Corporate Interests in Executive Wellness Fiduciary Responsibility We all are familiar with the concept that the Board of Directors and Officers of a public corporation have a fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interests of the stockholders. Over time, it has been apparent that the death of key corporate figures can significantly hurt the organization. In fact, recently there was a study which suggested that even key events in the life of a CEO are correlated to a 20% reduction in corporate stock price. ("Scholars Link Success of Firms To Lives of CEOs," Wall Street Journal, Sept. 5, 2007) Even less severe incidents of impaired wellness (stress, lack of sufficient sleep, overweight or obesity, etc.) lead to reduced performance of key individuals. There are two related areas of importance to Boards: Ongoing wellness of Board Members, officers, and other key executives has the potential to impact their personal work performance, corporate influence, and the corporate bottom line Loss of a key player (illness, death, or early retirement) can result in loss of continuity, loss of industry contacts and influence, and lack of focus until a suitable replacement is found, retained, and is fully up to speed. Executive coaching has a significant history of success in corporate applications Executive Wellness Coaching has the potential to provide direct wellness risk mitigation
Consider what a small improvement in personal performance (say from 90% to 92%) for a key executive might mean. At the senior levels, this might mean the difference in making the $5 Billion merger go through, actually negotiating the $1 Billion contract over your competitors, settling or avoiding the union strike, etc. It is important for all key players to be able to operate at their best -- the future of your Corporation is depending on it
It is encumbent upon the Board of Directors to assure that appropriate efforts are applied to optimize the wellness of key personnel. Human Resources Human Resource Departments are continuing to develop strategies to best manage and optimize human capital (often the biggest expense in organizations). A recent article has suggested that it now is time to apply the Pareto Principle to Human Resource expenditures.("The New Human-Capital Metrics," CFO.com, Feb. 15, 2006) Namely, organizations should apply most of their resources to the TOP performers to further increase their exemplary performance, instead of squandering scarce resources in often failed attempts to rescue marginal employees. This, too, supports the concept of assuring your top players get the coaching to optimize their wellness, and thus their performance. Executives On a more personal note, it also makes sense for a corporation to assure the wellbeing of its most important players. Improved wellness can lead to improved happiness, life satisfaction, and, perhaps, retention. These key players set the tone for the rest of the organization. WIN ♦ WIN ♦ WIN Assuring the wellness of your key players can assure a win for: The Board and Officers Human Resources The Executives
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