Why We’re Giving Away Our Legos

Recently, at an industry event, we did something unexpected

At The Conference Board's 2026 Employee Health Care - Conference East in New York City, our team handed out customizable Lego Minifigures. Simple, playful, and a bit different. 

But there was a reason behind it. 

One leadership idea I really like comes from Molly Graham, who helped forge work cultures at rapidly scaling companies. Give away your Legos. When organizations are small, they tend to hold on tightly to every insight and lesson. But if you want to build something bigger and make a bigger impact, you need to share those pieces so others can build with you. 

That idea has stayed with me, especially when I think about our work in the employee wellbeing space. 

Because in the employee wellbeing space, we’ve spent years quietly collecting Legos. 

At Navigate, we are always curious about how employees engage with their workplace wellbeing program, including what motivates their first steps, keeps them going, and the progress they are making towards their goals. At the same time, our industry-aligned client success leaders work with HR, Benefits, and Wellbeing teams, and their consultants, to turn organizational wellbeing strategies into effective programs. 

Over time, that combination creates a unique vantage point. 

Patterns begin to emerge 

• The difference between how frontline employees experience wellbeing compared to corporate populations, and how industry expertise can make the difference between offering a wellbeing program and creating real impact. 

• What it looks like when values and everyday behaviors align. When leaders intentionally design for both, culture becomes something employees can feel and engage in, not just something written on a wall. 

• How small, practical changes in daily habits can build momentum until health begins to thrive where it was struggling before. 

Eventually, you realize you have a lot to share. At a certain point, the most valuable thing to do with those pieces is to share them. 

Giving away our Legos 

Our industry workplace wellbeing impact report aims to share our most impactful insights and practical steps you can take to advance employee wellbeing in your organization. 

Inside these pages, we share insights from our own platform data. We also include the experience of our industry-aligned client success leaders, the people who work alongside organizations every day to design, activate, and evolve their wellbeing programs. 

Together, those perspectives give us a clearer picture of what behavior change actually looks like across industries and what it takes to support it. At the same time, we recognize something important. Data alone doesn’t solve the problem.

Download your copy of the employee wellbeing impact guide >

Employee wellbeing has grown a lot over the last decade. What started as a simple steps program now covers everything from mental health to financial wellbeing, preventive care, chronic conditions, and social support. Expectations are higher than ever, and HR leaders juggle culture, benefits, and health outcomes all at once. 

That’s not easy work. And the reality is that most organizations are navigating similar challenges. 

• How do you reach employees who have never engaged before? 

• How do you make wellbeing feel relevant to healthcare workers with very different day-to-day realities? 

• How do you connect wellbeing to the organization's culture rather than treating it as a side initiative? 

Connected wellbeing infrastructure 

These questions are why we look at wellbeing through three connected areas: Culture, Care, and Clinical Wellbeing. 

• Culture shapes whether wellbeing feels authentic or performative 

• Care determines whether employees feel supported and guided 

• Clinical support ensures that when risk appears, employees have access to meaningful interventions 

When these three parts work together, wellbeing stops feeling like separate programs and becomes a support system that truly reflects the organization. 

The power of sharing experiences 

That perspective has also shaped another initiative we started last year – our Client Community – to have our clients share what they’ve experienced in their program evolution. Some organizations we featured were just getting started. Others had built incredibly mature wellbeing strategies over many years. One shared how to engage people high in the sky operating cranes, another shared the power of rocks, and yet another how to rebrand wellbeing as a toolbox filled with tools. 

What made those conversations powerful wasn’t perfection. 

It was honesty. 

Leaders shared what surprised them. What took longer than expected. What the click was that they didn’t even know what they needed. And what changed when wellbeing became connected to culture and care – not just incentives. 

The most valuable insights they share are not from flawless programs, it’s what they’re learning along the way.

Those conversations did something important. They normalized the journey. You realize you’re not alone and everyone is trying to figure out something new. That same spirit of shared learning is what guided this report. 

In this employee health and wellbeing impact report, you’ll see how different industries approach wellbeing through culture, care, and clinical wellbeing support. You’ll find engagement trends, what it looks like to catch risk ahead of diagnosis, and strategies to help employees improve their health. Plus, practical insights and actionable steps to strengthen wellbeing programs in your organization. 

Because the truth is, the future of employee wellbeing won’t be built by any one company working alone 

It will be built by organizations working together doing good things. By sharing what they’re learning, supporting one another, and contributing their pieces to something bigger. 

Which brings me back to the Lego people we handed out at the conference. 

They were a small reminder of a bigger idea: Sometimes the best way to build something meaningful is to hand someone a few of your Legos and say, take these learnings, apply them in your context, and let's build better employee wellbeing together. 

Explore how Navigate can support your employee wellbeing strategy to drive better outcomes for individuals and your organization. And download the workplace wellbeing impact guide to go even deeper.

Do good things, 

Brooke