A “fun allowance” at work? Yes, please.

WHAT’S ON DECK

• Tell Me More: Companies getting creative with workplace wellness

• Troublemaker Spotlight: Emily Mossburg, Global Cyber Leader at Deloitte

• Dear FQ: Taking time off makes me feel guilty  

• Poll the Pack: The biggest career booster? A manager who’s in your corner.

TELL ME MORE

Rethinking wellness

The future of workplace wellness has landed. 

Forward-thinking companies are approaching employee wellbeing as a priority, not just a “nice to have.” We’ve moved beyond the hustle culture of the early aughts, and have started to see a real commitment from employers to nurture and support their teams. After all, research proves what we already knew: Happy people do good work. 

While 87% of companies are offering workplace wellness programs, only 24% of employees actually use them. Many organizations use scalable digital solutions, like meditation apps, chatbots, or online therapy. But when they’re not woven into the fabric of a healthy company culture, these one-size-fits-all benefits become performative support, rather than truly valuable resources for disconnected or burnt out employees.

"It's easy to put resources on the workplace mental health buffet, but like so many 'all you can eat' menus, the quality of what's served is not usually great," says Ariela Safira, founder and CEO of Real. "The workplace culture is complex and the expectation that simple solutions will prevail is naïve." 

That’s why we’re so impressed with the leaders and organizations thinking way outside the box on employee wellbeing. They understand that real wellness isn’t about adding more programs. It’s about reimagining how work can support people at every life stage, and ensuring benefits are integrated into a supportive culture.  

Take women-owned consulting firm Omlie, for example. When a company rock climbing trip hit a literal wall (turns out not everyone loves heights!), founder and CEO Sarah Burlew had a lightbulb moment: Real connection happens when people choose how to spend time together. Enter Omlie’s Crew Connect program, which gives employees $100/month to do something fun outside the office with a coworker. Coffee dates, concerts, manicures, whatever sparks joy. Now that’s how you build a culture of connection.

Olivia Rodrigo is also setting a new standard for leadership by covering therapy for her entire band and crew. As her guitarist Daisy Spencer shared, "That reignited the importance of therapy to me, because I had just kind of fallen off for so long, and then suddenly I had this free resource of incredible therapists, and I utilized the crap out of that." This is the kind of backstage support that truly hits different. As the daughter of a therapist herself, Olivia clearly gets it.

Microsoft has adopted a philosophy that aims to support holistic health for employees, offering benefits to bolster physical, mental, financial, emotional, and social wellbeing, with an approach that’s grounded in the numbers: 

• Comprehensive health and retirement benefits are structured in response to data that shows 60% of employees list these benefits as important retention tools. 

• In a post-Covid era where employees expect more flexible support, mental health days now count as sick days, not PTO. 

• When 70% of employees said their manager impacted their mental health, Microsoft built training tracks to develop “caring” managers. 

Employee satisfaction with the tech giant’s wellness benefit platforms has been sky-high, with a nearly 98% employee satisfaction rating and 90% engagement globally. It goes to show that it’s not enough to offer the benefits; you need to make sure employees are engaging with them as well. 

For the 58% of millennials and 54% of Gen Z workers who see company mental wellness initiatives as crucial when job searching, this new focus on holistic wellbeing bodes well for the future. Companies that embrace this evolution, offering accessible benefits in the context of a broad, supportive culture, will have their pick of top talent. 

Wellness programs don’t move the needle if you treat it as a cherry-on-top perk. The best leaders know it’s a foundation, on which you can build and retain healthy cultures and teams. 

TROUBLEMAKER SPOTLIGHT

Emily Mossburg, Global Cyber Leader at Deloitte

Emily Mossburg leads Deloitte's global cyber practice, where she's helped build the #1 ranked security consulting powerhouse (12 years running, per Gartner).

Under her leadership, the practice has achieved double-digit growth while transforming how major global clients approach cyber resilience. From CNBC to Forbes, she's become the industry's go-to voice on everything from election security to why diversity is mission critical for modern companies. In partnership with The Female Quotient, Emily launched Deloitte's Cyber Leaders campaign, shining a light on the diversity behind the bold minds shaping the future of cybersecurity. These leaders see this work not just as a technical field, but as a powerful way to create impact, drive resilience, and protect what matters most.

FQ: What’s the worst career advice you’ve gotten?

“Toe the line.” Any advice that suggests, “This is how we’ve always done it and this is the way we’ll continue to do it,” really locks people and organizations in. 

