Over half of 1,170-plus UK employees report a gap between well-being policy and daily practice
In a Nottingham Business School survey of more than 1,170 UK employees, 53% reported a gap between well-being policy and everyday behavior. Trust was highest where leaders' conduct matched the commitment, though the survey records only an association.
The Scientist · Science desk
Around 44% of employees reported DEI policy inconsistencies with everyday behavior; 53% reported a strong contrast or some inconsistency on well-being, the largest gap; 19% felt their organization's culture did not align with the values it promotes.
| Figure | Value | Note | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| DEI policy vs everyday behavior gap, around | 44% of employees | 5 | |
| Well-being: strong contrast or some inconsistency | 53% of employees | the largest reported gap | 4 |
| Culture not aligned with the values it promotes | 19% of employees | nearly one in five | 6 |
What happened
- Respondents worked in medium-sized and large organizations across sectors including health care, education, finance and public services.
- Around 44% of employees reported inconsistencies between diversity, equity and inclusion policies and everyday behavior at work.
- Nineteen percent, nearly one in five, said the culture where they work does not match the values the organization promotes, whether to its own staff or to the outside world.
Why it matters
- What it limits constraint The figures record what workers said they experienced, so an employer should not read 53% as a measured failure rate without its own workload and promotion data beside it.
- Who has to decide decision Kougiannou argues managers and senior leaders should be assessed on workloads, exclusionary behavior and hiring and promotion.
- What doesn't add up contradiction The findings raise an 'HR whitewashing' concern, yet Whysall says they do not mean organizations deliberately mislead.
The base for the 53% was more than 1,170 people [1]. If the base is exactly 1,170, that is roughly 620 respondents [15]. The paper is published in Employee Relations: The International Journal [2]. The 53% also pools two answers, a "strong contrast" and "some inconsistency" between well-being policy and everyday behavior [4]. A mild mismatch counts the same as a flat contradiction, and the phys.org account does not report the split, how respondents were recruited, or whether any comparison group exists.
Well-being drew the largest gap, nine points above the 44% for diversity, equity and inclusion [16][5]. A further 19% said their organization's culture did not match the values it promotes [6]. These are different questions, so we would not read the three numbers as points on one scale.
On leadership, workers were asked whether leaders' actions and hiring and promotion decisions reflected the values their organization claimed [3]. Many looked to leadership behavior when judging an organization's true values [14]. They were most likely to trust well-being and inclusion commitments when they saw leaders, recruitment and promotion lining up with them [7]. That is an association. Trust in an employer could color how a worker reads a manager's conduct as easily as the reverse. The design as described leaves both directions open.
Zara Whysall, professor of business psychology at NBS, gave two examples of the mismatch: well-being messages arriving while a worker struggles with an excessive workload, and public celebration of diversity and inclusion while promotion opportunities are seen as unequal [10]. Her explanation was that "a policy is much easier to change than organizational culture, which requires consistent action from managers and leaders over time" [11]. Nadia K. Kougiannou, professor of work and employment relations, said, "A well-being or DEI policy has limited credibility if employees encounter workplace practices that contradict it." [12]
In our view, what an operator can use here is narrow. Workers in this sample report a gap, and they say they weigh leader conduct when deciding what to believe. Whether assessing managers on workload and promotion decisions closes the gap is a separate question that a perception survey cannot answer.
What to watch
- The paper's methods: how respondents were recruited, the response rate, and the split between 'strong contrast' and 'some inconsistency' inside the 53%.
- Any follow-up that sets employee perceptions against employer-side records such as workloads and promotion rates.
- Whether employers that assess managers on workload and promotion decisions report a narrower perceived gap afterward.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence55
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Nottingham Business School, part of Nottingham Trent University, surveyed more than 1,170 people working in medium-sized and large organizations across a range of sectors, including health care, education, finance and public services.
- [2]
The paper is published in Employee Relations: The International Journal.
- [3]
Workers were asked whether their employer lived up to its stated values, whether day-to-day behaviors matched diversity, equality and inclusion and well-being policies, and whether leaders' actions and hiring and promotion decisions reflected the values the organization claimed to have.
- [4]
The largest reported gap concerned well-being: 53% said there was either a strong contrast or some inconsistency between their workplace's well-being policies and what they experienced in everyday behavior.
- [5]
Around 44% of employees reported inconsistencies between diversity, equity and inclusion policies and everyday behavior at work.
- [6]
Nearly one in five employees (19%) felt their organization's culture did not align with the values it promotes internally or externally.
- [7]
Employees were most likely to trust organizational commitments to well-being and inclusion when they saw leaders' behavior, recruitment decisions and promotion practices reflecting those commitments in everyday working life.
- [8]
The findings raise concerns about 'HR whitewashing' in U.K. companies, where organizations make public commitments but employees do not see meaningful behavioral or structural change.
- [9]
Zara Whysall, professor of business psychology at NBS, said: "These findings don't mean that organizations are deliberately misleading people."
- [10]
Whysall gave examples of the disconnect: receiving well-being messages while struggling with an excessive workload, or an employer publicly celebrating diversity and inclusion while promotion opportunities are perceived as unequal.
- [11]
Whysall said: "a policy is much easier to change than organizational culture, which requires consistent action from managers and leaders over time."
- [12]
Nadia K. Kougiannou, professor of work and employment relations, said: "A well-being or DEI policy has limited credibility if employees encounter workplace practices that contradict it."
- [13]
Kougiannou said managers and senior leaders should be assessed on how they put these commitments into practice, including how they manage workloads, address exclusionary behavior and make recruitment and promotion decisions.
- [14]
Many employees look to leadership behavior when judging an organization's true values.
- [15]
If the base is exactly 1,170, 53% is roughly 620 respondents.
- [16]
The well-being gap (53%) is nine percentage points above the diversity, equity and inclusion gap (about 44%).
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Sources
1 independent publisher whose own reporting we read for this story.
- phys.orgEmployees look to leaders as study finds gap between workplace promises and employee experience
1 article · October 14, 2026
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