Individual wellbeing interventions not beneficial for employees, study finds

WileyJan 10 2024

Many businesses are making efforts to promote workers' wellbeing, and numerous interventions are available at the individual and organizational levels. New research published in the Industrial Relations Journal found no evidence that individual-level mental wellbeing interventions like mindfulness, resilience and stress management, relaxation classes, and wellbeing apps benefit employees.

The study was based on survey data from 46,336 workers in 233 organizations in the UK. Across multiple subjective wellbeing indicators, participants in individual-level mental wellbeing interventions appeared no better off than other workers.

The study's author, William Fleming, PhD, of the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, noted that organizational interventions-;such as changes to scheduling, management practices, staff resources, performance review, or job design-;may be more beneficial for improving wellbeing in the workplace.

There's growing consensus that organizations have to change the workplace and not just the worker. This research investigates wellbeing interventions across hundreds of workplaces, supplementing trials that often take place in single organizations, and the lack of any benefit suggests we need more ambition when it comes to improving employee wellbeing. I hope these results can spur on further research and employer action."

William Fleming, PhD, of the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford