That is changing. Leadership conversations now include absence, burnout and retention, as well as the challenge of sustaining energy and focus. Workplace wellbeing has moved from ‘nice to have’ into organisational risk, performance and responsibility.

Most organisations do not set out to exhaust their people. Pressure accumulates as targets increase, roles expand, change becomes constant and technology keeps work permanently within reach. Over time, the nervous system adapts by staying in a heightened state and what begins as motivation can quietly shift into strain. Then decision-making becomes harder, patience shortens and creativity narrows leading to stress-related illness and absence.

Employers are responding to what they see, so workplace wellbeing often focuses on mental health and stress but research reviews paint a mixed picture. Some interventions help, but many show only modest effects and long-term evidence remains limited.

This doesn’t mean wellbeing doesn’t work, but rather it suggests that quick fixes rarely match the complexity of the modern workplace.

One of the clearest messages emerging is that wellbeing is shaped less by isolated activities and more by everyday working conditions. Workload, autonomy, leadership, relationships and psychological safety all play a central role. Wellbeing grows, or erodes, inside the systems people work within.

One thing often missing from this conversation is creativity. When people engage in creative activity, attention shifts and the stress response can begin to quieten. Thinking becomes more flexible and emotional states can soften.

If wellbeing is shaped by daily experience, then the future of workplace wellbeing is less about programmes and more about cultures. Cultures that permit pauses, recognise emotional regulation as a skill, and value creativity as a practical, human way to support nervous systems, psychological safety and sustainable performance.