Are you guilty of “wellbeing washing” in your workplace?
The last few years have seen more business leaders explore the topic of employee wellbeing to fight off the threat of the “Great Resignation”, “Quiet Quitting” and more.
But how meaningful really are the solutions that you have implemented?
Coinadrink Limited explores “wellbeing washing”, a term given to businesses that believe workplace wellbeing is nothing more than a simple box-ticking exercise.
What is wellbeing washing?
A company would be “wellbeing washing” when they focus more on appearing to care about employee wellbeing more than they do on actually taking care of their employees.
A recent study from Claro Wellbeing raised a startling statistic. Whilst 7 in 10 UK businesses celebrate mental health awareness days, only 30% offer good mental health support to their staff around these occasions.
It is a fair argument to suggest that, in a world where employee wellbeing remains a very hot topic and one that can impact aspects such as recruitment and staff retention, business leaders are desperate to just tick a box that convinces job seekers that they are a pro-active employer.
This may not always be the case.
An unintentional mistake?
This may not necessarily be deliberate. A study from McKinsey Health Institute found a big disconnect in people’s perceptions of company culture at different levels of an organisation.
In fact, business leaders rate the mental health and general wellbeing of their staff 22% more favourably than the employees themselves. So, it seems as though many employers simply don’t know that their employees are unhappy.
Instead of pointing the finger, then, better education may be needed.
Google reported that 2021 saw the “mental health” search term reach the highest numbers ever. And with such a large proportion of our day spent at work, employers can’t afford to relax with employee wellbeing.
Melanie Cochraine, CEO of Equifax, says: “a culture of workplace wellbeing needs to be built and embodied by organisations’ leaders, otherwise it often becomes all talk and no action.”
How you can reduce wellbeing washing in your workplace.
To prioritise meaningful action over social media promotions, you need to talk to your staff about what is important to them and ensure channels of communication are always open if they ever want to reach out in the future.
It may be that you could create a suggestion box where staff can submit ideas anonymously.
It’s important to remember that no company is perfect. Be honest with your staff with your shortcomings but make it clear that their wellbeing is your priority and that you want to improve moving forward.
From then on, you need to measure your additions. It’s good that businesses are already understanding the importance of this, with 67% of HR decision-makers saying they plan on analysing their wellbeing efforts in 2023.
Workplace wellbeing starts with culture. It may take time, but will be one of the best investments that your business can make.
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