<![CDATA[Employee well-being programs are commonly evaluated according to the activities institutions formally provide. Such an approach may overlook resources that employees develop through everyday relationships, personal meaning, and support beyond formal organizational arrangements. This study examined employee well-being in a Philippine higher education institution, focusing particularly on an apparent mismatch between employees’ reported well-being and the institution’s formal wellness provision. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was employed. The quantitative phase involved 215 regular teaching and non-teaching employees who completed a validated survey assessing physical, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being and institutional well-being activities. The qualitative phase involved semi-structured interviews with 10 purposively selected employees, followed by thematic analysis. Quantitative findings showed high overall well-being (M = 3.42), driven particularly by social (M = 3.73) and spiritual well-being (M = 3.67), whereas physical (M = 3.06) and emotional well-being (M = 3.20) were moderate. This pattern contrasted with the institutional provision: formal activities were perceived as predominantly physical, while structured social, emotional, and spiritual initiatives were less developed or less consistent. Qualitative findings helped explain this paradox. Employees described supportive collegial relationships even in the absence of systematic social programs and reported finding spiritual resources outside formal institutional provision. Conversely, participation in physical activities was constrained by workload and scheduling despite their greater institutional visibility. These findings suggest that employee well-being cannot be inferred directly from the number or visibility of formal wellness activities. Informal relational resources and extra-institutional sources of meaning may substantially complement formal provision. Higher education institutions should therefore strengthen formal support without displacing the informal social relationships and personally meaningful resources that already sustain employees.]]>
