Working Well: Tawn Williams Of Anaya Wellness On How Companies Are Creating Cultures That Support & Sustain Mental, Emotional, Social, Physical & Financial Wellness
An Interview with Karen Mangia
Spiritual Wellness Leadership. Understanding the power of their roles, leaders worldwide are getting in-tune and sharpening their skills to elevate their workforce. Leaders who understand and practice these skills often have a high rate of success because they are able to manage a decrease in stress, while gaining clarity on intuitive insight.
The pandemic pause brought us to a moment of collective reckoning about what it means to live well and to work well. As a result, employees are sending employers an urgent signal that they are no longer willing to choose one — life or work — at the cost of the other. Working from home brought life literally into our work. And as the world now goes hybrid, employees are drawing firmer boundaries about how much of their work comes into their life. Where does this leave employers? And which perspectives and programs contribute most to progress? In our newest interview series, Working Well: How Companies Are Creating Cultures That Support & Sustain Mental, Emotional, Social, Physical & Financial Wellness, we are talking to successful executives, entrepreneurs, managers, leaders, and thought leaders across all industries to share ideas about how to shift company cultures in light of this new expectation. We’re discovering strategies and steps employers and employees can take together to live well and to work well.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Tawn Williams of Anaya Wellness.
Anaya Wellness, under Founding CEO & Holistic Experience Curator Tawn Williams, sets out to make positive employee impact a goal in leadership. Through a people-centric approach, Williams fosters mindful leadership and emotionally healthy workplaces. This begins with leadership coaching sessions designed to identify and emphasize the personal side of the leader and to discover how a people-centered approach can bring about the necessary cultural change. In HR consultancy, wellness programs for teams are being created. For engaging employees at personal levels, online wellness classes by internationally vetted mindfulness instructors are available through the online employee wellness platform House of Anaya. Also, physical team building events and team retreats are being planned and executed at Anaya Wellness. “Mindfulness and mental health are not just buzzwords for us. Our consultants, coaches and wellness instructors are dedicated to enhancing the human experience,” Williams explains and adds: “We create spiritual wellness experiences, and progressive leadership and work environments.”
Thank you for making time to visit with us about the topic of our time. Our readers would like to get to know you better. Tell us about a formative experience that prompted you to change your relationship with work and how work shows up in your life.
One of the most formative moments in my career was when I was supporting a VP while building my wellness business. As employee mood index became a heavily weighted portion of my job, I realized that leaders, though savvy in business and well equipped to run multi-million dollar companies, often struggled with how to simply connect with their teams. This ongoing experience was impactful, as I saw teams flourish in spaces where employees felt seen, heard, and valued.
Harvard Business Review predicts that wellness will become the newest metric employers will use to analyze and to assess their employees’ mental, physical and financial health. How does your organization define wellness, and how does your organization measure wellness?
We define wellness as any practice that improves an overall sense of well-being, while addressing all three aspects of the whole person: mind, body, and spirit. We measure this by observing the start state of an individual or company, while creating a set of indicators based on wellness tools actively used to decrease stress and increase balance.
Based on your experience or research, how do you correlate and quantify the impact of a well workforce on your organization’s productivity and profitability?
There are a few ways to do this, but a quite simple way to measure the success of a well workforce is in the average number of sick days. It’s shown that most often, employees don’t take sick days but rather, mental health days. This data tells us the employee is not only approaching burnout, but also may not have the tools they need to decompress or even communicate to their leaders they are heading in this direction. When the number of mental health days decreases due to employee well-being embraced throughout an organization, productivity and profitability naturally increase.
Even though most leaders have good intentions when it comes to employee wellness, programs that require funding are beholden to business cases like any other initiative. The World Health Organization estimates for every $1 invested into treatment for common mental health disorders, there is a return of $4 in improved health and productivity. That sounds like a great ROI. And, yet many employers struggle to fund wellness programs that seem to come “at the cost of the business.” What advice do you have to offer to other organizations and leaders who feel stuck between intention and impact?
It’s really about the paradigm shift. Are they willing to move out of the status quo and move into a space that may feel daring to achieve goals around elevating the employee experience? When you look at the industry giants that set the bar for new eras of employee wellness, they simply did something that hadn’t been done before. They chose to invest in their best asset, and became known as industry leaders and destination employers. When it comes down to it, an impactful leader will need to ask themselves what they truly want out of their workforce. Is it to hold off on employee wellbeing investments and incur the cost of turnover rates later, or, invest in an asset that consistency grows. The truth is, we are now entering an era where people are demanding a workplace that values the individual, not the job role, so a company that views their employee wellbeing as the foundation for consistent growth- investing that each employee thrives at an individual level so that they can work towards a common goal- is a company that stands to benefit from productivity and profitability without the high cost of turnover and employee/leader burnout.
Speaking of money matters, a recent Gallup study reveals employees of all generations rank wellbeing as one of their top three employer search criteria. How are you incorporating wellness programs into your talent recruitment and hiring processes?
The most important aspect is that we get to know the employee we are hiring. Showing genuine interest in a person’s hobbies, skills, and more, allows us to see potential paths for growth or how we as a company can show up for the employee. This allows the employee to not only show up authentically, but gives them the opportunity to be transparent about their personal and professional goals. For leaders, we do something quite unique, using a tool called Human Design. Human Design, much like an astrological chart (which we use in conjunction to this) utilizes date, time and location you’re born in to give insight into your personality, strengths, energy centers. This allows the individual to learn more about who they are, so they can choose to bring their personal power into the role as well.
