Well-being washing is a practice conducted by the company to exaggerate its efforts in promoting the well-being of the employees, without actually making any initiatives to do so. This is done to enhance the company’s reputation giving the impression that the company prioritizes mental health and work-life balance. Still, the initiatives may be superficial or primarily for image enhancement rather than genuinely addressing employee needs.
The term is similar to “Greenwashing,” in which an organization pretends to be environmentally healthy and robust but does not take any action to prove it.
To be precise a few examples of well-being washing are:
- When a company celebrates Mental Awareness Day by arranging a mental health program, however, they may not provide employees with adequate work-life balance hence causing them stress, anxiety, and depression. Also, by not addressing their issues on time with appropriate solutions.
- Any organization using keywords like “How to avoid workplace discrimination”, and “Resilient workplace techniques”, but ignoring employees’ concerns and queries in real life against discrimination and biases, etc.
Well-being washing is a skeptical practice that affects the workforce’s enthusiasm and adversely affects their morale to work efficiently. It also creates a negative environment in the workplace, causing conflicts due to favoritism, discrimination, and biases.
The practice of well-being washing can also harm a company’s reputation, as negative employee reviews can impact public perception and create skepticism about the company’s commitment to long-term growth. Building a reputation by exaggerating well-being initiatives is short-lived and can lead to serious repercussions, such as reduced employee trust, increased turnover, and difficulty attracting top talent who value authentic workplace culture and genuine support.
The concept of well-being washing has its origin in the concept of “Greenwashing” in which companies attempt to create the image of favorable workplaces for their workforce without actually implementing any practices to enhance its values.
