Home Economy Entrepreneurship Healthy workers perform better

Healthy workers perform better

By

Carlene Fonseca

-

09/12/2025

Carlene Fonseca founded Central Falls-based The Greatest You Consulting in 2021. She previously served as a city councilor in Central Falls and was statewide director of the Rhode Island Afterschool Network. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Carlene Fonseca | The Greatest You Consulting founder, CEO Before founding The Greatest You Consulting, I lived through trauma, addiction and years of searching for outside validation – even in the workplace, where I overworked and high-performed while silently struggling. Today, as a woman two years into recovery, I see how those struggles became my

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Carlene Fonseca | The Greatest You Consulting founder, CEO Before founding The Greatest You Consulting, I lived through trauma, addiction and years of searching for outside validation – even in the workplace, where I overworked and high-performed while silently struggling. Today, as a woman two years into recovery, I see how those struggles became my training ground for leadership. They taught me that healing and wellness aren’t luxuries – they are the foundation of strong, high-performing teams. Leaders often focus on strategy, outputs and the bottom line, but the truth is simple: healthy employees perform better. When people are supported in their mental, emotional and physical well-being, they bring more focus, creativity and resilience to their work. Ignoring wellness leads to burnout, turnover and [hurts] the bottom line. Prioritizing it builds loyalty, energy and growth. Here are a few lessons I’ve learned: • Acknowledge the unseen. Many people carry burdens – family stress, caregiving, grief – that impact their work. Naming and normalizing those realities builds trust and psychological safety. • Model wellness. Leaders set the tone. When we set boundaries, take care of ourselves and encourage balance, our teams feel permission to do the same. • Make space for check-ins. One practical tool is to start meetings with a quick “one-word check-in.” It takes less than two minutes but it opens space for honesty, helps managers spot stress early and reminds everyone that people come before productivity. • Build a resource board. Create a shared space for resources like grief groups, running clubs, or support circles – visible, accessible and stigma-reducing reminders that no one is alone. Strong organizations don’t happen by accident – they’re built when leaders invest in people first. By centering wellness, we create workplaces where individuals and companies flourish together.