How Canva is building a workplace that cares for the whole human
What does it take to create a workplace where employee wellbeing is embedded into its culture and not treated as a standalone initiative?
For Nicole Singh, Global Wellbeing Lead at Canva, the answer starts with recognising that people bring their whole lives to work.
Caregiving responsibilities, grief, financial pressures, safety, mental health and other experiences can all shape how people experience work.
For organisations looking to build more effective workplace mental health and wellbeing strategies, understanding these connections is increasingly important.
What does whole-person wellbeing mean at work?
A whole-person approach recognises that employee wellbeing extends beyond individual programs or benefits. It considers the broader experiences, circumstances and needs that can influence how people feel and function at work.
As the founding member of Canva's wellbeing team, Nicole has helped shape the company’s approach to wellbeing, with her work spanning psychosocial safety, mental health, employee support and culture across its global workforce.
How Canva is embedding wellbeing into its workplace culture
One of Nicole’s key achievements is establishing the Wellbeing Foundation, which sets the vision, strategy, goals and priorities for Canva’s global wellbeing approach.
Rather than treating wellbeing as a standalone program, this approach focuses on embedding the foundation into Canva's culture and day-to-day operations. This includes listening to employees, building wellbeing education, and providing support through complex experiences such as grief and domestic violence.
Nicole has also developed and implemented Canva's first global psychosocial audit, creating an approach tailored to the organisation while aligning with emerging international frameworks and psychosocial legislation.
What can organisations learn from Canva?
Canva's approach raises an important question for employers: what could change if wellbeing was considered part of the whole employee experience?
At the Mental Health & Wellbeing at Work Show, Nicole will explore this question in her keynote, How Canva is building a workplace that cares for the whole human.
She'll share practical insights into Canva's approach to whole-person care and the lessons the organisation is learning about creating a workplace where people feel supported, understood and able to thrive.
Hear from Nicole Singh and more than 100 workplace mental health, wellbeing and leadership experts at the Mental Health & Wellbeing at Work Show.
