A focus on employee wellness contributes to a deeper sense of trust, empathy and loyalty amongst the … More
Top-tier hedge fund Citadel announced last week that it will be hiring its first ever Chief Medical Officer. The role will be filled by Dr. David Stark, a Harvard trained pediatric neurologist. Per Citadel, the hire comes at a time when Ken Griffen, founder of the firm, is pushing for higher performance from employees. Per Sjoerd Geharing, the firm’s chief people officer, Dr. Stark “will be responsible for driving innovation in employee benefits and wellness to further enhance the employee experience and support peak performance of our colleagues.” The firm already provides some degree of on-site medical services enabled by third-party healthcare providers; the new role will aim to optimize healthcare benefits, concierge care and health plans.
The industry overall has been increasing these kind of offerings in recent years amidst the significant competition for top talent. Many firms employ a wide range of roles specifically dedicated to employee wellness, including personal trainers, performance coaches and even chefs. Especially given the heavy workloads and high performance environments required of jobs in the industry, these roles aim to alleviate the day-to-day pressures for employees.
Dr. Stark is no stranger to high finance or this type of work; prior to this role, he was chief medical officer and the global head of benefits for Morgan Stanley, helping redesign the firm’s approach to employee health plans.
Interestingly, this concept is not unique to high finance. Technology companies have been known to follow a similar model for decades, both as a means to ensure employee wellness and performance but also to inculcate a sense of unique culture and camaraderie. For example, Meta is famous for its wellness perks, including an on-site clinic for employees, a barbershop, spa, free meals and onsite fitness facilities. Google similarly offers numerous benefits geared towards employee wellness and success, including cafeterias with free meals, game and activity rooms, child care centers and generous healthcare benefits, such as significantly subsidized fertility assistance. The whole trend has even been popularized in pop-culture; the tv show Billions portrays the work of a psychiatrist at a high-capital hedge fund and the nuances of the industry.
The science behind this is also sound. Former U.S. Surgeon General, Vice Admiral (VADM) Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, published a powerful research study in Public Health Reports in 2020, entitled “The Value of Worker Well-being.” In it, Dr. Adams explains that “employees who are in good physical, mental, and emotional health are more likely to deliver optimal performance in the workplace than employees who are not.” Additionally, a piece by the Harvard Business Review (HBR) explains how healthy employees tend to stay with companies longer, indicating that “organizations with highly effective wellness programs report significantly lower voluntary attrition than do those whose programs have low effectiveness (9% vs. 15%).”
Furthermore, parallel to these efforts being the means to improve performance and profitability, many of these initiatives are important incentives for employees to maintain a sense of normalcy and zeal for their careers. A sense of culture and loyalty is fostered as the employer-employee relationship is one of give and take; people ultimately care about companies that care about them. The HBR piece poignantly highlights this exact sentiment: “The inherent nature of workplace wellness—a partnership between employee and employer—requires trust. Because personal health is such an intimate issue, investment in wellness can, when executed appropriately, create deep bonds.”
