Workplace wellness is no longer optional; it’s a defining factor in talent, trust, and performance. Employees are reshaping their lives around wellbeing, with 86% saying it matters as much as salary and 90% reporting burnout symptoms in the past year.

The challenge is that most organizations aren’t keeping pace. While leaders believe they’re prioritizing wellness, employees often don’t feel it—creating a trust gap that erodes engagement and retention. With 2026 strategic planning and budgeting now in focus, the time is now to prove the ROI of your people strategy.

In response to these emerging trends HR Leaders are thinking less about reactive perks and more about building an authentic culture of wellness. Companies that have embedded this into their leadership practices are already seeing decisive returns: lower healthcare costs, less turnover, and a measurable competitive advantage.

Is building a solid wellness culture the unspoken competitive advantage in a challenging market? Explore how leading CHROs are building a genuine culture of wellness, proving its direct link to performance, and turning it into their new competitive advantage.

Discussion points

Closing the wellbeing gap: How to make wellness visible, accessible, and trusted so employees truly feel supported.
Embedding comprehensive health: Why building wellness into culture, leadership practices, and daily routines helps people thrive at work and in life.
Enabling healthier choices: How organizations can support better decisions through flexible policies, third spaces, and digital tools.
Wellbeing as a business advantage: How to demonstrate and deliver ROI by linking wellness to productivity, retention, and long-term performance.

Panelists

Jen Fisher, Former Chief Wellbeing Officer at Deloitte and Advisor at Wellhub
Paul Dhillon, VP Total Rewards, Systems & HR Operations at Apotex
Carrie Bloemers, System Director, Wellness at Lee Health
Christopher Dean, VP Content and Research at Wellhub
Michael Katz, SVP Global Head of Total Rewards and Wellbeing at Assurant
[Moderator]: Chris Rainey, CEO & Co-Founder at HR Leaders