In the life of a consultant there are so many ways that you come up against the status quo. It can be as it relates to your own career, to the teams that are around you, or how your clients work within their own culture. People have different levels of comfort dealing with change, so “I’m gonna keep doing things I’ve always done” is a common reaction.

What's interesting about cyber specifically is that we're protectors by nature, guardians who tend to like routine and consistency. Yet, we're in a field that's evolving so rapidly we can't afford that luxury. It creates this constant tension we have to navigate.

What’s the best piece of non-obvious career advice you’ve gotten?

You don’t have to be in a hurry. People become so focused on what’s next, where they’re headed, or how they’ll get to what they view as ‘the goal’. While this is all valuable, make sure to be in the moment and really appreciate the journey, too. 

Take the time to savor the everyday of your career, the people you meet, and the experiences that you have. A saying I love is, “You have to go slow to go fast.”

What was a “heartbeat moment” for you in your career?

Moving into the global role for our Cyber practice. Deloitte is a very big place, and the world an even bigger place. When I took the leap and moved into the global leadership role it was a very different kind of leadership: It requires a significant amount of collaboration, influence, and bridging people together as peers rather than as a hierarchy. 

There’s a large number of stakeholders and a lot of unknowns in terms of how we’re going to take ideas across different entities and make them real at a global level. It’s not always a clear path. 

Making that jump was definitely a decision I made more with my heart than my mind. As leaders, we often have to decide: Do I take the path that's clear, or do I take the path where I can't see beyond 50 feet ahead of me, but I believe where it's going to take me is worth it? This was one of those decisions for me.

Who is one person you’d love to give flowers to from your career that influenced your journey?

Fiona Williams. She’s been one of the key leaders of our entire Cyber practice at Deloitte. She’s one of those people who makes the hard decisions and has the hard conversations. She says what she means, and she means what she says. I’ve always been able to trust her advice and support, and she is someone I’ve been able to count on through the entirety of my career at Deloitte. 

Where have you caused trouble?

The conversation about needing more women in the cyber space isn’t new. But when we started having it at Deloitte, close to 10 years ago, it wasn’t being actively talked about the way it is today. 

Our Cyber Leaders campaign with The Female Quotient and the work we’ve done to promote diversity in this space is a great example of good trouble because these weren’t always easy conversations to have. There were things people understood, but it was still uncomfortable to shine a light on them. It was uncomfortable to say, ‘Oh look, we’ve got some disparities here.’

Those conversations matter, and the journey is never over. I don't think there's a day that goes by that I don't have some sort of aha moment. Sometimes they're happy, sometimes they're pensive or frustrated. It's a constant journey of growth, especially when you're pushing for change.

Want to nominate a “Troublemaker” you admire? You can do so here.

DEAR FQ

Your burning career questions answered

Niki Fleshner of The Female Quotient weighs in:

Taking time off isn’t a luxury: It’s a leadership move. In a world that glorifies hustle, we’re here to shift the mindset. Rest isn’t a reward for burnout. It’s a requirement to do your best work.

I’ve felt it too. When you’re juggling deadlines and leading big moments, stepping away can feel impossible. But here’s the truth: When we pause, we don’t just recharge ourselves. We model what sustainable leadership looks like.

Let go of the guilt. You earned your PTO. Use it with pride, not apology. Your future self and your team will thank you.

And when you do take time off, set your team and leaders up for success. Prep what’s needed, communicate clearly, and hand off with confidence. Collaboration is key, and it’s what makes true rest possible.

P.S. Got a burning career question? Serve it up here to Dear FQ to score advice from a powerhouse leader in our network.

POLL THE PACK

Unlocking potential: Managerial support is the key

Career growth is not a solo sport. It's about having someone in your corner who believes in your potential and uses their power to amplify it. Nearly half of employees (43%) credit a manager who advocates for them as the biggest driver of their career growth. A powerful insight for the current and future leaders in the crowd. 

While self-advocacy matters (23%),employees need the right environment with real opportunities (27%) and leaders who see their value and aren't afraid to champion it. Talent needs a platform. Leadership can build it. 

What's concerning? Only 7% see freedom to fail as impactful. This suggests we're still working in cultures where mistakes feel career-limiting instead of growth-enabling. “Progress over perfection” and “done is better than perfect” might need to be reinjected into workplace conversations. 

It’s all about building leadership pipelines where every manager becomes a champion, not just a boss. So, if you're in a position to be that advocate for someone else? That’s success right there. 

To quote Grace Hopper: “The most dangerous phrase is, “We've always done it this way.” Sometimes, you have to cause some good trouble.

Xo,

The FQ

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