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Fast Company column says C-suite, not HR, must own employee well-being in 2026

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Why it matters

Fast Company has published an opinion column arguing that HR cannot build employee well-being into daily operations on its own. The piece, dated around October 10, 2026, is a follow-up to the author's January essay calling on HR leaders to make well-being a core company value. After readers pushed back, the author concluded that responsibility must extend to senior leaders, including the C-suite. The column argues that engagement drivers such as workloads, supportive leadership, flexibility, and job security sit within the business, not within HR. It points out that HR has long run engagement surveys and reported the results, yet leaders treated those scores as HR's problem, which is why they rarely moved. The author warns that well-being could follow the same path.

No separate reporting, agency action, or legislation tied to the column has surfaced. The piece is commentary, not a report on a company decision or policy change, and it does not name a specific employer or program.

The column leans on a 2022 Harvard Business Review study finding that employees trust HR far less than their team leaders, and that nearly half do not feel safe sharing frustrations with their manager. For employment counsel and HR advisors, the column is a useful signal that accountability for well-being is shifting toward executives. Watch for clients asking who owns well-being policy and whether it belongs in board-level risk oversight. Commentary like this often previews where internal audits, leadership incentives, and documentation expectations will head next.

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