Wellbeing driven leaders building thriving cultures

Kevin, the visionary founder of HeyPenny, believes nowadays a person’s workplace is a major part of their community and their identity. It’s somewhere they go to laugh, cry and feel supported. In his role managing a health and safety team, Kevin had a firm understanding and visibility over the critical risks for physical harm and the necessary controls to mitigate them. However, when it came to psychosocial risk and stress, the landscape was murkier.

Kevin faced a significant challenge: his board of directors wanted visibility and the available data was insufficient and outdated. An annual wellbeing survey, seven months old with poor participation, offered fragmented insights that required detective work to decipher. The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) data, though available, was largely irrelevant as it mostly pertained to personal issues rather than workplace stressors.

Recognising this gap, Kevin initiated a pilot program focused on wellbeing check-in conversations between leaders and employees. Over four months, approximately 60 such conversations took place, each aimed at uncovering and addressing psychosocial stress early on. The pilot revealed a profound truth: real connections and proactive conversations could transform workplace culture.

One particular conversation was a lightbulb moment for Kevin. A young employee, grieving the loss of his father, was struggling in silence. During a scheduled wellbeing check-in, a compassionate leader walked him through a guide for dealing with grief, connected the employee with the EAP, and coordinated with HR to reduce his working hours temporarily. These were existing support services, yet without the check-in, the employee might have remained unnoticed and unsupported.

The results of the pilot were compelling. Ninety percent of employees expressed a desire for the program to continue, valuing the trust, connections, and person-to-person approach it fostered. They appreciated the genuine relationships and the supportive environment that these conversations cultivated.

Driven by the success of this pilot and the clear need for proactive, meaningful engagement in the workplace, Kevin founded HeyPenny. His mission: to empower leaders to foster a culture of care and connection through regular, insightful conversations, transforming workplace wellbeing from the inside out.