Stop Wellness-Washing

What leaders and companies can do to make wellness a meaningful, humane workplace value.

“The wellbeing of our people is our top priority.”

“We offer yoga classes.”

“You’re an industrial athlete.”

“You’re not an employee, you’re family.”

There are so many ways that companies express how much they want us to believe that they prioritize employee wellness.

All too often, though, this is nothing more than BS posturing. At best, it’s misleading, at worst, it’s outright false advertising that hurts employees every day.

Why Companies Wellness-Wash

Companies are not idiots (even if they are sometimes run by them).

They know wellness is hot.

They are aware that millennials are looking for more than just a paycheck — they want meaning and fulfillment. (Whether they should be looking for this in the workplace is another matter.)

They know that people are struggling, with stress and burnout at unprecedented levels.

The statistics are wild — and conflated, given that actual burnout essentially wipes out a person’s capacity to work effectively. If 80% of us are…