You can't price everything all the time.

My colleagues and I had a meeting last week with some very nice people from a very successful international company.

It was one of those meetings where we quickly got into the nitty gritty and had a proper conversation about a number of issues relating to the environment and sustainability.

One subject we talked about was health and well-being. It is a hot topic at the moment because it seems everyone wants to contribute in some way. But, as we discussed, it's actually quite a complex subject.

We know of organisations that have run health and well-being initiatives, launched them with great fanfare, spent good money on resources but achieved very little. Why? Because the people that partake are normally those that are already pretty healthy. Motivating the overweight or unfit to join a yoga class or go for a swim (even if it is free) is not that easy.

So the subject of our discussion last week was about the business case for health and well-being initiatives. Our new friends wanted to know how they would justify the expenditure? How could they calculate the return? How would they show a cost saving because without one they wouldn't get approval.

We all know that 'research shows'.....less absenteeism, greater productivity, better staff retention etc etc etc. But what were the scientific conditions when these measurements were taken?

Are we to believe that personal trainers working in the thousands of gyms up and down the country have less days off work through illness and are more productive than those of us who cannot claim to be as fit? I wonder.

No, to me the answer is the corporate culture. A health and well-being initiative isn't going to have any impact unless the culture of the organisation supports it. Is the business normally a caring employer? Does the business have support systems in place or just a treadmill? Is there information for employees that would encourage them to be fitter and healthier for their own sake?

Health and well-being, like the environment and sustainability, need to be approached and designed holistically. taking everything into account. If you asked an architect to design a house you would expect them to design something that worked with and fitted into the landscape and if it didn't you would be upset and probably wouldn't use the design.

Any initiative that you launch needs to fit into your landscape, if it doesn't it won't get used and you won't achieve anything.

As for justifying the cost - if you create the right culture and have the initiatives I would expect you to see the results. But can I just ask why do you bother painting the office, or putting carpet down, or providing soft chairs.......?