Frank Giampietro
Americas Chief Wellbeing Officer
EY
Episode 109
Beyond Perks: Why Employee Well-being Is A Measurable Business Imperative For Growth
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleJuly 14, 2025 · 13:53
Thesis
“Well-being must be treated as a business imperative, not just a perk, as it directly correlates with key business outcomes like talent retention and revenue growth, and its impact can be mathematically proven through data.”
Show notes
Leveraging Wellbeing to Drive Business Outcomes with Frank Giampietro from Ernst & Young
In this episode of the Built by People Podcast, the host welcomes Frank, a seasoned HR leader from Ernst & Young. Frank shares his extensive career journey in consultancy roles focused on large-scale change and leadership alignment. He highlights his pivotal role during the COVID-19 pandemic in reimagining the employee experience, leading to his appointment as the Chief Wellbeing Officer. Frank discusses Ernst & Young's innovative wellbeing strategies, including the Vitality Index dashboard measuring employee sentiment, operational data, and program utilization. He illustrates how good employee wellbeing correlates with business performance, such as higher revenue growth and retention rates. Frank also emphasizes the holistic approach to mental health support extending beyond employees to their families and shares insights on convincing stakeholders about the business imperative of investing in employee wellbeing.
00:00 Introduction to the Built by People Podcast
00:38 Meet Frank: A Journey in Consulting
03:17 The Impact of Employee Wellbeing on Business Performance
05:39 Introducing the Vitality Index Dashboard10:22 Convincing Skeptical Stakeholders
12:05 Extending Mental Health Support Beyond the Workplace
13:03 Parting Advice and Conclusion
What you'll take away
- 1Treat employee well-being as a core business imperative, demonstrating its direct impact on retention and revenue through quantitative and qualitative data.
- 2Develop a data-driven 'Vitality Index' by focusing on measures proven to correlate with business outcomes, enabling leaders to make proactive, targeted decisions.
- 3When convincing skeptical stakeholders, combine financial data with compelling personal stories to appeal to both logic and empathy.
- 4Extend mental health support beyond employees to include all household members, recognizing the social component of individual well-being and its impact on performance.
- 5Understand that building a culture of well-being is a long-term journey requiring sustained investment, patience, and visible progress, rather than expecting quick fixes.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Giampietro initially declined the role of Chief Wellbeing Officer, feeling unqualified and not a role model, which challenges the conventional narrative of leaders eagerly taking on new, high-profile positions.
- •He asserts that 'working more hours and working harder can't necessarily relate to better,' pushing back against the ingrained belief in many professional services that sheer effort always equates to quality.
In Frank's words
“We've never treated it as if it was a business imperative, like it was going to really be fundamental to how we ran the firm.”
This quote highlights the pivotal shift in EY's approach to well-being, elevating it from a benefit to a core business strategy.
“working more hours and working harder can't necessarily relate to better.”
This is a foundational insight for Giampietro, challenging the traditional view of productivity and underscoring the importance of sustainable work practices.
“So we went from what do we think is important to what can we prove out.”
This quote encapsulates the data-driven evolution of their Vitality Index, moving from assumptions to empirically validated measures.
“a lot of this stuff isn't really complicated. It's just shining a light to know who needs help and what do they need help with.”
This simplifies the essence of effective well-being interventions, emphasizing awareness and targeted support.
“I often say we're just at the beginning of that journey. So I think a lot of organizations, if they don't see results in 6 months or 9 months or a year, they go like, are we on the right track?”
This addresses a common challenge in long-term change initiatives, advising patience and persistent investment in well-being efforts.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Organizations struggle to mathematically prove the business impact of well-being initiatives, facing skepticism from financial and executive leadership.
- •Leaders lack clear, actionable data to proactively identify and address specific well-being challenges within their teams (e.g., lack of connection, poor healthy habits).
- •Companies often fail to provide holistic mental health support that extends to employees' household members, overlooking the broader social determinants of individual well-being and performance.
- •HR initiatives, especially around culture and well-being, are often abandoned prematurely if they don't yield quick results within 6-12 months.
- •Developing effective well-being programs requires moving beyond assumptions ('what we think is important') to empirically proven measures ('what we can prove out') through data science.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
Ernest Young is leading its people consulting business in East region
The Well-Being Officer at Ernst & Young
Frank says employee well-being directly impacts business performance
How Well-being Affects Business Performance
Vitality Index helps leaders make proactive decisions about their team's well-being
How the Vitality Index Dashboard affects team well-being
Frank says convincing skeptical stakeholders that investing in employee wellbeing is a business imperative
How to Convince Skeptical stakeholders of Employee Wellbeing
Frank says his organization extends mental health support beyond workplace to include families
Employers' Mental Health Support
Frank, what parting advice would you share with our community? I think some of the work we do is really hard work
A Few Words of Advice for Our Community
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
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