Academics offer tips on how to not alienate employees with false promises
The newest catchphrase in human resources is “wellbeing washing” – when an organization throws superficial wellbeing initiatives at their workforce to ease the strain of overwork and hopefully attract some talent while they’re at it. But they’re still failing.
So why are HR professionals still not getting it right?
Souha Ezzedeen, Doctor of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behaviour at York University, told HRD that wellbeing washing might be seen as a post-pandemic phenomenon, but it’s actually nothing new – the practice has been around since the internet boom in the late 90s.
“Unemployment was low, and competition for talent was very high, and at the same time, people were burning out and working incredibly long hours, and that's where many of these programs started to become introduced,” she said.
“Whether it's work from home, or compressed workweeks or wellness programs, those all started to become introduced in force around that time. So, we have about 25 years of experience with these wellbeing programs, and there's usually quite the gap in between what is offered and the interests of the workforce in using these programs.”
Wellbeing washing has been shown to be a growing problem for employees and employers alike; a 2023 survey published by wellbeing company Claro showed that a third of 1,000 employees surveyed said their employers were engaging in wellbeing washing. The report also said that only 36% of employees surveyed thought their company’s mental health efforts were “good” or “outstanding”, yet 71% of employers celebrated mental health days or weeks.
The problem starts at the top with misallocated resources, said Marie-Hélène Budworth, Doctor of Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management at York University. Tasking HR leadership with wellbeing goals is one thing, she said, but without empowering them to offer meaningful resources to employees, any surface-level initiatives will fall flat.
Yoga classes, nap rooms or smoking cessation programs might look good on paper for attracting talent, she said, but sorely miss the mark.
“I think that sometimes HR is tasked with putting together initiatives to support wellbeing … having newsletters, or having special groups or having social events, or putting together spaces within the workplace to support break times – those types of things are useful, but HR isn't often given the ability to do things like give people more flexible time, or to offer choice within benefits, and so on,” Budworth said.
“Without actual real resources, and real support from leadership, it doesn't become a part of the value of the organization.”
Researchers at the University of Otago in New Zealand pointed to wellbeing washing as a “strategic attempt to use language and visual imagery as part of an organization's branding and promotional culture to connote something positive, or to minimize and manage reputational risk.”
In their report, they attributed this phenomenon to the ‘Great Wellbeing Myth,’ when “attributes linked to wellbeing are inevitably transferred to those individuals, groups, institutions and even states that embrace and implement them.” They compared it to the similar “Great Sports Myth” which assumes that all sport is “good and pure”, that those who participate in sports are also so, and that sport is always beneficial for a community or individual.
These strategies can be a way for organizations to continue focusing on quarterly benefits while sacrificing the long-term benefits of giving employees actual support and wellbeing resources, said Ezzedeen.
“That would require having to ask hard questions, and it would require having to make more profound changes that companies would be reluctant to make, because they involve costs. It costs more money to hire more people so you don't have that overload,” Ezzedeen said.
“Corporate Canada, corporate America, does not think long term, it thinks quarterly … but investing in people over the long term, people are not only high performers, but they're also not burning out and dropping out, they're actually committed and interested and engaged. But that is a long-term effort. That is sustained, and rewards over time.”
What employees need are resources they can use, said Budworth, such as the opportunity to choose their own benefits, or a flexible schedule.
To achieve true wellbeing in a workforce, she explained, it is paramount that workers don’t think of their employer as the enemy during life’s ups and downs: “[It’s about] not having the relationship with your employer be the source of stress when it comes to those things, like knowing that you are in an organization where you will be supported through those significant life events.”
Budworth agreed with Ezzedeen in that these supports are harder to implement for HR, because they require investments of resources over time, as well as individual attention.
“I don't need any reminders to stretch – I need real things,” said Budworth. “I need time off; I need for it to be okay not to be online for two hours in the middle of the day. Those types of things are harder to implement because they're actually productivity issues and resourcing issues. There are a lot of things I think are meant to signal that ‘We care about you’ but aren't exactly the ways in which employees want to be cared for.”
Ezzedeen offered three specific things HR can work on beginning to address and counter wellbeing washing in their own organization.
Figure out why the organization is engaging in wellbeing strategies: First, ascertain the “why” of your organization’s wellbeing efforts. By honestly assessing the level of commitment of the company, HR can begin to make moves towards establishing a more authentic strategy that employees will resonate with.
“What is this company's true level of commitment to wellbeing? Is it because you want to look good in the marketplace? Everyone's doing it, and therefore you should too? Is that the level of commitment to wellbeing? At least be honest, that that is your level of commitment?” said Ezzedeen.
A workforce’s sense of wellbeing will improve in line with the employer’s level of commitment, she explained, and will positively affect the company’s bottom line.
Research the company’s current state of wellbeing: The next step is to do “serious research” into the workforce, Ezzedeen said, using measures such as absenteeism, engagement, health, perceptions of work-life balance, satisfaction with workload, satisfaction with family life, etc.
The crucial point, however, is to be really interested in the answers provided by employees, and to enact change based on those answers.
“That's another type of whitewashing, where employers pretend that they care by asking questions, but then they don't act on the responses that are received,” she said. “So ask with the commitment to act on what you've been advised.”
Keep it simple: complicated wellbeing programs won’t work: Ezzedeen’s third tip is to not attempt overly complex wellbeing programs “where you're offering a gazillion things but nobody cares, because people are overwhelmed with work and they're overwhelmed with the choices that you've given them.”
The most important thing for HR to remember, she said, is that employees need to have the time to pursue self care; for example, if an individual likes to run in the morning and works optimally that way, they should have the freedom to clock in later to do that.
It also comes down to boundaries; although working from home has been beneficial for the wellbeing of many employees, it has also blurred the line between work and personal time, Ezzedeen said. This can contribute to a reluctance in employees to participate in wellbeing programs.
“What people have been feeling for quite some time is that the companies are missing the point of why we're all overworked,” she said. “And they're trying to make nice with programs that don't really help ultimately, because the root cause of the burnout that we're seeing and the mental exhaustion that we're seeing has more to do with how work is organized, and how we think of Human Resources ultimately.”
