Ask most companies about wellbeing and you’ll hear a list: a yoga class, a fruit basket, maybe a webinar. Milestone, a Portuguese IT consulting firm, took a different route. Its people-centered wellbeing approach starts with listening, then changes things based on what it hears. The Wellbeing Awards 2026 noticed. Milestone won Best Wellbeing Program in the category for companies of up to 250 employees, along with CEO Excellence in Wellbeing.
A conversation, not a scoreboard
Counting initiatives is easy. Understanding how people feel at work is harder, and that’s where Milestone puts its effort. The company wants to know what daily life in the organization looks like, which obstacles get in the way, and how to turn those observations into concrete changes.
Rita Carvalho Marques, who handles happiness and global marketing there, is refreshingly honest about it. Perfect organizations don’t exist, she says, and Milestone makes mistakes like everyone else. Wellbeing is a habit of listening, learning and acting, not a finish line. Being right every time matters less than never tuning out.
How do you listen to 200+ people?
Not with a single yearly survey. Milestone layers focus groups, surveys, internal communities and informal feedback routes, and keeps teams and leadership close enough to talk easily. Together they help the company spot needs early and act on them.
The program itself reaches into many corners of life. It includes psychological support, physical and emotional health, mindfulness, exercise, nutrition, massages, financial coaching and literacy programs, parenting support, recognition, volunteering and extra days off. Mental health at work sits among them rather than in a silo.
Milestone says the length of this menu isn’t the point. What counts is whether each item answers a need the teams themselves raised. Picture a tailor rather than a department store.
What the numbers say about a human-centric workplace
The company tracks internal indicators to see how things are moving:
- 95% of employees feel the company values their wellbeing
- 94% feel psychologically safe
- 93% sense real autonomy at work
- 90% talent retention, read alongside engagement, learning, development, recognition and belonging
Diversity belongs to the same picture. Women make up 48% of the workforce and hold 42% of leadership roles. Milestone reads that as a culture where people can grow and take responsibility based on talent, skills and the variety of experience they bring.
It doesn’t treat these figures as the end of the road, though. Milestone wants people to ask for help, voice concerns, give feedback, pitch ideas and help build the solutions that shape their own days. That links to a principle in its culture: “Greatest Freedom, Greatest Responsibility.” A human-centric workplace, in other words, isn’t something leadership does for employees. It’s something everyone does together.
Why this reaches beyond one company
If you follow IT industry news, you’ve probably noticed wellbeing moving from a perk to a serious talking point. devs.com.pt recently reported on Milestone’s recognition, and the story fits that shift. It’s also a topic worth raising at the next technology events you attend, because the best ideas often come from comparing notes.
For Milestone, the awards are outside recognition of a path it has been walking for a while. More than a trophy, it sees them as a nudge to keep listening, keep learning and keep adjusting to what its people need.
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