We’ve all heard of the four-day work week, unlimited PTO, mental health days, and on demand mental health services. What innovative new programs and pilots are you launching to address employee wellness? And, what are you discovering? We would benefit from an example in each of these areas.
- Mental Wellness: Mental wellness can often be supported by creating a safe space. Allowing employees to be transparent in their current mental state without stigma or judgment allows the employee to feel heard and comfortable asking for assistance when needed. We do this by being extremely transparent as leaders, and showcasing that this behavior is not only accepted but valued.
- Emotional Wellness: Going hand-in hand- with mental wellness, we like to hold space for one another before company meetings. I love showing our clients how to do this, and the effects not only build trust, but team environments that truly care about one another.
- Social Wellness: Creating positive impacts is so important to sustain a ripple effect within industry, community and families. Social wellness means finding a common goal and implementing it as a value within company culture. We do this via DE&I, and approach it from a personal space. This means implementing a program that uncovers the “why” for everyone, not just a pre-packaged program.
- Physical Wellness: We love to incorporate in-house wellness activities like stretching, soundbaths, breathwork, and even meditation into a workspace. Though this may not seem outwardly physical, these practices serve an extreme benefit to the physical body and can be available to everyone within the workforce.
- Financial Wellness: Understanding mindsets around money helps release emotional attachment to it. We love to teach on powerful money mindsets that address negative stigmas around money, while helping channel powerful financial energy into a progressive direction.
Can you please tell us more about a couple of specific ways workplaces would benefit from investing in your ideas above to improve employee wellness?
Sustainable and long-term employee wellness programs that embrace various aspects of these practices on a consistent timeline allow for work environments that are not only balanced but emotionally healthy. Emotionally healthy workplaces thrive because employees come in with energy that no longer feels draining, but feels enthusiastic and even exciting. When you normalize these activities, you introduce a company culture that says it’s ok to be who you are, in the space you are in, always. Talk about feeling seen, heard, and valued! When employees feel seen, heard, and valued, they become invested in the success of the company- not standing as an individual, but part of a whole unit.
How are you reskilling leaders in your organization to support a “Work Well” culture?
As previously mentioned, Human Design discovery and mentoring are key to this. It’s about taking the time to understand who we are so we can better serve our team and our clients. This also allows for fluidity throughout the organization, creating an open space where people can grow into or discover more about how they want to work towards a common goal of success.
Ideas take time to implement. What is one small step every individual, team or organization can take to get started on these ideas — to get well?
First, get a good idea of what you hope to achieve with your wellness initiative. What does success look like to you? Once you know what this looks like, work with a company that understands varied aspects of the wellness industry. I would also highly suggest finding a company that supports your short-long term goals, so you can build together. For example, we created the House of Anaya to be a turnkey solution for our clients, allowing for immediate implementation while working on mid-long term wellness goals without clients.
What are your “Top 5 Trends To Track In the Future of Workplace Wellness?”
- Mindfulness. Mindfulness is the practice of being aware of self-talk and the power you have to influence your current environment. Mindfulness practices may include affirmations, journaling, or times of self-reflection.
- Breathwork. As mentioned previously, breathwork is incorporated in many different areas of inward reflection. As a tool to calm, center, and release, breathwork has many mind, body, and spirit benefits, creating a rise in its popularity. Quick and easy example of breathwork would be something like box breathing
- In-House or Virtual Wellness Sessions. No longer confined to a desk space, lots of employers are opting to bring wellness directly into the workplace. Done virtually or in-person, we’re seeing sound baths and guided meditations (among other services) being booked directly for our clients and their teams.
- Spiritual Wellness Leadership. Understanding the power of their roles, leaders worldwide are getting in-tune and sharpening their skills to elevate their workforce. Leaders who understand and practice these skills often have a high rate of success because they are able to manage a decrease in stress, while gaining clarity on intuitive insight.
- Wellness Retreats for team building. Because who doesn’t love a good retreat? Being transparent and allowing ourselves to be vulnerable makes way for stronger teams but also enhanced interpersonal relationships. Those employees that feel connected to their peers often find the workplace more enjoyable, but also remain loyal to a workplace that provides a general sense of community.
What is your greatest source of optimism about the future of workplace wellness?
I believe we are moving into an era where employers and employees see the value in who they are within the workplace instead of allowing the workplace or job role to define us. It gives me great hope to work with leaders who want to learn more about who they are as leaders in order to make significant impacts on their workplace and within their industry. This tells me that we are all seeking so much more than a title, but rather real and tangible impacts on everyday living.
Our readers often like to continue the conversation with our featured interviewees. How can they best connect with you and stay current on what you’re discovering?
You can reach us at www.anayawell.com or by reaching out to learn more via info@anayawell.com.
You can also apply to become a partner with Anaya Wellness here
Thank you for sharing your insights and predictions. We appreciate the gift of your time and wish you continued success and wellness.
About The Interviewer: Karen Mangia is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers in the world, sharing her thought leadership with over 10,000 organizations during the course of her career. As Vice President of Customer and Market Insights at Salesforce, she helps individuals and organizations define, design and deliver the future. Discover her proven strategies to access your own success in her fourth book Success from Anywhere and by connecting with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Working Well: Tawn Williams Of Anaya Wellness On How Companies Are Creating Cultures That Support &… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.