The workplace has evolved rapidly since 2020, and not always for the better. Stress, burnout and turnover remain top concerns for managers and company leaders.

Often, well-intentioned wellness programs are thrown into place to help alleviate some of the issues. Chair massages. A wellness room (a.k.a. an empty office with no windows). Mental health resources that are shared without context or conversation. All good things. But they don’t address the root causes of stress and burnout.

Wellness is a strategic imperative. Beyond reducing health care costs, it helps attract and retain the best talent. Employees who experience chronic stress, poor work-life integration or lack of emotional agility are more likely to disengage, underperform or leave.

For learning and development (L&D), this presents a significant opportunity. As the architects of workplace learning, L&D leaders can design programs that build resilience, emotional intelligence (EI), energy management and boundary-setting skills, equipping employees to perform at their best while sustaining well-being. By integrating these skills into training, L&D professionals can influence not just what employees know, but how they feel and function at work, ultimately shaping how people show up every day.

Why Employee Wellness Matters and How L&D Can Help

Workplace well-being has far-reaching consequences. Research shows that workplace interventions targeting individual behaviors, such as mindfulness, resilience and stress management, improve well-being, engagement and productivity while reducing burnout.

From an L&D perspective, these findings underscore that training isn’t just about technical skills. It can shape how employees respond to pressure, regulate energy and sustain productivity. When employees are equipped to manage both their internal state and external demands, they show up more engaged, less exhausted and better able to contribute strategically.

Wellness-focused training reframes well-being from a “perk” to a strategic performance driver. Teaching these skills translates into higher engagement, reduced burnout and stronger retention. It also broadens the impact of L&D, shifting the focus from building functional capability to developing human capacity.

3 Key Skills for L&D to Address

1. Resilience

Resilience is the ability to “bounce back” from challenges. But, more importantly, it’s about coming back stronger, better prepared for the next challenge and with an optimistic outlook. Training can focus on four components of building resilience: connection, self-care, optimism and purpose. Demonstrating how employees can leverage these elements empowers them to navigate change and challenge with healthy responses and a greater sense of confidence.

When training executives on the art of modeling resilient behavior, our team experienced resistance from the group when they were asked to be more vulnerable and share their stories of having to bounce back. However, when shown examples of how teams with resilient leaders who model this behavior have stronger coping skills, fewer sick days, lower turnover and better focus under pressure, they were all-in on resilience training.

2. Emotional Intelligence (EI)

Emotional intelligence — the ability to recognize, understand and manage emotions in self and others — is strongly linked to reduced stress, better communication and stronger relationships at work. Sounds simple in theory but building these skills takes effort, education and support, all which L&D can provide.

According to research from Disa Global Solutions, integrating EI into workplace wellness strategies improves stress management and strengthens a safety culture. When L&D embeds EI skills into existing programs through coaching conversations, feedback moments and conflict navigation, employees learn to recognize their emotional triggers and choose healthier responses that strengthen team cohesion.

3. Boundary-Setting, Energy Management and Work-Life Integration

Stress often builds not simply from workload but from the lack of skills or permission to set healthy boundaries. Employees benefit from training on energy management (identifying high- and low-energy periods), boundary-setting (knowing when to say “no” or pause) and integrating work-life routines.

Boundaries aren’t barriers. When employees learn to communicate their limits with confidence and respect, they not only protect their well-being but also model healthier behavior for their teams.

For L&D professionals, this might be translated into microlearning courses on boundary-setting scripts for difficult conversations, time-blocking methods for maximizing high-energy times or creating routines that facilitate better work-life integration. These 5-to-10-minute modules give employees quick, simple and effective tools to manage stress proactively.

For one client, our company found that short, straightforward and action-oriented videos better communicated the importance of topics like managing stress, improving sleep and eating a healthy diet. Employees appreciated the quick hits of information that they could use immediately.

Designing Training Programs That Support Employee Wellness

For L&D teams looking to integrate wellness skill-building, here are five design strategies:

• Blended delivery and microlearning: Combine eLearning with live practice and reflection, which improves engagement and knowledge retention.
• Action-based learning: Replace theory with experiential exercises, like stress trigger identification, one-minute breathwork exercises or role-playing tough boundary conversations.
• Integration into workflows: Normalize “energy check-ins” or mindful pauses in meetings. Ask your team where there are energy leaks in their workday to identify tasks, meetings and responsibilities that are contributing to stress and burnout.
• Measurement and metrics: Build wellness ROI into your learning strategy by pairing pre- and post-training pulse surveys with key business indicators like absenteeism, turnover and engagement.
• Leadership inclusion: Create manager-specific training that teaches leaders to lead by example and model healthy boundaries, regulate their own energy and practice sustainable self-care.

Final Thoughts

In an era where job demands continue to rise and the boundaries between work and life continues to blur, L&D professionals have both an opportunity and a responsibility to help employees not just survive — but thrive.

By embedding resilience, emotional intelligence and boundary-setting into existing learning, organizations build teams that are healthier, happier and more capable of sustained excellence.

Chair massages are great (and much appreciated), but wellness support and training is the key to a healthy, high-performing team.