Understanding well-being washing
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2025-07-07
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en
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Abstract
This study addresses the topic of well-being washing in an organisational setting. The
main objectives of this research focus on advancing the understanding of this concept
empirically and examining how companies are presenting the organisational actions and how
a non-mainstream group of employees perceive it and assess their own subjective well-being.
A case study including semi-structured interviews with Polish low-wage employees and staff
responsible for well-being in a logistics company in the Netherlands, was conducted using
critical lenses. Additionally, the document analysis allowed exploration of organizational
communication about this topic. The results show that not all of the company's symbolic actions
are aligned with its substantive actions. It is noticed by employees, who maintain a negative
view on organisational efforts. This additionally preserves their negative emotions, which
works against well-being objectives. Moreover, this study discovers the role of leadership and
structural problems in well-being washing. Concluding, the paper shows the complexity of the
problem and encourages further research on the topic
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen