Increasingly, companies are making claims about their well-being programs, and in some cases, they’re delivering on those promises. But as psychotherapist and author Petra Velzeboer explains, there are some telltale signs that well-being washing may be taking place.
A UK survey last year found that 79% of workers don’t believe their employers’ mental health and well-being efforts are genuine; in other words, they may be well-being washing, which is making well-being claims that don’t reflect reality.
As a global mental health consultant, I see well-being washing play out in a variety of ways across organizations. Toxic practices, limited resources and a lack of psychological safety mean that the reality within the culture is very different than the well-being awards being won, the strategies created and the faux-vulnerabilities being displayed by leaders.
While it may attract talent initially or make you look like a forward-thinking employer, as soon as the reality is known to employees, trust will plummet faster than you can say the words “PR exercise,” as people can feel the hypocrisy of values and the cracks will start to show.
Is your program fake — or is it just new?
There’s a difference between well-being washing and being at the beginning of your well-being journey. If you’re in early stages, you may be experimenting with different initiatives and learning about what works well in your industry and culture. You won’t get it right all the time, but your aim is to build your strategy and boost your internal culture along with your external well-being profile.
Well-being washing, on the other hand, is a toxic and concerted effort to show the bells and whistles of benefits, resources and apps, while behind the scenes, working systems and practices do not understand the link between well-being and performance and therefore push their people to extremes.
Then, when they are burned-out or leave, the narrative is “Well they just couldn’t hack it, they weren’t a culture fit or they should have used the benefits.”
You’ll probably know which one of these applies to you already but if you’re not sure, a clue will be in a feeling of resentment at what is being shouted from the rooftops compared to your experience on the ground.
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Read moreDetailsTips for avoiding well-being washing
Here are a few tips to ensure well-being is useful and authentic and to avoid the pitfalls of well-being washing:
Try to change things from within
Sometimes with all the reactivity and change going on in organizations today, they just don’t see clearly what path they are on or understand how well-being is intrinsic to performance, talent retention and the success of the business. Internal activism and changing things from within may still be possible.
Connect with people like your diversity and inclusion network, well-being champions or HR teams to question (with kindness) what you think you’re seeing in the culture and come to the conversation with a solution-focused approach. This will enable more support for bringing the wellness strategy to life and thereby build a mentally healthy culture.
Practice bravery
If you want to call out the system and try to find other ways to make the well-being agenda really thrive, this may feel like a great risk to your job security or promotion opportunities. We often use our energy to complain to colleagues or friends before thinking about what’s in our control and what we can do to actually make a difference to the problems in our environment. It takes bravery to talk about good mental health and lead by example in our team and begin to be the change, not just tell other people what’s wrong or what to do. Sometimes we simply need a collection of brave people to behave differently and show the way — and you can experiment with being this person.
Reflect on what you need to thrive
Long before I became an expert in workplace mental health, I grew up in a religious cult, so I know first-hand how sometimes you simply can’t change the system and it’s more important to find a way to leave a toxic environment with any kind of confidence intact.
Take some time to reflect on your environment and if well-being washing is taking a negative toll on your mental health. If it is and you’ve tried to change things from within, it might be time to leave. Boost your support networks outside of work and do whatever is in your control to improve your mental health so you can have the strength to make the choice that’s right for you.
There are many companies that are focusing on getting well-being right, so while there is plenty of well-being washing, it can be tempting to think that everywhere is like that and you’re simply lucky to have a job.
While I’m not advocating rash decisions, in my experience, many companies are genuinely trying to get this agenda right — and while yes, we’re all at the foothills of innovation when it comes to truly marrying the topics of well-being and success, places do exist where you can honestly learn together and thrive at work.
It is possible for work to be good for your mental health, not just something you have to recover from afterward.
Petra Velzeboer is a psychotherapist, executive coach, CEO of PVL and author of “Begin With You: Invest in Your Wellbeing & Satisfaction at Work.” 
