Workplace wellness a key to corporate success

Cheryl Hentz

Contributor

February 17, 2025

WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN – The Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being emphasizes the connection between the well-being of workers and the health of organizations. 

According to recent Gallup research, 89% of employees with wellness programs in place report higher levels of engagement and job satisfaction. 

Georgia Lee Arts – founder of Elysian Dream™ – said a workplace environment that prioritizes wellness initiatives, such as ergonomic workstations, stress management programs and mental health resources, helps foster a culture of care and respect.

As a result, employees are less likely to experience burnout, absenteeism decreases and job satisfaction increases.

Through Elysian Dream (elysiandream.net), Arts said she helps companies and their employees focus on mental and emotional wellness – both as a company and as individuals. 

Recognizing burnout

Arts said she retired from the Air Force in 2015 – recognizing and subsequently fixing her own burnout.

“Burnout in the workplace is a major problem,” she said. “I was in very deep burnout, because I didn’t know how to pivot, and I didn’t know how to deal with adverse situations. In my own failure to pivot, I realized I had new things to learn.”

Arts said her own experiences inspired her to help others do the same – hence the start of Elysian Dream.

“In that learning, I got the wisdom to help other people,” she said. “Part of that is also understanding that life is too short, and when you’re misaligned in who you are and the work that you’re doing, that can be a huge driver of burnout.”

Elysian Dream, Arts said, is a branded, trademarked, innovative coaching and training company. 

“Our mission is helping individuals and organizations evolve by bridging gaps in occupational wellness through authentic alignment of their personal and professional lives,” she said.

Decades of experience

Between her military career, work in the private sector and personal research, Arts said she has 30 years of experience in leadership, training and coaching. 

During the 1990s, she said she began to see the results she was having in helping military veterans successfully transition into civilian life.

Arts said she believed she could do the same for people in the private sector. 

“But, there’s a big difference between the military and corporate America,” she said. 

Arts said that is one of the gaps she’s trying to bridge with Elysian Dream.

“In the military, depending on the environment, if you’re in a really critical field, like some of the ones I served in, if you’re out doing military operations, an individual who brings a personal issue to that mission can have a really negative impact on the mission.” she said. “When there’s a lack of detail, attention and focus it can cost lives. In corporate America, they’re not concerned about your personal life. People can’t leave their problems at the doorstep when they get to work. So that is one of the things I bring to corporate America – helping people get through (their issues) and teaching them to pivot when or if they need to.”

As a career strategist and certified coach through Artist of the Spirit (certified in 2023), Arts said she goes beyond the typical black-and-white career coaching – like helping people with resumes, doing mock interviews, having a job board, etc.

“We delve into transformational and transitional coaching to solve the problem of misalignment in people’s personal and professional lives,” she said. “We have an innovative identity coaching program. If we can help people figure out who they are, and we can solve misalignment and help them redefine what success means, that’s also part of solving the work/life balance issue so many people feel today. You have to identify and bridge the gaps if you want to live a valuable life and flourish.”

Arts said she founded Elysian Dream in July 2022, developing a variety of transition-related programs for different groups of people. 

Initially, she said she reached out to college-bound students and veterans in transition, then to the private sector and, in 2023, she began working with and offering her services to organizations and individuals through her IMAGINE program.

Designed for Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers, Arts said this program helps bridge the gaps between these age groups in the workplace and the sandwich generation. 

By the time college-bound dreamers get to be mid-career professionals, Arts said more than 40% wish they would have chosen a different path, but don’t know how to pivot.

“In the research I’ve done, only 20% of people enjoy the work they do,” she said. “This (program) can impact organizations by increased retention, lower burnout and it improves their bottom line. They also get engaged and productive employees.”  

Arts said she does not go to workplaces in person – rather, all her coaching in this wellness program is done virtually.

But she said she can accomplish the same thing as if she were there in person.

“I help individuals and organizations evolve by bridging gaps in occupational wellness through authentic alignment of their personal and professional lives,” she said.

Arts said by finding authentic alignment, individuals are also taught how to define – or redefine – what success means to them.

“Investing in human capital to help employees find alignment is one of the best things an organization can do to improve their bottom line,” she said.

