The Wellness System Roadmap
For Organizations — 12-Week Consulting Engagement
Modern chronic illness is now a workforce performance issue
Performance ~ Retention ~ Absenteeism ~ Presenteeism ~ Disability and Claims ~ Care-giving Leave ~ Workforce Capacity
Chronic stress, modern chronic illness, and rising family and child health challenges are silently driving absenteeism, presenteeism, turnover, and burnout. Traditional wellness programs—apps, step challenges, EAP lines—are not designed for root-cause prevention or systemic change.
The Wellness System Roadmap™ helps leaders diagnose what’s actually happening inside the workforce, design a future state, and build a practical, implementable system that improves resilience, retention, performance, and vitality over time.
Who this is for
For leaders who see wellness as a strategic lever for organizational performance, including:
CHRO / VP of People
Talent & Total Rewards
COO / Operations
CFO / Finance
Organizational Development
Executive leadership teams
Municipal + nonprofit leadership
Heads of Safety & Risk
Unions
Education leadership
These leaders recognize: If employees aren’t thriving, the organization can’t thrive.
Why it matters now
Absenteeism alone costs U.S. employers $225B per year.
When presenteeism is included, losses exceed $530B.
But the deeper trend is cultural: Employees are exhausted, parents are strained, and chronic illness is rising faster than organizations can respond. Women and caregivers are the most affected subgroup and also the backbone of the modern workforce.
Wellness has become a structural issue—not a perk.
The Macro Trend
Modern chronic illness and neuroimmune disorders are rising fastest in working-age women and children.
Caregiving load is rising faster than wages.
Mental health claims are spiking earlier in the career arc.
Presenteeism now exceeds absenteeism by 2–3x.
These trends are structural—not cultural—and they are reshaping workforce capacity, retention, and performance faster than traditional wellness programs can respond.
The solution: a root-cause wellness strategy
Most organizations are trying to fix wellness downstream—at the symptom layer.
The Wellness System Roadmap™ works upstream—at the system layer.
Phase 1 — What’s Wrong (Weeks 1-4)
Stakeholder interviews, policy review, pain-point focus groups, and cultural scan.
Deliverable: Current-State Wellness Map
Phase 2 — What’s Possible (Weeks 5-8)
Visioning sessions, best practices showcase, values alignment, strategic priorities.
Deliverable: Wellness Vision Map
Phase 3 — What Gets Implemented (Weeks 9-12)
Step-by-step rollout plan, ownership, measurement, and sustainability.
Deliverable: Final Wellness Roadmap + Optional Training
ROI
Downstream cost centers affected by chronic illness
✔ absenteeism
✔ presenteeism
✔ turnover + replacement costs
✔ short-term disability
✔ long-term disability
✔ extended return-to-work timelines
✔ performance + engagement declines
✔ family + caregiver leave
When viewed as a system rather than a perk, wellness becomes a strategic lever for performance, retention, and workforce resilience.
Deliverables
12 weekly 1:1 Executive Sponsor meetings
5–7 stakeholder meetings
5–7 employee focus groups
3 phase review meetings
3 core deliverables:
• Current-State Wellness System Map
• Wellness System Vision Map
• Final Wellness System RoadmapMeasurement plan
Sustainability / accountability plan
5 post-roadmap coaching calls
What organizations gain
✔ An understanding of current state health of the workforce
✔ Insights into the systemic drivers of burnout, absenteeism, and chronic illness
✔ Clear strategic priorities for wellness to reduce absenteeism, presenteeism, LTD, STD, and the duration of claims
✔ Data + root-cause framing leaders can act on
✔ A shared language linking wellness to cost, retention, and performance
✔ A differentiated talent strategy that attracts and retains the modern workforce
✔ A targeted, comprehensive plan to reduce absenteeism & presenteeism
Format & timeline
Duration: 12 weeks
Format: Virtual or hybrid
Team: Executive sponsor + distributed leadership stakeholders
A strategic wellness system for a modern workforce.
