Operationalizing Justice: Prioritizing Rest & Wellness Beyond the Rhetoric

“Your work isn’t your worth. Your birth is your worth.” – Tricia Hersey 

I would offer that you pause and reflect on this quote prior to reading this post. We must fundamentally reorient our understanding of self-worth, work and productivity to truly understand what it means to move beyond the rhetoric and prioritize rest in our strides to create more just cultures.  

If you were one of the thousands of people “working” on one screen while simultaneously watching history being made at the Presidential Inauguration on another — feeling a plethora of emotions watching a new beginning (and the first Black and Indian Woman become Vice President), then subsequently feeling stressed about returning to your work duties, this is for you.

If you are a manager who didn’t realize you had scheduled back-to-back meetings during the Inauguration and didn’t know what to do about it, this is for you.

If you are in an HR function and noticing a pattern in BIPOC employee turnover, but you don’t know what to do about it, this is for you.

If you are an executive at a company where “overworking” and “long hours” keeps showing up on your engagement surveys, this is for you.

White supremacy and anti-racism are becoming common jargon in organizations and across media outlets. Last week, Leigh Morrison started a conversation about the next step: How can we truly transform an organization to achieve a culture of equity and justice? Her answer was the straight truth that we all needed to hear: We must directly address where white supremacy is maintained in ourselves and our organizations. We must make radical shifts.

One of the first things that came to mind for me while watching the inauguration was productivity. Even though The Winters Group gave us the option of a day off if we felt we needed it, I could not stop thinking about what I had “to do” after. But then I paused and realized deep down, I have tied many knots of my own self-worth to my accomplishments. How have I internalized the grind culture that white supremacy and colonization have cultivated?  

It is time that we unravel these knots — these notions of productivity, grind, urgency, the adrenaline rush of cramming to meet a deadline, the need to have more deliverables, publications, billable hours — whatever “it” is to you in your work. 

Through American history, from the origins of slavery to “welcoming” immigrants to this country, the expectation we set for all was to be “a productive member of society.” So, we have upheld these values, lauded individuals prevailing through adversity, trauma, systemic oppression and mental health challenges, while downplaying or completely ignoring the effects that these “obstacles” have on our bodies.

The truth is, emerging workplace trends like offering wellness benefits, flexible work environments, unlimited PTO and better work-life balance, have the right intent… but minimal impact. We are still tired, still working overtime and burnout is rampant. Here’s an unfortunate truth: Ultimately, these “benefits” uphold white supremacy culture. Rest has become a commodity, something you can buy or have if you “earn” it. The health and wellness industry has become a multi-million-dollar industry, run by, and primarily accessible to, those who possess the most privileges in our society. Meanwhile, low-wage and hourly workers who are likely to encounter more challenges in their day-to-day lives may never have access to these benefits, whether technically, or due to practical realities they must manage first.

As an American culture, we have put tremendous value on productivity and achievement (whether it is monetized or not) and this is a public health crisis. Day-to-day fears, compounded by external responsibilities, are slowly but surely chipping away, deteriorating our social, emotional and spiritual health. It is imperative that organizations begin taking radical shifts toward embedding rest into their policies, practices and procedures. This requires organizations to think beyond the “individual agency” approach to health and toward community health accountability. This will allow us to truly prioritize the health and wellness of employees as an act of social justice. Here are some shifts you can start operationalizing at any organization: 

• From Flexible PTO to Mandatory PTO: America is the only country of its economic caliber to have no nationally-mandated paid time off, leaving almost a quarter of workers with no paid time off, often for jobs that historically have paid less and are considered essential. But even if you offer PTO (or even more enticing, unlimited PTO), we have internalized productivity as a part of our worth, so much so that more than half of American employees feel guilty taking those days off. 55% of Americans didn’t even use their PTO in 2019! Instead, make your paid time off mandatory. If you are a leader, practice “leaving loudly,” ensuring you take time off yourself and communicating with your team and clients why you are prioritizing rest. Ask yourself what incentives may still be in place encouraging your team to work too hard — which facilitates burnout — rather than prioritizing rest. The culture change starts with you.   

• Reactive current event emails to responsive team shutdowns: The email acknowledging civil unrest or any traumatic national occurrence is necessary, but not nearly enough to shift your culture. Instead of responding driven primarily by a “sense of urgency,” respond swiftly but intentionally. Your work will always be there when you return. Shut down your team’s work for the “day-after” a traumatic event — cancel meetings or anything mandatory, and yes, these hours of however your employees want to practice rest should be paid. For example, having election day off gives people the option to do what fulfills them — working the polls, catching up on errands, following the news. Let’s be real: there’s nothing “productive” about a company meeting on zoom with everyone watching news updates on another tab or second monitor. You know, we know. Practicing slowing down during big events is not only dismantling our own sense of urgency but is also an act of justice.  

• Maternity leave to parental sabbatical: It is no secret that the U.S. has the shortest maternity leaves, and even shorter paternity leaves, than any country in the world. This has to stop, not just because of the demands of parenting but also for the health of the future generations. Create a parental “sabbatical” — a longer term (6 months or more) time off plus funds for early childhood development or parental career development. With these supports in place, parents won’t feel like they are stifling their careers, and can stay connected to the organization and improve their skillset while also encouraging secure parent-child attachment (the most development occurs from birth to age three).  

• Wellness benefits to… higher base pay: Sure, benefits are great, but at the end of the day, the reason many folks don’t take time to rest or go on vacations, is because it is expensive. Not only do wellness benefits foster further consumption, and typically prioritize one type of wellness (physical or mental). Instead, just increase base pay equitably — whether hourly or salary so that your employees can feel supported across all areas of life.  

These changes may require drastically rethinking organizational approaches to work and rest and require significant adjustments to budgets. Yet, if there is one thing we know, it’s that current approaches to rest are not conducive to retention and sustainability and are decidedly inequitable, failing to support those who already have the fewest opportunities. Promoting a culture that prioritizes rest and adjusts funding to center those most impacted represents a critical shift toward operationalizing justice.  

Stay tuned in coming weeks for more “radical” changes your organization should consider adopting to make justice real!