Recognition celebrates organizations redefining employee health and wellbeing as a strategic driver of performance, resilience, and long-term value creation
PHILADELPHIA, May 21, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- HealthNEXT announced that Baird has been awarded the Gold-level HealthNEXT Culture of Health & Wellbeing Award, a distinction reserved for organizations that are approaching best-in-class levels for what a truly high-performing culture of health and wellbeing looks like in today's workforce.
The HealthNEXT Culture of Health and Wellbeing Award recognizes leading employers that have moved beyond traditional programs to embed health, wellbeing, and performance into the core of their business strategy. These organizations demonstrate measurable excellence across a rigorous, evidence-based framework including leadership alignment, governance, strategic planning, benefits design, and enterprise-wide outcomes.
More importantly, these efforts extend beyond the workplace. Organizations recognized by HealthNEXT are contributing to a broader "ripple effect"—strengthening families and contributing to the prosperity of communities through healthier, more engaged populations.
"Today's most successful organizations understand that supporting the health and wellbeing of their workforces is the right thing to do. Additionally, it is not a cost, it's an investment with a significant return," said Dr. Ray Fabius, Co-Founder, President, and Chief Medical Officer of HealthNEXT. "Baird exemplifies what it means to operationalize that belief at scale."
A Model for Modern Employer Excellence
Baird's Gold-level recognition reflects sustained, measurable performance across HealthNEXT's ten pillars of a best-in-class culture of health and wellbeing. Their approach demonstrates how intentional design, disciplined execution, and leadership commitment can transform workforce health into a competitive advantage.
Key differentiators contributing to Baird's recognition include:
- Enterprise Integration of Health and Wellbeing: Health and wellbeing are fully embedded across leadership and day-to-day operations—positioning them as a core component of how the organization functions, not as isolated initiatives.
- Strategic Stewardship of Health Investments: Baird demonstrates a disciplined, data-driven approach to managing health-related investments—balancing employee experience, health and wellbeing outcomes to achieve long-term sustainability while aligning closely with enterprise strategy. This visibility reinforces wellbeing as both a cultural priority and a strategic business lever.
- Commitment to Benefits Equity: Through equitable benefits design, Baird reinforces fairness and long‑term employee wellbeing—structuring healthcare premiums so lower‑paid employees pay less and higher‑paid employees contribute more. This ensures benefits are accessible to everyone and strengthens both culture and performance.
- Executive-Led Health Governance: A dedicated Health Care Subcommittee, supported by senior leadership champions, ensures health and wellbeing remain visible, prioritized, and continuously advanced at the highest level.
- Exceptional Workforce Engagement: Baird's B\Well program has achieved sustained participation rates exceeding 90%, reflecting deep employee trust, relevance, and cultural alignment. Over time, the program is shifting to foster intrinsic motivation—where employees participate because wellbeing is part of how work gets done, how teams support one another, and how people experience vitality. This evolution signals that wellbeing is no longer a program to join but a shared value embedded in daily behaviors, leadership expectations, and employee shared commitment.
Collectively, these efforts position Baird among a select group of organizations that have reached a level of maturity where health and wellbeing are not just supported—but are actively driving organizational performance.
"At Baird, taking care of our associates and their families is fundamental to who we are. As an employee-owned firm, we take a long-term view and investing in our associates' wellbeing helps sustain our culture and achieve great results for our clients," said Rodney Jones-Tyson, Global Chief Human Resources Officer of Baird. "We're honored to receive HealthNEXT's Gold-level Culture of Health & Wellbeing Award."
About the HealthNEXT Culture of Health & Wellbeing Awards:
The HealthNEXT awards recognize organizations at varying stages of maturity—Bronze through Platinum—based on measurable progress against established benchmarks. Gold-level honorees represent organizations that have achieved advanced culture of health and wellbeing and demonstrated outcomes across multiple dimensions of health and wellbeing performance. Companies interested in learning more about the HealthNEXT awards can visit www.healthnext.com.
About Baird
Established in 1919, Baird has more than 5,300 associates serving the needs of individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients. Baird has more than $565 billion in client assets as of March 31, 2026. Committed to being a great place to work, Baird ranked No. 16 on the 2026 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® list – its 23rd consecutive year on the list. For more information, please visit Baird's website at www.rwbaird.com.
About HealthNEXT
HealthNEXT partners with organizations to build and sustain best-in-class cultures of health and wellbeing. Through a combination of data-driven assessment, customized strategic roadmaps, and guidance from experienced Chief Medical and Health Officers, HealthNEXT delivers measurable outcomes, strong ROI, and a clear path to performance transformation. Learn more at www.healthnext.com
About BHCG
BHCG is a coalition of employers in Wisconsin. We serve as a collective action group for influencing health care quality and costs in our region. We pool our common efforts and purchasing power to seek a market-driven health care delivery system that includes information transparency and accountability from all stakeholders and support for consumers.
Media Contact
Ivor Kiwi, HealthNEXT, 1 9086562737, [email protected], https://www.healthnext.com/
SOURCE HealthNEXT
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