Employment sustainability is a key factor for exponential organizational development. Using market research conducted by the Monash Business School’s Executive Education, Thrive recognizes the importance of employee sustainability and strives to educate organizations on the same. Thrive is a leadership development organization within the prestigious Monash University with campuses across Australia and South-East Asia. In 2021, Monash Business School launched an alliance with Thrive Global across the Asia-Pac region to tackle the stress and burnout epidemic in workplaces. With its Arianna Huffinton’s Thrive Global partnership, Monash Business School provides corporate education programs and technologies necessary to integrate the institution’s market research and build training modules that allow clients to incorporate sustainability in their workplace.

“For companies to create an environment in which employee sustainability remains a part of their business strategy, they need to be dedicated in fostering a culture that meets the requirements of all employees,” says Professor Alex Christou, Director of Thrive Programs and Strategic Partnerships at Monash Business School.

Many studies have indicated that stressful work environments in APAC organizations are detrimental to employees’ mental and physical wellbeing. Monash’s Thrive leadership program propagates the importance of improving these workspaces to increase productivity and employee engagement using wellbeing as a foundation, utilizing the latest research and science around behavioural change.

Beyond presenting the science, we want employees to take action through microsteps. These are small, sciencebacked steps that can be initiated immediately to build healthy habits and new behaviours. They do not require much effort or time and are simple tasks that build on the concept of inculcating positive habits into daily routines. In workspaces, microsteps can be implemented in programs to establish a healthy organizational culture that supports and values employees. After the program commences, its effects cascades through the organization, bringing behavioral change from the top management to the newest employees.

Monash looks at future leadership through the lens of sustainably addressed challenges. Its partnership with Thrive Global aids in bringing an omnichannel approach toward delivering these programs. Virtual channels give clients the autonomy to incorporate the learning modules in their personal schedules. Coupled with synchronous learning and personal interactions, Monash ingeniously drives these programs toward an employee-friendly environment. Its programs equip leaders with the insight to tackle new challenges, the skills to make better decisions and the contemporary thinking required to stay ahead in business–all grounded in the philosophy that it has to be immediately accessible and applicable.
Monash does not follow an one-size-fits-all approach. The team works with organizations to co-create programs that best fit their employees with a firm eye on business goals. These programs are curated from a multi-disciplinary perspective, which focuses on the organization as a whole and taps into the rich Monash ecosystem across multiple faculties of the university. Monash’s tailored programs address questions about productivity, providing solutions for leaders to incorporate. Monash Business School’s distinct approach to executive education combines its strengths in the latest research and evidence from the world of business with lived experience and real-world practice and application.

Today, employees have a different approach to work-life balance. Around 55 percent of employees who are parents and 56 percent of women employees agree that prioritizing health and well-being over work is more viable for a happier living standard. Thrive understands that well-being has become a necessity in workspaces. Incorporating an employee sustainable model benefits organizations even during times of labor shortage, Thrive works with the best minds to build a safe and productive ecosystem.