Carewashing? It’s Not Carwashing.
Carewashing is a different form of whitewashing, a different form of sweeping unpleasant facts under the rug.
What’s the difference between carewashing and carwashing? If you thought it was just a typographical error between the two words, you would be wrong, even if you graduated first in your class from a Tier 1 school, editor of the law review, Order of the Coif, and all the sundry accolades that mean little to most clients. Carewashing is not a typo, it’s a word all its own and has nothing to do with getting your car washed.
An article in the Harvard Business Review looks at corporate behavior that is purportedly intended for employee well-being, such as mindfulness training or yoga classes (name your well-being activity of choice). Instead it is carewashing — a superficial interest and attention to employees as a cover for toxic corporate behavior. Can anyone relate? It’s insincere, almost patronizing behavior from leaders who truly don’t care about their employees but who mask that attitude with carewashing.
Some of us — perhaps many of us — already know that; it’s throwing a bone in an effort to appease or paper over the need for fundamental changes in how the organization works, and this is true not just for corporate law departments but law firms as well. Mindfulness classes, yoga classes, and other perceived perks don’t cut it.
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Carewashing is a different form of whitewashing, a different form of sweeping unpleasant facts under the rug. All you have to do is look at today’s workplaces and see staff reluctance, if not outright revolt, to return to the work world of before the pandemic. No more “we’re all in our places with bright shiny faces.” Phooey.
The authors of the article suggest four strategies to prevent carewashing, or, if it already exists in the workplace, how to recognize it for what it is and root it out. There’s a gap between how management thinks it’s doing in terms of the care and feeding of its employees and what those employees see as the gap between reality and fiction. Again, nothing new. It’s more a matter of how much Kool-Aid has been drunk and by whom.
If you have ever traveled on a London subway, you are familiar with the term “Mind the gap” when you get off and on. That gap is a nothingburger compared to the gap of perceptions between management and the team.
How to identify carewashing? What are traits prevalent in carewashing? See if any or all of them might speak to you: ill-equipped leaders (nothing new there), lack of follow-through (unfulfilled promises), self-interest (in other words, it’s all about me), and trivializing legitimate employee complaints, failing to investigate them, and sweeping them aside because, among other things, it makes the leader look bad when power and control are the goals.
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So how should leaders (and you know who you are, whether in law firms or corporate legal departments) avoid carewashing? The authors have four suggestions, not just for the leaders, but anyone and everyone else.
- Be the authentic you. No one likes a phony. Don’t overpromise and under-deliver. Do the reverse, which will show that you mean what you say and will commit to deliver on those promises. One of the most irritating aspects of phoniness is not looking someone in the eye during a conversation. Not only is it annoying, it’s insulting and pisses people off. Anyone you know?
- Don’t be afraid to admit that you don’t know what you don’t know. There’s no shame in not knowing everything. Isn’t that why the goal is to surround yourself with peeps smarter than you? And if you don’t do that, why not? Insecurity, perhaps? Ask questions, but don’t assume you know the answers. And listen, really listen. Too many purported leaders delight in interrupting to show how smart they are and taking credit where credit is not due. A pox on bossus interruptus.
- Don’t hire to achieve short term numbers or goals. That never works. Hire for people-based values and competencies. Smart peeps can learn what they need to know to do the job, but ethics and values are not things that are easily taught, especially not on the job and by then it’s often too late. And, as we have all (I hope) learned, to our everlasting regret, it’s much easier to hire than fire.
- Be self-aware. Understand the virtue of humility; don’t dictate, engage in conversations. You are not the only one with ideas. It’s those peeps further down the food chain who usually see more clearly what is needed and how to accomplish it, if only those further up the food chain would listen and take heed.
Jill Switzer has been an active member of the State Bar of California for over 40 years. She remembers practicing law in a kinder, gentler time. She’s had a diverse legal career, including stints as a deputy district attorney, a solo practice, and several senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which gives her the opportunity to see dinosaurs, millennials, and those in-between interact — it’s not always civil. You can reach her by email at oldladylawyer@gmail.com.
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