Where Do Companies Draw the Line? Personal Matters, Boundaries & Belonging

I closed our last blog on the “From DEI Fatigue to Employee Experience: What’s Replacing the Old Model?” with the question that is getting louder is, what is the corporate responsibility on personal matters?

47% of HR leaders report “blurred personal-professional boundaries” as a new HR risk and (CIPD “Health and Well-being at Work” 2025). Leaders will often say “I am not a therapist”, as they do not feel equipped to even start conversations on personal matters, for fear of saying the wrong thing, especially in multi cultural settings.

At a recent event I attended, focused on the Future of Work, many of the panel discussions and breakout sessions focused on mental health and well-being, with lots of great providers offering health scans, EAPs, well-being Apps, etc. So how much care is too much care? How far companies should go in supporting personal issues like mental health or caregiving - and importantly, what is the ROI of doing so? After all, without business sustainability, there will be no employees to care for.

The intention of this blog is to answer these questions and provide a framework to bridge people's sustainability and business sustainability.

Defining "Personal Matters"

Let's start with what we mean by “Personal Matters.” The topic can range from personal life & work boundaries, mental health & well-being, social & political beliefs, financial matters, domestic & family issues. How can an organisation support all these areas - and is that not corporate overreach?

“People are our greatest asset” is often cited by companies and these people are human beings who do not exist in a vacuum of work. Today’s workforce is navigating unprecedented demands, with rising numbers of dual-income households (between 50-70% work full time OECD), growing unpaid caregiving for children and ageing relatives (approx 36% of persons aged 18‑64 have unpaid care responsibilities), a reduced support system as global mobility means parents/close friends are often across borders and escalating financial pressures.

We cannot pretend that this juggling act between life and work does not have an impact.

Organisations do not need to be actively involved in all their employees’ lives, but they do need to provide an ecosystem that acknowledges these realities if they want to attract, retain, engage, and develop employees. The cost of not doing so? > €100 billion annually in costs (missed productivity, sick leave, health‑related absences from stress‑linked conditions (European Trade Union Institute).

For the first time in history, there are up to 5 generations in the workforce, all navigating meaningful moments in their life, some anticipatory, some non-anticipatory.

These moments are deeply human: they require time, flexibility and compassion - and while they are often temporary, their intensity is profound. Their cornerstone is Caring - caring for oneself, children of all ages and abilities, ageing parents, pets, extended family, and friends, etc.

The Question We Don't Ask Enough

Who or what can help me? This is a question that we typically do not ask ourselves enough. We say yes to more, we tell ourselves “that’s just the way it is - suck it up Buttercup” (or was that just me?!), “there is no other way” etc and the rush hour of life and work becomes faster.

As individuals, we need to pause and ask ourselves this question more. We need to have conversations with family and friends, challenge the status quo, brainstorm “what if, what else”, have courageous conversations at home to share the care - that is our personal responsibility as individuals.

And this is where organisations can also step in. When we ask ourselves “what may help?” - often it is the policies, processes and leaders at work. This is the corporate responsibility.

• Fair and equitable policies that make it is easier to navigate a profound moment - being able to witness what your aging parents need when working at their home base as an observer (ie not in holiday mode) gives you brilliant insights into what else can help them, that otherwise you may not have been aware of (global mobility); a minimum 3 months secondary leave means you truly learn how to share the care, especially if there is flexibility when to take it, for example, to facilitate the return to work of the primary carer.
• Training to upskill all leaders, so they can ask the right questions and co-design team charters, that allow for work life integration with the ability to signpost to resources; leadership programmes to demonstrate buy-in to growing your talent, especially those employees who have had to come off the linear career path for a time and they need to know they are opted-in, have huge impacts alone. Coaching to help employees make the best conscious choices, so that they do not feel forced to choose “either or”, but “yes and” (with compromises of course).
• Benefits and resources that enhance the environment and provide support for those who may need it - spaces in offices for quiet time/rest & recovery, gym, EAPs, health and well-being ambassadors, to name a few.
• Senior leaders/C C-suite role models who genuinely recognise the interdependence between people and business sustainability, who champion and role model ways of working that reflect the realities of life, whilst not losing sight of high performance, are key to success.

The warning sign that needs to be flagged here is that each of the above, working alone, is not enough. If a leader insinuates that using flexible working, leveraging global mobility, taking full use of your parental leave, is an indicator that you are not committed - many will not make use of the policies. If leaders feel ill-equipped to have life conversations, have no awareness of their own blindspots and biases, they will be the obstacle to employees believing that Caring and Career is possible.

The ROI of being invested in personal matters is huge - quantitatively and qualitatively. Companies with a strong culture of wellbeing see 11% higher retention and 23% higher engagement (McKinsey Health Institute 2024, PWC). When the company you work for empowers you to make the right choice at that meaningful moment in time, you are more loyal, committed, laser-focused, and want to give back.

Final thoughts

Personal matters and business performance are intrinsically linked. It's up to organisations to create an ecosystem where caring and career can coexist. This requires more than policies on paper. It demands leadership courage, cultural shift, and a genuine commitment to seeing employees as whole human beings navigating the full spectrum of life.

When organisations get this right, everyone wins: employees feel supported through their most profound moments, and businesses benefit from loyalty, focus, and sustained high performance.

As you review your people strategy, ask yourself: are we creating an environment where our people can thrive through all of life's seasons, or are we inadvertently forcing them to choose between caring and career?

If you want to explore how to bridge people sustainability and business sustainability in your organisation, let's talk. We'd love to help you design a framework that works.