Creating a high wellbeing, high engagement culture

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Creating a high well-being, high engagement
culture

• Professor Ivan Robertson
• Robertson Cooper Ltd

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Psychological well-being (PWB) more important
than we thought

• Government initiativesForesight Mental
  CapitalDame Carol Blacks Review From sick
  note culture to well note culture Health and
  Safety Executive regulatory frameworksNICE
  review

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PWB more important than we thought

• 2. Fundamental research in the last ten
  yearsDefinitions and measurements of
  psychological well-beingResearch linking
  psychological well-being withMajor illness
  e.g. heart attacks and stroke (and markers of
  major illnesses) Minor illness e.g. colds and
  flu

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Illnesses and biological markers

• less cardiovascular risk
• lower weight and waist-hip ratios
• lower HbAlc (marker for diabetes)
• higher HDL good cholesterol
• better neuro-endocrine regulation
• lower salivary cortisol throughout the day
• better immune function
• lower inflammatory markers (IL-6)
• better sleep - longer duration REM - less body
  movement

Ryff, Singer and Love, Philosophical
Transactions of Royal Society of London, 2004
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Colds - Results
Cohen et al., Psychosomatic Medicine, 2003
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PWB more important than we thought

• 3. Organisational-level impact of PWB Research
  evidenceDonald et al., (2005) almost a
  quarter (23) of variance in employee
  productivity (sample of 16,000UK employees) is
  explained by - Psychological well-being-
  Perceived commitment of organisation to
  employee- Resources and communications

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Organisational-level impact of PWB

• Cropanzano and Wright (2001) Five year
  longitudinal study of psychological well-being
  and performance. Strong correlation between
  well-being and work performance
• Harter, Schmidt and Keyes (2003) Nearly 8,000
  separate business units in 36 companies
  engagement/well-being correlated with business
  unit performance (sickness-absence, customer
  satisfaction, productivity, employee turnover,
  etc)

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But how does PWB have an impact?

• People higher on psychological well-being
• See ambiguous events less threatening
• Feel that unfavourable feedback is less hurtful
• Use less contentious interpersonal tactics
• Are likely to live longer be sick less often
  and have happier work and home life

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Pressure and Performance The drivers of
psychological well-being at work
Switched Off
Stressed Out
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Pressure and PWB

• Challenge v threat pressuresChallenge is healthy
  and life-enhancingThreat can be exciting
• Chronic v acute pressuresLong-term (chronic)
  threat pressure that is uncontrollable is
  damaging
• Pressures and mental toughnessWith suitable
  respite and support exposure to pressure may
  build mental toughness

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Who said this ..?

• I put myself under immense pressure - Im very
  healthy, but I need that pressure. It only
  becomes stressful when you cant handle it..and
  boy, do I love handling it!
• This job is everything I know I will never be
  under more pressure what I have truly gained is
  the knowledge that I can cope with the pressure
  of any job in the world and that makes me
  happy

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The ASSET Model

• Resources Communication
• Control and autonomy
• Work relationships
• Work life balance
• Work overload
• Job security

Hindrance pressures

• Challenge pressures
• Goals and targetsHard goalsAchievable
  goalsSpecific goals
• Pay benefits
• Well-managed change
• Workload

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Pressure
Podsakoff et al., Jour Appl Psych, 2007
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Well-Being and Engagement

• People higher on positive psychological
  well-being are more
• Engaged
• The top driver of employee engagement is the
  belief that senior management is sincerely
  interested in employee (my) well-being.
  (MacLeod, 2008)

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Engagement

• Three componentsOrganisational
  CitizenshipOrganisational commitmentJob
  commitment
• Why are people interested in engagement?

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Engagement

• 15 increase in engagement correlates with a 2.2
  increase in operating margin (Towers Perrin
  Employee Engagement Survey, 2004)
• A high percentage of employees are disengaged
• What drives engagement?

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Understanding engagement
PWB -Sense of purpose
Productivity
Engagement
PWB - Psychological health (emotional component)
ASSET data 9,000 cases
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Influencing engagement

• Resources Communication
• Control and Autonomy
• Work Relationships
• Work Life Balance
• Work Overload
• Pay and Benefits

Sense of purpose
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Influencing engagement

• Resources Communication
• Control and Autonomy
• Work Relationships
• Work Life Balance
• Work Overload
• Pay and Benefits

Psychological health
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Make the business case
Key stakeholder groups
Current interventions
Benefits to stakeholder groups
Whats missing?
Link to strategic outcomes
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Example strategic indicators and targets

• FINANCIAL INDICATORS
• Sickness Absence Costs
• Recruitment and retention costs (talent
  management)
• Productivity measures

• INTERNAL PROCESSES
• High scores on well-being and engagement
  questionnaire
• Good feedback from external assessments (e.g.
  HSE, WCC)

• LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
• High attendance at internal events and good
  feedback

• SERVICE QUALITY
• High scores on customer satisfaction measures

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Make the business case
Identify enablers, de-railers and key
people/groups
Clarify costs and benefits
Develop a clear Brand and communicate
Collect baseline measures
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Business benefits through psychological
well-being
Measure baseline metrics (retention,
productivity, etc.)
Develop leaders and managers to balance
challenge support
Assess sources of pressure and well-being levels
Take action on key drivers of well-being
Re-measure baseline metrics
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Interventions to improve well-being

• Take a strategic joined-up approach
• Brand and communicate effectively and link to
  wider initiatives
• Use a survey to measure well-being, engagement
  and the key (actionable) drivers
• Management and leadership development (feedback,
  coaching, training and development, master
  classes)
• Vector processes to connect managers with their
  impact on their workgroups
• Building workforce resilience and coping
  strategies
• Job and work redesign

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The ASSET Model

• Resources Communication
• Control and autonomy
• Work relationships
• Work life balance
• Work overload
• Job security
• Pay and benefits

Hindrance pressures

• Challenge pressures
• Goals and targetsHard goalsAchievable
  goalsSpecific goals
• Pay benefits
• Well-managed change
• Workload

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The ASSET survey Model

• Organisational outcomes
• Productivity
• Low Sickness absence
• Low Turnover
• Attractive to recruits
• Customer satisfaction

• Sense of purpose
• Resources Communication
• Control and autonomy
• Work Relationships
• Work Life Balance
• Work Overload
• Job security
• Pay and benefits
• Psychological well-being
• Engagement

Drivers of PWB

• Individual outcomes
• Productivity attachment
• Good citizenship
• Motivation effort
• Health well-being

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Leaders managers

• Frequently cited reason for people leaving an
  organisation
• The key players in productivity well-being and
  performance
• Can learn to generate challenge, well-being and
  sustainable high performance

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Key areas for Leader/manager impact

• Organisational outcomes
• Productivity
• Low Sickness absence
• Low Turnover
• Attractive to recruits
• Customer satisfaction

• Psychological well-being
• Engagement

• Drivers of PWB
• Sense of purpose
• Resources Communication
• Control and autonomy
• Work Relationships
• Work Life Balance
• Work Overload

• Individual outcomes
• Productivity satisfaction
• Good citizenship
• Health well-being

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Well-being
Outcome
Method