A study finds that employee wellbeing programs don't improve mental health. Discover how these may cause harm, why they don't work and what organisations can do about it.
One-size-fits-all interventions are poorly designed, promote blame-shifting and fail to target root causes.A happy and healthy worker is a productive worker... right? This belief has fueled the rise of the multi-billion-dollar employee wellness industry. Organizations spend an estimated $8 billion annually on individual-level initiatives likewill make them happier, more engaged, and thus more productive. However, mounting scientific evidence reveals this isn't necessarily the case.
In Flemming's data, this sad statistic was again highlighted. Across all industries, workers participating in wellbeing programs were more likely to report unrealistic time pressures, high workloads, strained colleague/manager relationships, and poor expectations management than non-participants. These are not individual-level problems but issues deeply rooted in the organization’s design.
Unsurprisingly, Flemming found that only organizational-level interventions tended to improve wellbeing. This implies organizations should change structural aspects of work like improving compensation and benefits, providing secure/permanent job contracts, allowing more autonomy and flexibility over work/schedules, and providing opportunities for professional development/upskilling.
Additionally, research shows that data-driven approaches to employee wellbeing seem to yield higher returns for employees and organizations. These approaches allow organizations to target interventions more effectively at both levels. At the individual level, collecting data on factors like work preferences, coping strategies, and personal resources can identify employees at greater risk of strain or burnout.
The simple truth is there's no quick fix or easy solution that corporations can bottle and sell to magically make workers happier. Real, sustainable employee wellbeing will only arise when companies acknowledge the toll their cultures and operating practices are taking on people and authentically adjust those conditions.Van Zyl, L. E., Gaffaney, J., van der Vaart, L., Dik, B. J., & Donaldson, S. I. . The critiques and criticisms of positive psychology: A systematic review.
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