It’s human nature to crave autonomy. Parents of toddlers will readily attest to this fact—their little ones want to do EVERYTHING by themselves and will defy their parents’ requests. Because they can! This need to be self-sufficient is innate. No one, no matter their age, likes to be told what to do. When was the last time someone told you to do something and you were happy about it?
This truth applies to health and wellbeing. It explains why many employers experience less than stellar results with workplace wellness programs to improve employee health.
So what can you do to improve employee wellbeing? Create the conditions where employees can thrive! This is no easy task. It starts with the culture of an organization and then extends to the workplace climate.
Employee wellbeing is based on many things: career, community, financial, physical, and social health. According to research by Gallup, employees who are thriving in all 5 areas of wellbeing are 81% less likely to look for a new employer. This is critical if turnover is an issue. They are 65% less likely to be involved in a workplace accident and have 41% fewer sick days.
A staple of typical workplace programs is a biometric screening, or possibly a health risk assessment questionnaire with a report of recommendations for improving health risks. They tell you what to do!
While there can be value to providing people with information on their health, most people know what they should be doing to maintain or improve health. Yet many people fail to make sustainable lifestyle changes.
One way employers and wellness companies have tried to address this is through health coaching. The theory behind many coaching programs is to partner an individual with a health coach who has an expertise in health promotion or a particular health condition. The coach may be trained in a variety of approaches such as the Transtheoretical Model (also called “stages of change”) or Motivational Interviewing, with the goal of helping elicit behavior change with the participant. Incentives to get people to enroll in programs are often used, and while that may improve participation, a 2012 study in the American Journal of Health Promotion demonstrated no health improvement or risk reduction. So what does work?
Improving healthy behaviors won’t be solved by asking questions like “How can I get my employees to improve their health?” or “How can I get my workforce engaged?” Trying to “get” someone to do something is not a fruitful endeavor, unless you merely want compliance.
But if the goal is commitment, true motivation is not something that can be easily manipulated to produce long-term behavior change. According to behavioral scientist BJ Fogg, 3 key things must happen simultaneously for a behavior to occur: Motivation, Ability, and Trigger. If healthy behaviors are what you’re looking for, trying to accomplish this with a canned wellness program is futile. Employers would be better served by asking “How can I support the overall wellbeing of my employees?” and then creating conditions that do just that. Individuals can then have the ability to chart their own courses!
