Why you need a Chief Wellness Officer

And other emerging roles that didn’t exist five years ago…

The workplace is constantly changing and if the past two years has taught us anything then it’s the knowledge that our ability to keep pace with change will be fundamental to our success. The same can be said for roles and functions within an organisation, in that we create new ways and adopt new thinking to help an organisation and the people within it to thrive. With this thought in mind, here are some emerging, in-demand roles that you didn’t know you may just need.

Tackling a global pandemic has resulted in significant changes to the way we live and work. It has resulted in a lot of stress and pressure for both employers and employees, with mental health firmly in the spotlight. For companies looking to address these issues at all levels, appointing a Chief Wellness Officer may provide the right direction and focus to help prioritise mental health and ensure you have a happier, healthier workforce. In the same way that you appoint a Chief Financial Officer to deal with organisational finance, a CWO is tasked with leading worker health; good finances and employee wellbeing, your business can’t succeed without both.

Social impact is a broad term to encompass any significant change that addresses social injustice or other challenges. Within an organisational context, there is an increasing focus on environmental, social and governance issues with many organisations making a conscious effort towards better integrating their purpose with their social impact. That’s where a CIO comes into the picture, it is their role to drive impact through an organisation’s mission, vision and values, and importantly drive accountability internally in the culture.

It may seem unlikely that you would appoint someone to a full-time position of ‘listening’ but there are some compelling reasons why this function can have a useful long-term impact. Chief Listening Officers monitor both external and internal channels, their primary focus is to gather and share valuable intelligence that enables an organisation to gauge how they are doing and implement measured improvement. Done right, a CLO can have a big impact on overall business strategy.

The challenges organisations are facing in today’s market due to talent shortages is not expected to change anytime soon and this is motivating some businesses to get creative when it comes to their people resourcing requirements. One such innovation is the creation of the CTO role which has responsibility for identifying and nurturing talent among your current employees as well as recruiting the people you need to achieve broader organisational goals. Given the importance of having the right people in the right roles, it makes sense to have someone focusing on the complete talent lifecycle – from hire to retire – in your business.

This role may not sit at C-suite level but the work they do can have a big impact. A Content Creator is responsible for the ideation and creation of content – blogs, social media posts, podcasts, videos, infographics etc – that connects a brand to its target audience. Creating great content that resonates with audiences is an art and to be successful in the role a Content Creator needs to have their finger on the pulse of news and relevant trends which allows them to craft content with your audience in mind. If your business has an online presence, then having a Content Creator means you are better positioned to connect your business to its customers, in an engaging and meaningful way.

Job titles evolve, some of the roles above are simply a reflection of how people choose to define what it is they do today – an important consideration when you are looking to fill vacant roles. In some cases, it’s not about creating an entirely new role, but rather being smarter about how you combine existing functions in a way that better suits modern day workplace requirements.

These are just some of the new roles that you’re likely to start seeing more of in the future. It’s not about being at the cutting edge of progress but rather creating roles and functions that align with the values, challenges and strategic imperatives of your organisation. In the wise words of Albert Einstein:

“We will not solve current or future problems with the knowledge and tools we used to solve past problems.”

If you need advice and guidance to help map your organisations future talent requirements, reach out to us today.

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