When 'Wellbeing at Work' gets misconstrued

Awareness days, healthy bowls of fruit, occasional yoga mornings and subscribing to apps are all good contributors to support wellbeing at work.

This is going to sound crass, but together they don't constitute a wellbeing strategy.

They are a collection of independent things, that in and of themselves have value & restorative benefits - but how deep do they go?

Maybe the issue is in translations of the word 'wellbeing' - which is loaded with connotations of filtered Instagram reels, a kind of lightness and 'veneer' which doesn't really align with the bottom line in business. Sure, nice to have, but perhaps only ever a side story rather than the big business of leadership, operations and economic health.

I heard the term 'human sustainability' used in a recent HR thought piece and I wondered if it felt more grounded, and perhaps more palatable to budget holders and senior leadership teams?

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The reality is that we're living in a landscape of immense shifts, with the explosion of AI, escalated costs, high stakes competition and relentless productivity. This has a toll on us humans and we carry psychological & emotional costs.

Creating cultures which enable openness, integrity, healthy challenge & meaningful conversations is essential, particularly in the intersection between leadership & wellbeing. Burnout and mental health challenges are often a byproduct of cultures which do not support people effectively.

And those figures are not going down anytime soon.

There has to be space for collective conversations, reflection and exploration as well as deep 1-1 relational containers that are far from 'fluffy' and 'nice to have' and give space and airtime to the unspoken things that can so easily corrode goodwill in environments where there's pressure to do more with less.

So, by all means subscribe to the apps, invite teams to sample yoga and celebrate awareness days - they all make good sense. But don't shy away from the bigger cultural conversations, the deeper relational exchanges and the strategic aspects of wellbeing that are imperative to support human sustainability in any working environment.

I'm Nat and I'm an integrative wellbeing coach & consultant, working with individuals & businesses who are willing to go below the surface to get curious about what matters.