An evidence‐based approach to improving the quality of resource‐oriented well‐being interventions at work

Abstract

Although there is much research on the links between work and well-being, there is relatively little good-quality research on resource-based or other interventions such as more traditional stress management and job redesign. This paper provides guidance about how to improve the quality of intervention research. First, drawing on the logic of interventions and principles of evidence-based practice, we take the example of a relatively simple resource-oriented intervention to identify 11 key characteristics that we would expect to see in an evidence-based intervention of this type. These characteristics and their underlying principles can be used to evaluate the quality of existing intervention studies and guide the design of future interventions. Second, we discuss an evidence-based approach to reporting the process and the outcomes of interventions. Providing only limited information about an intervention means that it is difficult to replicate or use that method in practice. We describe a checklist developed in a more mature evidence-based field (medicine) that can be used to ensure that sufficient intervention details are reported. Next, we discuss the importance of reporting all the outcomes of all interventions. Last, we consider the ways in which this approach to improving interventions is not only important scientifically and practically but also ethically. Practitioner pointsAlthough many resource-oriented well-being interventions are available, their effectiveness is not always known, and they may be implemented without initial diagnosis. An evidence-based practice approach to intervention involves using local organizational evidence as well as evidence from scientific research. Before implementing an intervention, it is important to gather information from the target population to ensure, for example, that there is a significant well-being problem and that it is amenable to change, as well as seeking out research evidence for the efficacy of the intervention. This approach is useful in terms of practice but also helps to ensure that we are working in an ethical way.

Well-being and HRM in the changing workplace

“…Joyce et al (2010) also raise the issue that there are limited cost-benefits analyses of wellbeing interventions which can present an additional challenge if not measured as how can organisations then determine whether investing in employee well-being is indeed a win-win or 'mutual gain' or whether it can lead to conflicting outcomes? Briner and Walshe (2015) report a lack of good quality intervention research around employee well-being and make the case for why a stronger evidence base can help organisations make more informed choices about the actions they choose to take around this. It is important to reiterate though, that without evaluation of initiatives, this prevents organisations from fully understanding the cost-benefit analysis of investing in well-being at work, or not.…”

“…Nielsen & Miraglia, 2017). Briner and Walshe (2015) propose that identifying the well-being problem is the first step to identifying which intervention may be most appropriate, and this may vary across organisations.…”

“…Briner and Walshe (2015) state the importance of evidence based practice in HR, and in management more generally, arguing that before any well-being interventions are put in place, thorough research should be done first to provide evidence of a problem that needs to be addressed and, subsequently, to identify what intervention might be most likely to be effective. Indeed, Rousseau and Barends (2011) articulate the value of becoming an evidence-based HR practitioner.…”

“…Briner and Walshe (2015) present clear advice on how to improve interventions by strengthening the evidence base.…”

Bridging the divide in work and organizational psychology: evidence from practice

“…However, that is not to say that broader or alternative accounts of evidence-based practice (e.g., Bartlett, 2011) would not be able to account for our empirical findings. As Briner and Walshe (2015) write "Evidence-based practice is relatively undeveloped in management and organizational psychology" (p. 564). It would therefore be appropriate to suggest that we might consider reconceptualizing practice in the field of W&O psychology by supplementing the main accounts of evidence-based practice that have thus far been presented in the published literature, developing more explicitly those aspects of the scientist-practitioner approach which address evidenceutilization and scientific process and, finally, integrating the resultant "hybrid" model within a consultancy cycle framework.…”