Helping people break out of what Arts said she calls the “golden handcuffs” – staying in a position because it’s comfortable and has good pay and benefits, but doesn’t necessarily make a person happy – and redefining success is a huge part of the IMAGINE program.

Arts said the main life and career coaching transitions she focuses on include college-bound, mid-career, midlife reinvention, sandwich generation, entrepreneurs, coaching niche, military-to-civilian and IMAGINE employee wellness.

Other causes of burnout, employee unhappiness

Arts said there are times when an employee is in the right job but “their values don’t align with the organization’s goals or the culture.”

“So people just end up disengaging from the work that they do and the people around them,” she said. 

Morale issues in a workplace, which Arts said sometimes start at the top of an organization, can spread like wildfire and cause major disruption, among other things.

“For example, lack of recognition for a job well done can drive down engagement and cause people to feel undervalued,” she said.

Arts said that can:

• Lead to the erosion of trust and motivation
• Create a high-stress environment
• Create poor team dynamics that can in turn create cliques in the workplace

“Also, if people don’t feel that they have autonomy over their work, they feel powerless or micromanaged,” she said. “That can lead to poor morale, as well.”

Another major cause of poor morale, Arts said, is credit thieves – people who take credit for other people’s work or suggestions.

“That happens a lot in the business world,” she said. “That is one of the top things that can really harm other people and the whole work center when somebody does that.” 

Believe it or not, Arts said bullying in the workplace is a huge problem in corporate America and one she sees time and time again, even as subtle as it can sometimes be.

“There are often divisions between people in the workplace, so we need to work on team cohesion and (fostering a sense of) belonging,” she said.

Some potential examples of things that could be associated with workplace bullying, Arts said, include:

• Being excluded at lunches
• Being the last one to find out something
• Being excluded from key decision-making or meetings
• Employees not having their work credited properly 
• Being socially excluded
• Water cooler or lunchroom gossip
• Undermining somebody’s work or being criticized at work – in other words, negative feedback without proper justification 
• Someone raising their voice
• Gaslighting
• People blocking or preventing someone else’s opportunity for promotion or growth 
• Keeping people from visibility in a company
• Sexual harassment
• Gender- or race-based bullying, age-based bullying or even bullying related to someone’s disability, or other things that should be protected. 

“Many of these things can be bias-based bullying,” she said. “Bullying can also occur at the top of an organization and can come in the form of micromanaging; documenting someone’s HR record adversely when it’s not warranted; unwarranted punishment or discipline.”

Arts said workplace bullying can also be on social media in the form of cyberbullying – and can include anything that’s aggressive, humiliating, shaming someone or starting or spreading rumors.

Arts said she has seen many forms of workforce bullying and even experienced it personally.

“If we can get (employees) to pivot and find a work center that will value them, that’s important,” she said.

A culture of wellness

Ultimately, Arts said healthy employees create a healthy business – which is her main focus with Elysian Dream.

When companies prioritize wellness, she said they build a foundation of trust and loyalty that promotes long-term success.

This focus on well-being, Arts said, can lead to innovative ideas, improved teamwork and a positive company reputation.

“I believe in a multi-faceted approach that incorporates mind, body and soul as part of career coaching,” she said.

In an era where the lines between work and employees’ personal lives are becoming increasingly blurred, she said fostering a culture of wellness is a smart, strategic move that benefits both the company’s workforce and its bottom line.

“The mission of Elysian Dream is to help people develop (an) identity to align who they are personally with their professional careers,” she said. “We provide an alternative to mainstream one-size-fits-all temporary fixes.”

Arts said the name of her company – Elysian Dream – further speaks to what she hopes to accomplish through it.

“In Greek mythology ‘Elysian’ – also known as Elysium – is a place reserved for the souls of the virtuous and heroes,” she said. “Within the world of Elysian is a place called the Land of Dreams. Elysian Dream is a creative metaphor to remind people to align their lives, so they live a valuable life filled with joy, purpose, meaning and bliss.”

Arts said the main goal of Elysian Dream is to “align who you are with what you do, so you can live a high-quality, valuable life.”