The foundations of workplace well-being: Part three of four
Key takeaways
- Well-being support works best when it reflects individual needs. Employees have different roles, health risks, life stages and personal circumstances, so the same resources may not work equally well for everyone.
- Targeted programs can help organizations provide more relevant support. Understanding the needs of different employee groups can help organizations tailor programs and communications to the people who may benefit from them most.
- Data can help organizations understand where support is needed. Benefits utilization, engagement surveys, absence and disability metrics, attrition rates and program outcomes can help identify emerging well-being needs and risks.
- Well-being programs need to evolve alongside employees. Regularly reviewing employee needs and program outcomes can help organizations keep their approach relevant as their workforce and workplace change.
In our previous article (which you can read here), we mentioned that well-being is inherently personal to each individual’s experience depending on where they are on their own well-being journey.
Whether someone is feeling well, struggling or feeling unwell, the well-being support that employers provide to one individual may not work for someone else. When organizations rely too heavily on “one-size-fits-all” strategies, well-being resources can quickly feel too generic or misaligned to their purpose of supporting employees and strengthening organizational performance.
For TELUS — which includes TELUS Health — targeted programming helps to deliver a flexible and personalized approach to well-being support that reflects the diverse needs of team members. Through the analysis of both qualitative and quantitative insights, TELUS is able to identify emerging risks in well-being before gaps begin to appear.
In this article, we explore how targeted programming can help to translate a well-being strategy into meaningful, timely support that meets people where they are.
Why “one-size-fits-all” well-being programs fall short
Offering the same set of well-being resources to everyone can feel like a smart idea. After all, standardization can sometimes promise things like fairness, ease of use and the ability to scale.
However, this approach to well-being often overlooks a critical reality — that equal access doesn’t always lead to equitable outcomes. As the Commonwealth Fund reports, “Health care access and outcomes vary across the country due to affordability barriers, workforce shortages, and state- and local-level differences in health care infrastructure, funding, and public policy.”
How employees experience work, health and life pressures is entirely unique to them, and differences in well-being requirements exist as a result of factors like role demands, life stage, health risks and personal circumstances.
Over time, “one-size-fits-all” approaches can limit the effectiveness of a well-being strategy, including how that strategy is communicated. For example, when well-being messaging is standardized without considering different needs or contexts, it can unintentionally obscure support for certain groups (MHI, Q4 2025):
- Non-managers are more likely than managers to rate employer support for physical and mental wellbeing as “poor”
- Women are more likely than men to rate employer support as “poor” across all areas of well-being, including financial, mental and physical.
Targeted programming can help keep well-being strategies aligned with real needs
Targeted programming addresses the limitations of “one-size-fits-all” approaches by focusing on flexible, personalized programs that can help support team member needs, preferences and circumstances. When well-being resources reflect the real needs and changing circumstances of every individual, they are far more likely to resonate with the people they are intended to help.
In one example, TELUS provided targeted cardiovascular support for high-risk team members. The organization identified that certain job types in select business units have distinct demographic risk profiles related to cardiovascular health, taking into account factors such as age and sex.
Consequently, TELUS offered cardiovascular screening for high-risk individuals, focusing communications on driving engagement in preventive screening. And the results were startling:
- Participant awareness of cardiovascular disease increased from 38 percent to 95 percent, and nearly 80 percent were motivated to make healthy lifestyle changes.
Ultimately, employees are far more likely to engage when programs feel uniquely designed to support their specific challenges. It’s this level of targeted involvement that ensures a well-being strategy evolves alongside its workforce, rather than falling by the wayside.
Using data to identify emerging risks in well-being
Targeted well-being programs are informed by a broad range of qualitative and quantitative insights at TELUS. This helps surface where support is needed most. These metrics may include:
- Benefits utilization
- Engagement surveys
- Absence and disability metrics
- Attrition rates
- Program outcomes, like program participation and satisfaction or biometric improvements.
Together, these insights help TELUS design specific programs that are flexible and responsive to individuals’ needs. For example, they help to identify teams experiencing heightened stress and provide proactive support. They also help to deliver specialized well-being programs to higher-risk populations, including heart health and bone density programs.
Data is also used to collaborate with stakeholders from across the organization, from people leaders to health & safety representatives and the TELUS board. This ensures well-being support remains relevant, evidence-based and has the organizational backing to create meaningful impact.
Targeted programming keeps a well-being strategy relevant as organizations evolve
Data-informed targeted programs help to ensure well-being resources are timely, inclusive and aligned to a shared well-being framework. This balance between personalization and alignment is what allows well-being to remain effective over time. As Janet Young, Director of well-being & health services, people & culture at TELUS, sums up:
"We have built a robust strategic framework that has allowed us to influence the entire ecosystem at TELUS. It's not just a standalone program with initiatives sprinkled throughout the year. It's how we work, it's how jobs are designed, it's how we create safety for people."
The TELUS well-being blueprint
Explore the TELUS well-being case study and learn how the organization is redesigning work to better support people where it matters most.
Download nowFrequently asked questions
Here are answers to some common questions about targeted well-being programs and how organizations can use employee insights to provide more relevant support.
What are targeted well-being programs?
Targeted well-being programs are designed around the needs, circumstances or health risks of specific groups of employees rather than providing exactly the same support to everyone. This can help organizations provide resources that are more relevant to where employees are in their own well-being journey.
Why can a “one-size-fits-all” approach to employee well-being fall short?
Employees experience work, health and life differently depending on factors such as their role, life stage, health risks and personal circumstances. While offering the same resources to everyone may provide equal access, those resources may not be equally useful or relevant to every employee.
How can organizations identify where employees need more well-being support?
Organizations can look at a combination of employee feedback and workplace data, including engagement surveys, benefits utilization, absence and disability metrics, attrition rates and program outcomes. Looking at these insights together can help identify emerging needs and areas where additional support may be valuable.
How can data help organizations design better well-being programs?
Data can help organizations understand which groups may be experiencing particular challenges and whether existing programs are having the intended impact. These insights can then inform more relevant programs, communications and preventive support while helping organizations adapt their approach as employee needs change.
What are the benefits of targeted well-being programs?
Targeted programs can make well-being support feel more relevant and useful to the employees they are designed to help. By responding to specific needs and risks, organizations can encourage participation, provide support earlier and help their well-being strategy remain effective as their workforce evolves.
This is part three in our series on the foundations of workplace well-being. See the rest of the articles (part one, part two and part four) for more.
