How to stop Wellbeing Washing

Another day, another new-fangled term attempting to hold organisations to account. However, the concept of wellbeing washing isn't new. It has been around since the dawn of social media and predominantly seen on LinkedIn. Financial wellbeing experts, Claro, recently conducted research that shows that 35% of organisations are guilty of wellbeing washing. That's a substantial cohort that don't practise what they preach.

What is wellbeing washing?

In case you didn't know, wellbeing washing is when an organisation highlights publicly the importance of workplace wellbeing, but then doesn't provide any sort of competent wellbeing policies themselves. It's talking the talk without walking the walk. As you can imagine, these vacuous public displays are actually very common. How many times have you seen companies use Mental Health Awareness Week, International Women's Day and LGBT+ month, to preach what good workplace wellbeing looks like. In reality, some of those businesses have no mental health policies, show inadequate support for their female employees and don't know what LGBT+ actually means. See simple equation below:

Virtuous preachiness - Any Workplace Wellbeing = Wellbeing Washing

Of course there are exceptions to the equation. Some organisations pride themselves on their workplace benefits to boost culture and wellbeing. In those cases you find that they are more willing to show what good they are doing and what they have already done, rather than point the finger at others without substance

How to spot worthless wellbeing benefits

Sometimes, it can be hard to ascertain what makes a worthwhile workplace benefit compared with a worthless one. A good workplace perk is entirely subjective, however, an organisation that plans a mental health 'lunch & learn' might be guilty of wellbeing washing. You see, rather than addressing burnout or overworking in a tangible way, some employers think it would be adequate just to talk about mental health during a lunch break, the only time some employees have time to take a breath. Free yoga classes are good for some (the ones that enjoy yoga) as it can adopt some meditative rigour, but for a vast majority it doesn't actually help them balance their heavy workload. An employee's standing desk may look pretty snazzy, but it doesn't change the fact that they are anxious that they have to look after their infirm grandfather after work.

Again, wellbeing washing is very nuanced. There is no black and white example of what it looks like. However, if your organisation is particularly out-spoken on LinkedIn and not doing enough in their own workplace to back it up, then it can create a pretty damaging and toxic environment.

How to stop wellbeing washing

Now is a good time to say I am not too blind to recognise the irony of this article so far. It defines 'wellbeing washing', describes what 'wellbeing washing' might look like and then goes on to say how to stop 'wellbeing washing' in your workplace. But who am I to say what you should and should not do?

Am I the expert on the topic and best person to help organisations avoid wellbeing washing?

Not likely.

Is this article itself an example of 'wellbeing washing' or some other kind of 'virtuous, all-knowing washing'?

Perhaps.

With that in mind, I'm not going to tell you how to prevent, avoid or stop wellbeing washing, lest I be crushed by my own hypocrisy. Instead, I would like to point you to an expert who knows far more than me on the complexity and resolution of the topic. Bex Spiller, the founder of The Anti-Burnout Club, contributed to this wonderful Metro article that maps out a way to tackle wellbeing washing for employees and employers.

Invest in tangibility

What I can legitimately say, as an employee and human being, is that the more employers listen to what their employees actually want, the better the culture will become. Investing in benefits and creating policies that are utilised and bring balance is the goal. I'm not talking office snacks or nonsensical swag, but things that make a tangible difference day-to-day. Flexible work schemes, professional development opportunities, generous holiday allowances and assistance with childcare and eldercare will always resonate with workers. Those are the wellbeing benefits that are worth preaching about. On certain occasions, organisations will get it wrong and wellbeing wash in an attempt to improve their outreach, and that's fine. We all get it wrong sometimes. Whatever the business, start-up or giant conglomerate, we can all do better when it comes to looking after our employee's wellbeing.

Seniorcare by Lottie is a small part of the solution, but a huge benefit to those that need it. As our population's average age continues to rise and the costs of eldercare increase year upon year (roughly 10% per annum), more organisations will find it a challenge to help all those employees that also have caregiving responsibilities. Get in contact and have a chat with us today and let's see how we can boost your workplace wellbeing without the need to wash it.