Awareness Is Up. So Why Isn’t Workplace Wellbeing Getting Better?

The Working Well Beings podcast will also be heading to the Wellbeing at Work UK Summits in September 2026 - there's still time to get your tickets: London, 15 September: https://wellbeingatwork.world/summit/... Manchester, 17 September: https://wellbeingatwork.world/summit/... In this episode of the Working Well Beings podcast, Matt Smeed sits down with Mark Rix, CEO of Wellbeing at Work. From Mark’s unusual journey through gold mining, newspapers and the Middle East to leading a global network of workplace wellbeing summits, they explore why growing awareness has not always translated into better outcomes for people. They discuss: • Why workplace wellbeing must move beyond box-ticking • What the newspaper industry’s response to the internet can teach us about AI • How attitudes to mental health differ across India, Australia, the UAE and Saudi Arabia • Why listening is the best starting point for smaller organisations • How HR can make a stronger business case for investment • Why fruit bowls and beanbags do not make a wellbeing strategy • The continuing importance of human connection in an increasingly technological world 00:00 Meet Mark Rix 00:45 From the forces to gold mining 01:19 Building a career in newspapers 03:22 What the internet did to local media 05:20 Ten years in the Middle East 07:00 How Wellbeing at Work began 10:26 From box-ticking to business strategy 12:28 Leadership lessons from a gold mine 14:25 AI, time pressure and human connection 17:18 A global view of workplace wellbeing 19:37 Saudi Arabia’s changing mental health conversation 24:22 Awareness is rising, so why aren’t outcomes better? 25:13 The challenge for smaller employers 27:59 Proving the business value of wellbeing 29:29 Why one size fits all does not work 30:37 Start by listening 35:06 Beyond fruit bowls and beanbags 35:59 The 2026 London and Manchester summits 39:41 The future of workplace events 44:11 Final reflections