Why wellbeing is really about equity

It is now a well-established fact that racism, sexism, homophobia and ableism have real and detrimental effects on people’s mental and physical health. Kaisa Wilson looks at what ACC is doing to address equity in the workplace.

Over the past few decades, many studies have shown that stress caused by prejudice and disadvantage can cause a range of mental and physical ill health. For example, marginalisation has been found to elevate blood pressure and weaken the immune system, which, in turn, increases the risk of developing long-term health conditions. A 2019 study found that marginalising experiences appear to increase inflammation in the body, raising the risk of developing chronic conditions such as heart disease and autoimmune disorders. Another recent study found that unfair treatment of women and minoritised groups has a significant consequential effect on sleep and physiological functioning in midlife. It is also theorised that women suffer more ill health later in life due to the disproportionate amount of unpaid labour they do, in comparison with men.

Bias and the affect on mental health

A 2015 study found that bias and disadvantage are twice as likely to affect mental health than physical health. Of the people researchers sampled, participants who reported experiences of prejudice also experienced the following mental health issues at higher rates than the general population:

• depression

• stress

• emotional distress

• anxiety

• post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

• suicidal thoughts.

The transformational potential of truly seeing and then repairing the damage done by inequality in your workplace is almost limitless.

Perhaps most concerning is a 2018 paper in which the findings suggest that fear or anticipation of discrimination itself is harmful, and that it can undermine good mental health characteristics, such as resilience, hope and motivation. The paper also outlines how even verbal assault can cause PTSD. The evidence that bias, disadvantage and marginalisation negatively affect mental and physical health is now overwhelming and continues to mount.

What to do about it?

Any workplace initiatives aimed at increasing wellbeing among employees must first address the elephant in the room, equity. Any benefit gained from workplace wellbeing initiatives will be undone by inequality. Therefore, addressing equity must be the first step in employee wellbeing. Most of the work of affecting wellbeing in your workplace will, in fact, be done by interrogating the structural and cultural ways in which women, Māori, people of colour, disabled people and LGBTQI+ employees are disadvantaged and marginalised. Then fixing it. This work typically costs more money and requires more resources than most wellbeing initiatives, but, unlike many wellbeing initiatives, it works. It is more expensive but far more cost effective.

After sinking money and time into wellbeing, many organisations eventually become frustrated when measures of productivity, turnover, belonging and diversity remain stubbornly unchanged. This is almost always because inequality and inequity in the workplace continue to have harmful effects on the physical and mental wellbeing of women and minoritised employees, and no amount of mindfulness or subsidised gym memberships can compensate.

Equity, diversity and belonging

ACC is an example of a local organisation taking an evidencebased approach and planning wellbeing for its employees in this radically different way. They have a strong commitment to equity, diversity and belonging, owned by the Executive Team. And, as an employer, their recently appointed Deputy Chief Executive, People and Culture Michael Frampton has prioritised this work. The equity, diversity and belonging team sits at the heart of the People and Culture function to ensure all People and Culture work is equitable. The People and Culture function at ACC has also undertaken to review, and modify or replace, any policies, processes or procedures that marginalise one identity group or privilege another. The point is making equity a way of working rather than an initiative sitting off to the side attempting to make change through influence, which is where it is often relegated.

…any workplace initiatives aimed at increasing wellbeing among employees must first address equity.

At ACC, the focus is now on equity first, supported by a framework of approaches drawn from new developments in the fields of neuropsychology, interpersonal neurobiology, behavioural economics and social psychology. This kaupapa, grounded in evidence and rigour, is possible because the organisation is investing in specialist expertise.

ACC’s belief is that by following the evidence and addressing inequity in the workplace, measurable and meaningful improvements to wellbeing, productivity, diversity and belonging will be realised.

Any organisation embarking on wellbeing, or midway through a programme of wellbeing work and wondering why they haven’t seen meaningful change, would do well to shift their focus to equity. The transformational potential of truly seeing and then repairing the damage done by inequality in your workplace is almost limitless.

Dr Kaisa Wilson is the Strategic Lead D&I at ACC and a gender advisor at the World Bank. She is an advocate, speaker and writer for workplace equity with a particular specialisation in gender.