarching culture of normalizing stress, which has diminished innovation and productivity and increased turnover rates. Stabilize and fuel your workforce by spending time boosting your company’s creative health.

What Is Creative Health?

Creative health is a unique approach to initiatives that boost health and well-being. This approach can range from activities that spark new ways of thinking and problem-solving to time spent in nature or hands-on projects. Creative health is built by engaging other areas of your mind and pushing yourself to interact with the world differently.

Creativity is the foundation of innovation and success. Today, workplaces are more motivated than ever to infuse creativity and boost overall well-being. These two pillars drive innovation, improve morale, and increase productivity. Companies seeking an optimal work environment must note that creativity and well-being cannot exist independently.

Why Well-Being Matters

Companies that do not take their employees’ well-being seriously will incur massive losses. One Gallup poll found that companies with employees who are engaged but not thriving will see burnout rates of 61% and double the normal sadness or anger rate. In 2023, burnout and turnover rates contributed to diminished creativity and productivity, costing companies $322 billion globally.

To change things, employers must focus on an employee's holistic well-being: an approach to well-being that centers around a person's physical, mental, and internal self-worth. When employees feel their well-being is important to higher-ups and their managers take time to take care of them, an open, trusting, and more creative work environment will grow. Companies taking well-being seriously rapidly see increases in deeper relationships between coworkers and a growing foundation for creativity.

Prioritizing employee well-being is incredibly important because a happy and healthy employee is more willing to take risks, engage in team efforts, and fuel innovation.

The Role of Digital Employee Experience

A crucial yet often overlooked aspect of creative health is the digital employee experience or DEX. In today’s hybrid and remote work environments, how employees interact with digital tools can significantly impact their well-being and creativity. A seamless digital experience reduces frustration, saves time, and allows employees to focus on more meaningful, creative tasks. When digital tools are intuitive and designed with the employee's needs in mind, they become enablers of creativity rather than hindrances.

Investing in a positive digital employee experience enhances productivity and nurtures a culture of innovation. Companies offering employees the necessary tools and platforms for collaboration, project management, or continuous learning are better positioned to support creative health. When employees can easily access and utilize these tools, they are more likely to engage in creative problem-solving and contribute innovative ideas.

How To Elevate Company Culture and Promote Creative Well-Being

Leaders can elevate their creative company culture by promoting a safe harbor for all employees. In my experience, building a non-judgmental environment where all ideas—whether technology or operations-focused—are treated with respect elevates your creative company culture. It is only achievable when the C-suite and managers take the initiative as role models for encouraging innovative thinking, practicing daily, and carrying the creative mindset through the rest of the organization. Examples of creative health initiatives in the workplace will vary.

Consider including one or all of these in your workplace:

• Encourage employees to take their physical health seriously. For smaller businesses, it can be as simple as adding “health or mental health” days to PTO plans. For companies with more resources, build out your healthcare initiatives and encourage employees to utilize them.


• Enable the instinct to create. Nurture creativity by incorporating innovation workshops either during or after work hours. These could include exploring new digital programs, painting, gardening, music or anywhere in between. Empowering your employees to dabble in creative endeavors will release stress and promote creativity.


• Embed people-centric principals. Respect, dignity, and empathy are at the core of these principles. Keep these three practices in mind in every conversation and initiative because, without your employees, your company will crumble.


• Promote autonomy and ownership. No one person has all the answers. Nurture creative health by promoting independence and ownership, which can help boost your employees’ motivation and show your team you trust them. Remind them of their impact and inspire them because innovation and collaboration only thrive when everyone works toward common goals, even in instability.


• Implement continuous learning initiatives. When the will to learn and grow dies, so does creativity. Embed continuous learning within your company culture and inspire employees to take initiative by offering opportunities in-house. Offering more opportunities for continued education can be as easy as providing a learning lunch each quarter.


• Finally, lead by example. Genuine initiatives will be required to improve company-wide creativity and ingenuity. Engage in new goals and offerings yourself, encouraging others to follow.

Without people, what is any organization? Leaders must take the extra step to foster a creative and healthy work environment for employees and support them with empowering technology for superior digital experiences.

Otherwise, corporations today will continue to be plagued by high turnover rates, growing personnel expenses, and severe dips in innovation and productivity. Focusing on your workplace's creative health will flip the concerning mental health and well-being statistics, giving your company a leg up against competitors in any market.

Author Bio

Dana Eisen Ezov has been the Human Resources leader at ControlUp since 2014. As Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Eisen is responsible for leading ControlUp’s global HR organization, including human resource strategy, employee engagement, learning and development, communications, compensation, benefits, employee relations and HR operations.

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