An investigation into why wellbeing initiatives have varied in their effectiveness at improving employee wellbeing

Cook, Rachel 2021. An investigation into why wellbeing initiatives have varied in their effectiveness at improving employee wellbeing. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Workplace wellbeing is a topic of continued interest and research. The managerialist perspective in this area focuses on function and efficiency, whereas the critical management perspective is more concerned with power relations and the systematic exploitation of workers associated with economising wellbeing. In the UK, the workplace wellbeing debate is led by the Black Review (2008), which was premised on ‘good health is good for business’ and the idea of mutual gains, i.e., enhanced wellbeing brings benefits for employer and employee. More recently, wellbeing has been viewed as an economic resource, with employees being ‘fit for purpose’ (Dale and Burrell 2014). The most visible manifestation of this interest in workplace wellbeing promotion is found in various guises of ‘wellbeing initiatives’ (Spence 2015), though the terminology may vary: WorkWell, wellness, wellbeing, work-life, and so on. Yet, workplace wellbeing levels in the UK remain relatively poor against the backdrop of a shift in responsibility for employee wellbeing from paternalist employer to individual employee. Drawing on qualitative research methods (semi-structured interviews) and a comparative case study of five research sites, the key intention of this thesis was to establish why wellbeing initiatives have varied in their effectiveness at improving employee wellbeing. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) framework for thematic analysis was utilised for data analysis. The key contributions of this research are: (i) a development in defining wellbeing; (ii) employees’ understanding of wellbeing are not sufficiently considered during the development of wellbeing initiatives; (iii) there is a disconnect between management and employee perspectives on many aspects of workplace wellbeing; and (iv) line managers are the ultimate hurdle to the success of wellbeing initiatives. This thesis concludes that until wellbeing is contextualised to the environment in which it is experienced, and responsibility for wellbeing is pushed back to management, the expected gains from wellbeing initiatives will continue not to be realised.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	• wellbeing • well-being • employeewellbeing • employmentrelations • self-determinationtheory • criticalrealism
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	24 January 2022
Last Modified:	27 Sep 2022 01:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/146802

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