We are delighted that Hein will be speaking at our Amsterdam Summit later this week, explaining why Wellbeing is Not the Point. Wellbeing is a worthy aspiration and an easy target for consensus. It is also not the point. Drawing on forty years in HR and CHRO tenures at KPN, ING and DSM, Hein Knaapen argues that employers carry three non-negotiable duties — to abide by the law, to uphold the dignity of people at work, and to deliver company performance — and that wellbeing is a lever inside the third, not a goal alongside it. Along the way Hein will examine what the evidence actually says about individual-level interventions, which single factor explains most of the variance in engagement and performance (it is not an app), and where employer responsibility ends and personal agency begins. Appreciative of the evidence, uncomfortable with the orthodoxy, and firmly on the side of precision over platitude.
We caught up with Hein to see how he’s feeling in the run up to the summit:
Hi Hein we are thrilled that you are joining us at the Wellbeing at Work Summit in Amsterdam this week. Our first and most important question is, how are you doing today?
I am doing very well, as I am a youngster by heart with over 40 years of HR-experience under the belt, I feel it has all only just started.
As a leader based in the region, what are the main challenges you are facing when it comes to employee wellbeing and mental health?
The main challenge to all of us is twofold: while living up to our obligation as a company to ensure dignity of people at work, we have to become clear about what responsibility sits where in the partnership between the company and the employee; and we have to acknowledge how the manager, and nothing else, is the single most important driver of engagement and performance
What strategies have you seen developing over the past 6 months, both internally and externally, that are moving the dial on wellbeing in the workplace?
I have seen much over the past many years, often with no impact on employee engagement and company performance
Why is employee wellbeing so important to you personally?
It’s only one of the many things that are relevant in the relationship between the employee and the company
What impact is AI having in your organization and how are you managing that?
I am sure there will be much impact, but it’s too early to say what the impact will be exactly.
Hein is speaking in Amsterdam as part of our Wellbeing at Work Summit Europe 2026 which takes place in Zurich, Amsterdam and Madrid this month. Click the links below to find out more and book your tickets:
