Employee Wellbeing

Question 1

Employee wellbeing definition

Answer 1

Part of wellbeing perceived to be determined and influenced by work and workplace interventions.

Subjective and considers material, social, emotional and developmental dimensions

Question 2

Measures of employee wellbeing

Answer 2

Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale

Satisfaction with Life Scale

HSE Indicator Tool

The Great Place to Work® employee survey

Question 3

Why is wellbeing important?

Answer 3

9.9 million days lost to stress in 2014/15 (HSE, 2015).

Burnout, depression and reduced performance and absenteeism (McTernan et al., 2013)

Heart disease (Terril, 2012)

EU cost of depression 617 billion euros

Question 4

Stress Definition

Answer 4

The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them at work

HSE (2016)

Question 5

Causes of Stress

HSE, 2016

Answer 5

High demands
Lack of control
Lack of support
Relationship conflict
Change
Poor work-life balance
No development 

A disparity between the job requirements and the resources

Question 6

Theories of Stress approaches

Answer 6

Structural approach:
Focus on specific elements of work and how they interact to result in negative emotional state (demand-control- support model).

Transactional approach:
Focus on psychological mechanisms involved in the process of stress (cognitive appraisal and transactional model of work-stress.

Question 7

Work-home conflict outcomes

Answer 7

Health: burnout, depression, substance abuse, emotional exhaustion, problem drinking in men

Work: lower satisfaction, performance and commitment, greater turnover and absenteeism

Family: reduced marital and family satisfaction

Question 8

Role Strain Theory

Greenhaus and Beutell (1985)

Answer 8

Conflict arises from managing work and home life.

Conflict types:
Time based
Strain based
Behaviour based

Question 9

Time based conflict (role strain theory)

Answer 9

When multiple roles compete for an individual’s time.

E.g. accessing work emails in the evening, when you need to be with family

Question 10

Strain based conflict (role strain theory)

Answer 10

When strain from one role begins to affect another role.

E.g. work related stress may cause fatigue and anxiety that is taken home

Question 11

Behaviour based conflict (role strain theory)

Answer 11

When there is an incompatibility of behaviours necessary for two roles.

Question 12

Conservation of Resources

Hobfoll (1989)

Answer 12

Theory of stress

People seek to acquire and maintain resources.

Loss of resources = stress.

Two principles:
Primacy of resource loss
Resource investment

Resources are depleted when job demands are too high so job cannot be completed.

Question 13

Primacy of resource loss (COR)

Answer 13

More harmful for individuals to lose resources compared to benefits from gaining them resources

Question 14

Resource investment (COR)

Hobfoll (1989)

Answer 14

People will invest resources in order to protect against and recover from loss and to gain resources.

Question 15

Effort-Recovery model

Meijman & Mulder, 1998

Answer 15

Theory of recovery

People need time for the psychobiological systems to return to ‘normal’.

If not = spiral of accumulating fatigue

Recover = removal of demands put on individual

Question 16

Allostatic Load theory

McEwan, 2006

Answer 16

Theory of recovery

Chronic stress causes accumulative wear and tear on the body.

The stress response fails to switch off.

Minimizes an organism’s ability to cope with uncertainty in the future

Recover = removal of demands put on individual

Question 17

Passive and active recovery theory

Geurts & Sonnentag, 2006

Answer 17

Theory of recovery.

Recovery after work (external) is necessary when recovery during work (internal) is insufficient.

Long hours and cognitive stress processes (rumination) impeded recovery.

Incomplete recovery = chronic health problems

Question 18

Benefits of teleworking

Answer 18

Employee-oriented schedule flexibility linked to good work-life balance (Byron, 2005)

Mitigates work-home conflict (Allwn et al, 2013)

Question 19

Downsides of teleworking

Answer 19

Increased social isolation (Martin & MacDonnell, 2012)

Blurring boundaries leading to poor work-life balance

Question 20

DWP (2006)

Answer 20

Work good for physical and mental health.

Unemployment associated with lower wellbeing.

Jobs should be safe and accommodating.

Benefits of work outweigh risks of unemployment.

Question 21

Transactional approach to stress

Answer 21

Considers individual differences.

Stressful stimuli cause different reactions in different people.

Depends on cognitive evaluations of situations and coping resources available.

Differences in coping strategies.

Question 22

Resilience

Answer 22

The capacity to remain flexible in our thoughts, feelings and behaviours when faced with a life disruption or pressure

Question 23

Positive Psychology

Answer 23

Positive effect linked to positive outcomes in:

Decision Making Creativity

Question 24

Broaden and Build theory

Fredrickson (2001)

Answer 24

Positive psych theory of resilience.

Positive emotions broaden awareness and encourage varied and exploratory thoughts/actions.

Over time the broadened behaviour builds skills and resources.

Question 25

Learned Optimism

Seligman (2006)

Answer 25

Positive psych theory of resilience.

Happiness can be nurtured like any other skill.

Contrasted with learned helplessness.

Learning optimism is done by challenging negative self talk.

Question 26

Flow

Csikszentmihalyi (1997)

Answer 26

Positive psych theory of resilience.

People are happiest in a state of flow (complete concentration in current activity).

‘In the zone’.

An optimal state of intrinsic motivation as you are fulfilled by the activity with no external motivators.

Question 27

Organisational Level Interventions (PIOP)

Answer 27

Increasing resources to workers and/or decreasing demands

Changing the way organisation is designed, organised and managed.

Best to use a participatory approach (involve both workers and managers)

Increases collaboration, support and engagement.

Question 28

Individual level interventions

Answer 28

Providing resources to the workers themselves to improve their own wellbeing.

Resilience training - develops mental health and improves wellbeing (1-1 coaching most effective) (Vanhove, 2015).

Stress interventions - relaxation interventions, CBT or physical activity (Bhui, 2012).

Mindfulness stress reduction - increases compassion and satisfaction and reduces burnout (Shapiro, 2005).

Question 29

Best intervention basis

Answer 29

A holistic viewpoint can help to ensure that all the individual, team, leadership and organisational elements have been taken into account.

Question 30

Intervention levels

Answer 30

Organisation level
Group level
Leader level
Individual level

Don’t overfocus on one specific level, use all.

Question 31

Group level interventions (CREW)

Answer 31

Target teams to improve quality of workplace interactions and relationships

Aimed at employees who work together.

Coworkers working together to improve workplace conduct, interpersonal skills and improving employee outcomes.

Encourages employees to ask their team for help and be open about own strengths and weaknesses.

Question 32

Leader level interventions

Answer 32

Training and resources given to leaders to help foster health and wellbeing in themselves and workers.

Directly (given them information) or indirectly (general training which helps)

Mental health awareness training (MHAT) to provide leaders with resources and knowledge to recognise and address/support employees at work.

Promote an open and destigmatised environment.