Wellbeing Is Not a Perk

For anyone who has to decide what to cut this year.

The exit interview blind spot

A familiar scene plays out in leadership teams every year - a capable, committed colleague hands in their notice, and senior managers are blindsided.

At the exit interview, the feedback is uncomfortable. The departing team member speaks about chronic exhaustion, feeling unheard, and burning out under an unmanageable workload. The leadership team may be completely baffled. From where they sit, they worked hard to protect staff support and keep them in jobs despite difficult funding cycles. They point to the lunchtime mindfulness sessions, the employee assistance helpline, and the subsidised health and fitness memberships. They invested money and good intentions into those benefits, yet their best people are still walking out of the door.

This disconnect happens because nobody joined the dots between working conditions, structural pressures, and actual human wellbeing. Leaders often assume that providing these tools fulfills their duty of care. But when staff are routinely carrying the emotional weight of frontline work, absorbing vicarious trauma, or operating in under-resourced services, a class or an app doesn’t balance the ledger.