February 2024
Abigail Townsend
Duncan Young is in London for a week of meetings and talks, just days after returning to his Sydney home from Nepal. Most people in his situation might be excused for looking a little haggard. But Young, a trim 54-year old wellbeing consultant and executive coach, brims with quiet energy. There isnʼt even a trace of jet lag. But then, if you were looking for the living embodiment of wellbeing, Young would be a pretty good place to start.
Rising at 5.30am every morning to walk his rescue greyhound, he then swims a mile off the beach near his home, regardless of the weather, 365 days a year. Not, he hastens to add, that he expects clients to follow his own dawn routine. “At no point do I encourage people to get up at 5.30am, walk the dog and go swimming,” he says with a laugh. “Wellbeing is about being your own best possible self.”
Having trained as a project manager, Young joined Lendlease in 1994. Initially working in project management, he became increasingly interested in sustainability, heightened by time spent in Sri Lanka helping to rebuild after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. He eventually became head of sustainability for Lendlease Retail in London before returning to his native Australia in 2013. There he became head of workplace health and wellbeing, a role he held until leaving in 2022. In that time, wellbeing has exploded, going from being a novel concept and minor employee benefit to an entire industry; according to the Global Wellness Institute, the global wellness economy was worth a record $5.6trn in 2022.
Young, however, is an advocate for taking wellbeing back to basics. It rarely, if ever, should involve dramatic upheaval, he maintains. Instead, wellbeing is about small, intentional actions, from where you work on a particular day to saying thank you, to eating well or trying something new.
Says Young: “Wellbeing is a continuum: at one end you have depression and anxiety, in the middle youʼve got languishing and then at the other end youʼve got thriving and flourishing.
Weʼve made it too complicated; we might use apps to gets messages out to lots of people, but thatʼs not as effective as helping someone move along their own wellbeing continuum.” That journey will also only increase in importance in the coming years. As Young points out, we are living and working longer. The traditional career used to be around 80,000 hours in total. Now itʼs closer to 90,000. People need to be physically and mentally healthier for longer.
The pandemic and subsequent rise in hybrid working has further emphasised the importance of wellbeing. Generally in favour of hybrid working, Young accepts it comes with risks, most notably reduced collaboration and a heightened sense of isolation.
Workplaces therefore need to work harder, he argues, not just to get employees back into offices but to ensure they are thriving when there.
“The pandemic was a great reset. People realised there was a different way to work and live. So youʼve got to attract people into the office: they arenʼt coming in anymore just because theyʼre paid to. People want to be engaged, and to align with the personal mission of the organisation. When employees come to work they have the opportunity to engage, to connect with leaders and to learn. So are you putting on a course, are you running networking events? Companies need to proactively bring people in for a reason, not just to do their standard work – because in reality, most people can do that more effectively and more efficiently at home.”
Young believes that workplaces are well-suited to helping people make healthy choices, as long as they are designed and managed with employee wellbeing in mind. “Buildings can definitely help people be their best possible selves. Do they give people the opportunity to move on a regular basis away from their desk? Is there a place for people to meet and communicate communally, or to eat lunch away from their desk, to encourage that social connection? What kind of food is provided in the workplace? Is it chocolate-coated Tim Tams or are we talking the modified Mediterranean diet – high fibre, fresh fruit and veg, all that good stuff.”
“We can create an environment that nudges people along their wellbeing continuum.” Attitudes also need to shift, he believes. For example, moving away from sick days to wellbeing days – where employees have autonomy to proactively manage their own health – and ensuring staff take appropriate time off. “Do we give people days off before they have a big meeting, to make sure theyʼre at their best? The best learning, the best productivity, comes from rest.”
As well as those early morning dips, Youngʼs own wellbeing includes time dedicated to travel. In addition to his recent three-week trek in Nepal, he has walked the Nakasendo Way in Japan and crossed Switzerland on foot, travelling 220km from Geneva to Aosta in Italy. “Every thought you have is something youʼve either read, seen or listened to in the past,” he says. “If youʼre exposing yourself to new ideas as you travel, youʼre more able to see a different aspect. To walk in someone elseʼs shoes is really powerful. “Nepal is an amazing place. The mountains are big, around 8,000 metres. But the Sherpas carry 30 kilos of weight on their heads in flip flops on goat tracks, and all of them are smiling. You think of all the things you were worried about, and here are these people who donʼt have a lot but are grateful for what they have.
“There is something about being surrounded by large things, whether itʼs the ocean or mountains. Thereʼs a sense of awe; youʼre not the biggest person in the jungle. Just the ability to walk one step in front of the other as you move through space allows you to think about things differently.”
Visiting Japan, for example, gave Young first-hand experience of the small, simple steps needed to live well into old age “In the southern parts of Japan, people are living healthily into their 90s and often 100s. Theyʼre literally growing vegetables in their front yard. Theyʼre walking to see their friends. They have networks called moai, groups of people that come together. So they have a really strong connection and a strong purpose, called ikigai; itʼs the reason they wake up every day.
“To see how well people live in rural Japan is a real eye-opener. If you have strong social connections, if you foster those connections, if you eat well, if you move often, these are the secrets for longevity.” It is this level of purpose he now seeks to install in companies and their employees. Ultimately Young sees wellbeing as a Trojan horse, a way of helping employees become more engaged and companies more productive.
“There is a clear link between wellbeing and engagement,” he says. “People who are thriving experience less sadness and anger, and are able to pay better attention to whatʼs going on around them.”
“We talk about wellbeing being a Trojan horse because it influences everything in your life. Teams that are thriving perform better, and managers who are thriving make a difference.” As he says before heading off – calmly, and with purpose – to his next meeting: “Imagine leaving work healthier than when you came in. What are the decisions you need to take in your workplace to actually help people be healthier? How will you earn their commute?”
