Wellbeing at work: why we need a more human-centred workplace
In the first of a three-part series on The conscious employee meets the conscious organisation, Garry Turner explains why HR-led wellbeing strategies aren’t addressing the root causes of mental health issues among employees.
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Thanks for your honesty Garry. I too experienced burn out about the same time. A tough year! Self care and a sense of belonging so important to get right in an increasingly digital world.
Hi
I'd like to make a few comments on this article.
Firstly, in reference to your line "Together we can help turn around such desperate statistics such as that displayed below, showing that men are three times more likely to commit suicide than women.". This is quite a loaded statement against women with depression and mental health conditions. More men die from suicide, more women than men attempt suicide. Men simply use more 'final' methods. This is a point that is propagated again and again. This is not about 'whataboutery' but to highlight that women are suffering equally if not moreso than men (more women experience depression in their lifetime), and both women and men need input and help to prevent suicide. It is unlikely that a place of employment will stop someone taking their own life, and on many occasions it is the treatment of the individual by their employer that will push them towards suicide e.g. redundancies, suspensions, bullying, discrimination. Workplaces need to be aware but I have yet to see any employer give a fig about driving staff to suicide. I speak from experience here as a person who almost took their own life due to treatment from an employer.
Secondly you state "Let’s flip this word wellbeing around to ‘being well’." This is the risk and downfall of the 'wellbeing' movement. Some people will never be 'well'. Many people suffer chronic ongoing health conditions that impact on a daily basis. Many individuals have life long disabilities that impact on their ability to be 'well'. It's the notion that everyone is supposed to be 'well' and that 'wellness' is an expectation. It moves the focus of the 'wellbeing' movement towards the worried well and the self-care brigade and takes the focus off people who genuinely are struggling to stay in work due to health conditions and disability. The wellbeing movement sucks the oxygen out of the space and takes the voice away from those who are marginalised and vulnerable due to health issues and mental health conditions.
Thirdly, 'wellbeing' seems to be the latest HR fad and obsession. There is always a new one, and this one is about as scientifically researched as any of the others. HR is about resourcing/despatching personnel for the benefit of the organisation. They serve the organisation, not the individual. Many people (self included) have disclosed health/wellbeing issues to HR and had it used against them down the line. I see the focus on wellbeing by HR as another way to distract from what they are actually about and to simply give their roles/depts a greater sense of gravitas. Many things pushed by HR departments under the banner of 'wellbeing' have no research evidence of efficacy, e.g. mental health firstaiders, coaching, wellbeing weeks, etc. They push wellbeing whilst overlooking cultures of bullying and misconduct by managers. Wellbeing is touted as a sticking plaster for the underlying fundamental failings and toxic structures within workplaces. Pushing staff to burnout and providing them with an EAP number when they finally crack is not 'wellbeing'! I find CIPD are at the forefront of driving this nonsense.
This is a nice article in an ideal world, but we do not live in an ideal world and workplaces are about money making, not the happiness of staff.
I think generally we need more realism about how toxic our work environments/structures are and less distractional focus on 'wellbeing'.