Raizel Robin’s article continues…

As the evidence mounts in support of wellness programs, they will become more a social movement than a trend, say industry watchers. Martin Rutte is author of Chicken Soup for the Soul At Work, a 1998 book that has sold more than a million copies and made him a popular lecturer on the North American wellness circuit. “Twenty years ago, the only thing I could talk to you about in the workplace was the financial health of the company and maybe my career,” says the Canadian writer, now based in Santa Fe, N.M. Today, the workplace is starting to acknowledge what he calls “the fuller human being”–the interconnectedness of mental, physical and even spiritual health. But for all the good intentions, if a company can’t follow through with a culture that encourages employees to make time for wellness programs, they simply won’t take advantage of them.

That’s what happened to one senior human-resources director, Linda (her name has been changed at her request), who spent six years with a major chartered bank working 10-hour days on top of a two-hour commute. “My marriage suffered,” she says. “We had to go to counselling because we were never there for each other.”

Linda’s health declined, as well; too busy to take a sick day, she developed pneumonia from a neglected cold. One Friday afternoon, as she was getting ready to enjoy a well-deserved weekend with her kids, her boss told her to come to work to finish a project–the following Sunday. Linda refused, but her superior kept pushing, and suggested they bring in both their daughters and plunk them in front of a TV while the women got their work done. Burned out, Linda later resigned–with no pay package and no other job to go to.

The funny thing about the bank Linda left, she remembers, is that it had a top-notch wellness program in place. “We had so many stress-management programs and work-life balance programs,” she says. “There were counselling services and hotlines for day care and parent care.” But the managerial culture, she says, prevented people from taking advantage of the services. It’s a prime example of what Dr. Len Sperry, a professor of psychiatry at the Medical College of Wisconsin and a consultant to Fortune 500 companies, has called “a dysfunctional culture.”

Just as people can be Type A’s, so, too, can organizations. That can take its toll in many ways–but in Linda’s case, the bank lost a key executive. “Having subsidized food in the caf and a free gym doesn’t cut it these days,” says Graham Lowe, a sociologist and president of the Graham Lowe Group, a consulting firm based in Kelowna, B.C. “It’s relatively easy for an employer to invest in wellness,” he emphasizes, but the program can be completely ineffective if its use isn’t encouraged.

Linda’s experience is all too familiar to Malcolm Weinstein, an executive coach and president of Weinstein Management Ltd. in Vancouver. Recent media attention to the plight of the under-appreciated, overworked, lonely-at-the-top CEO has had a positive effect on upper management, he says, but it’s frequently middle managers who end up bearing the brunt of work-related stress–and they might be less inclined to take advantage of wellness programs. “I work with a lot of CEOs,” says Weinstein. “They’re more aware of achieving work-life balance now and are downloading their responsibilities.” The pressure is worst among second- and third-tier managers who feel they must satisfy the most senior people and carry out orders they don’t always want to, such as firing people. “There’s a fear of admitting an inability to cope,” says Weinstein. “There’s pressure to be heroic that often extends beyond people’s limits.”

That’s precisely why more companies are getting serious about their wellness programs. “HR people are asking us not just to put in wellness programs, but to think strategically about which programs will work best for them,” says Seward of Warren Shepell. The attitude just a few years ago, she says, when companies would typically call up and ask for a catalogue of topics, then order a few sessions, was, “‘We’ll send out an e-mail and hopefully people will come.’ Now, companies are really making a clear link between their business objectives and mental health issues.”

Linda, the former bank exec, found one organization that does just that. She’s now happily employed at a large pharmaceutical firm and has no regrets about leaving her former job. Her new company’s culture is entirely different, she says, because the president’s corporate philosophy encourages wellness. If she works extra hours, she takes time in lieu. She feels encouraged to leave at a reasonable hour and has cut down her commute. And no more working weekends. “Life is a privilege,” she says. “It’s important to have a life outside work.”