Just as a common cold in any one person can potentially infect others, a workplace can get sick too and infect those occupying it. Making sure that the workplace is healthy before undertaking any wellness programs for workers is necessary for its success. In fact, making the workplace healthy should be the first step in any wellness program, else is it just wellness-washing.
An unhealthy or sick workplace makes people sick, both physically and mentally.
One of the unthought reasons why wellness programs fail is probably because the workplace itself is unhealthy.
It is a common fad these days to see some small to medium size workplaces offering some initiatives in the name of wellness. They can be – a small fish tank, a small breakout area with free tea/coffee/biscuits, a pantry, a refrigerator, a microwave oven etc. However, all these are so unclean and untidy that for some workers it is a stress by itself. This is an example of wellness-washing.
One of the unthought reasons why wellness programs fail is probably because the workplace itself is unhealthy.
In a larger workplace, the stressors found in smaller sized workplaces (as mentioned above) may not be there but there are other stressors, which can be more dangerous, one of it being a toxic work culture, and surprisingly it goes unnoticed either due to ignorance or otherwise.
Toxic work culture makes you feel psychologically unsafe.
The difference between competitive work culture and a toxic work culture (TWC) is a thin one; sometimes even difficult to identify but the consequences are disastrous. A few workers due to their behaviour can drain the energies of a lot of workers because of TWC leading to mental health issues and a lowered productivity.
Hence before spending time, energy, effort and money on wellness activities, it is important to spend on upkeep of the workplace and have a zero-tolerance policy towards TWC.
Wellness-washing occurs when resources are spent on promoting wellness initiatives that make them appear to be tick-in-the-box while giving an impression that wellbeing is being prioritized.
Wellness initiatives will be rejected by workers if their workplace is unclean, untidy, and has a toxic work culture (TWC) as all these don’t give them positive vibes.
One of the wellness activities itself then is to keep the workplace clean, tidy and free of toxic work culture; rather than the typical ones which include a gym offer, free healthy meals, annual health checks, a yoga class, tobacco cessation programs, a creche, napping areas etc.
An unhealthy workplace is one that is not clean and tidy that leads to an unpleasant odour (smell) which in turn makes the workers experience discomfort and occasionally get acute sickness affecting their physical health. Whereas TWC is not good for the mental health of workers.
A proactive approach in keeping the workplace clean and tidy and having a zero-tolerance policy to manage TWC is the first major wellness initiative that any workplace can undertake.
Wellness-washing is when wellness activities are implemented without addressing cleanliness, tidiness and toxic work culture etc. and spending time, energy, efforts and money to promote the usefulness of the wellness activity when it is not likely.
Wellness-washing occurs when resources are spent on promoting wellness initiatives that make them appear to be tick-in-the-box while giving an impression that wellbeing is being prioritized. Wellness-washing is one of the reasons why wellness programs in many corporations fail.
Any wellness initiative for improving mental health will fail in the presence of toxic work culture.
Wellness activities are instituted to make workers healthy but if the workplace itself is not healthy (clean, tidy, odourless, free of TWC etc.) even healthy workers may become unhealthy.
In a toxic work culture, humiliation is used to dominate. TWC makes you feel psychologically unsafe.
Any wellness initiative for improving mental health will fail in the presence of TWC.
The first thing that strikes a worker is a sight of an unclean and untidy office. After a few days of work, the worker realises that the workplace has a few colleagues who spread a lot of negativities which is unchecked. It takes a while, sometimes years for the management to realize the problem and another few years to fix the TWC. By then, damage is done – good workers leave, productivity falls sometimes leading to closure of the workplace.
Instead, a proactive approach in keeping the workplace clean and tidy and having a zero-tolerance policy to manage TWC is the first major wellness initiative that any workplace can undertake, as ignoring it will drain all the resources and fail any other wellness initiative the workplace plans to implement.
As many Occupational Health Physicians (OHPs) either lead wellness programs or are a part of it, it is imperative that OHPs have a role as workers may approach them with physical and mental symptoms where the root cause could be as simple as making the workplace look and feel like a great place to work and they can guide the Admin staff to achieve it.
The workers who approach the OHP with mental symptoms may point it to the toxic work culture; in which case the OHP can highlight about these to the management which can lead to having a zero-tolerance policy or enforcing it strictly.
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Dr Ajay Sati is an Occupational Health physician who prefers to describe himself as an Occupationist, to denote, ‘an expert in diseases and other concerns of occupations.’ Dr Sati has managed health and wellness programs in industries he worked, like the atomic energy, and energy (oil & gas) in India and overseas. An experienced virtual consultation expert he was involved in many greenfield and brownfield projects providing inputs from health point of view.
