September 09, 2026

Healthcare costs are rising and becoming increasingly volatile. This year-over-year trend is drawing increased attention from executive leadership. According to Business Group on Health’s 2027 Employer Healthcare Strategy Survey, 59% of responding employers have seen an increase in Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or Finance team involvement, and 44% report that their Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is playing a bigger role in benefit decisions. During this employer-to-employer sharing call, members discussed how they involve leaders more closely in benefits decision-making and build support for organizational health and well-being priorities.

Below is a summary of approaches and considerations shared during the discussion.

Executive Sponsorship and Support of Well-being Initiatives

Executive sponsorship occurs when leaders use their visibility, influence, and commitment to champion an issue and drive action across the organization. Several employers described that engaging executives as health and well-being sponsors can increase leadership participation and support while also increasing employee engagement in well-being initiatives. Participants noted that sponsorship can be especially effective when leaders have an authentic connection to the topic and share why the issue matters to them. For example, an approach mentioned during the call involved assigning a specific dimension of well-being to different leaders and asking each sponsor to record a short video in which they share their “why” for that particular area of well-being. The video was then posted to the company intranet and included in onboarding communications. More specifically, some of these videos featured the CFO as the financial well-being sponsor, who shared their top three financial well-being tips. Another approach entailed an executive promoting a specific well-being program in email communications.

Executive Involvement in Benefits Decision-Making

Another area where leadership involvement emerged was in the benefits decision-making process. Several employers noted that they are involving executives earlier so that leaders can help their team refine requests for proposals (RFPs), seek benefits changes, and evaluate workforce considerations. Employers also engaged leaders throughout strategy development rather than only at the final approval stage. Participants used executive forums to socialize, discuss ideas, and gather feedback along the way, while leveraging pulse surveys, employee surveys, listening sessions, and benchmarking to understand employee needs, evaluate potential changes, and inform benefit decisions. Several employers are also starting to seek leadership approval earlier in the decision timeline to allow opportunities for leadership input and recommendations.

Use of Dashboards to Keep Leaders Informed and Accountable

Attendees highlighted the role dashboards play in keeping leadership informed of key metrics across the organization needed to support involvement in benefits decision-making. Employers described developing leadership dashboards that begin with a focused set of measures, including use of incentives, retirement accounts, lifestyle spending accounts (LSAs), employee assistance programs (EAPs), mentoring, recognition, and time off. Employers often tailor the dashboard content by audience, since CFOs, CEOs, and other business leaders may have different questions and priorities. From an accountability perspective, many employers noted that they are still early in their journey of implementing specific metrics of success to keep executive leaders accountable.

Leadership Participation in Employee Communications

Employers also highlighted how both executive leaders and frontline managers play a critical role in communicating health, well-being, and benefits priorities. For instance, executive messages and personal stories can reinforce organizational priorities. Managers and supervisors can leverage practical language, talking points, and concrete action steps to use in communicating with employees. Participants pointed to the importance of explaining the rationale, trade-offs, and broader workforce impact of benefit changes. Frontline and on-site leaders were also identified as important messengers for preventive care, workplace safety, and available health resources.

Outlook

Executive leadership is becoming more involved in well-being initiatives, benefit decisions, data-driven dashboards, and communications. Though implementation of C-Suite accountability measures related to workforce health and well-being outcomes remains limited, participants expressed interest in stronger accountability in this space while underscoring the need to first increase leadership involvement. Nonetheless, it’s clear that employers are working to set up that foundation for accountability and increased leadership involvement, especially as cost and market pressures persist. Leveraging approaches such as more frequent executive engagement, audience-specific reporting, and practical support for managers who reinforce key messages have proven to be effective strategies.

Related Resources

• Framing the Healthcare Cost Conversation for Leaders
• 2027 Employer Healthcare Strategy Survey
• From Data to Impact: How Dashboards Elevate Employee Well-being

More Topics

Resource Communication & Engagement Culture & Strategy Data & Measurement