ScaleHealth Blog

How LinkedIn Thinks About Wellness: 10 Practical Takeaways for Startups Selling Into Corporate Wellness

Written by Taylor McPartland | Dec 17, 2025 1:19:02 AM

Michael Susi, Director of Global Wellness at LinkedIn, recently joined a ScaleHealth Roundtable to share how one of the world’s leading technology companies approaches employee wellness. For startups selling into corporate wellness, the discussion offered clear guidance on what drives adoption, engagement, and long-term success.

1. Map directly to clear wellness pillars

LinkedIn organizes wellness around six tenets: thoughts, breathing, hydration, nutrition, movement, and rest. Solutions that clearly demonstrate alignment to one or more pillars are easier to evaluate and deploy.

2. Design for global equity

Programs must work across geographies and team sizes. Digital-first delivery paired with flexible, light-touch on-site options ensures consistency at scale.

3. Lead with engagement, then evolve to outcomes

Engagement is the primary KPI. Startups should track participation, repeat use, and habit formation, while outlining a roadmap toward long-term outcome measurement.

4. Plug into existing channels and incentives

Short content, quizzes, and point-based incentives already resonate. Integrations with learning platforms and micro-assessments reduce friction and speed adoption.

5. Match demographic and cost realities

With a laptop-based workforce and an average age around 35, solutions supporting sleep, musculoskeletal health, stress, and parenting needs feel immediately relevant.

6. Equip internal champions

Turnkey playbooks, slideware, and ready-to-run programming help wellness champions scale initiatives without recreating content for every team.

7. Foster community and peer learning

Employees engage more when learning from peers facing similar challenges. Community-driven formats increase trust and long-term participation.

8. Solve the “myth of time”

Emphasize one-to-ten-minute actions and demonstrate how small, repeatable habits compound into meaningful impact.

9. Be hybrid-ready and resilient

Programs must seamlessly shift between on-site and online delivery. Both modes should be polished and scalable as conditions change.

10. Understand who influences selection

Brokers often help evaluate solutions. Positioning wellness as complementary to existing health and insurance benefits aligns with enterprise expectations.

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