The New Organizational Template: �How to Design Work and Workplaces for Employee Health and Well-being

Cristina G. Banks, PhD

Director at the Interdisciplinary Center for Healthy Workplaces

Senior Lecturer at Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley

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Agenda

• A Global Health Crisis
• Current Approaches
• Limitations
• Possible Path Forward
• Taking the Lead

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A Global Health Crisis

Cancer

Cancer in Australia: an overview 2012

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2012

“On current trends diabetes will become the no. 1 burden of disease in Australia in the next 5 years.

Type 2 diabetes currently costs the Australian community $14.6 billion a year. This will double to $30

billion in 12 years if we don’t adopt stronger approaches to preventing diabetes and its complications”

- Diabetes Australia CEO Professor Greg Johnson

Obesity

OECD, Obesity Update, 2012

United States

Mental Health

Mental health: strengthening our response. WHO, 2010

WHO. The Global Burden of Disease: 2004 Update. WHO; 2008.

Schizophrenia, depression, epilepsy, dementia, alcohol dependence and other mental, neurological and substance-use disorders ...

More than 450 million across the globe suffer from mental disorders.

make up 13% of the global disease burden,

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surpassing both cardiovascular disease and cancer.

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Occupational Injuries

International Labour Organization, 2011

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Presenteeism

Current Approaches

• Preventive interventions
• Occupational health and safety programs
• Screening – HRAs, Biometrics, disease screening (e.g., cancer)
• Educational campaigns
• Counseling (e.g. weight-reduction)
• Medication adherence with support

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Current Approaches

• Health promotion
• Ergonomic furniture
• Access to healthier food options
• On-site clinics
• Access to fitness programs – free/subsidized gym memberships, on-site programs
• Nurse advice lines (24 hours a day)
• Wellness Fairs
• Policies and practices encouraging healthy workstyles

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Current Approaches

• Other
• Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)
• Absenteeism management
• Return to work programs
• Organizational justice/diversity programs
• Women’s conferences, professional development programs for minorities
• Ombudsman programs

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How well are these approaches working?

• Low participation rates in optional programs
• Differences in access/participation by organizational level
• Differences in access/participation by socio-economic status
• Modest change in employee behavior
• Modest change in health status
• Short-term change only
• Some evidence of significant ROI

Why Limited Success?

• Single-factor approaches
• Most approaches are external to the work itself
• Interventions are rarely evidence-based
• Behavior change is elective
• Leadership and management not sold on it
• Too little investment
• “Wicked” problem

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What do we know from research on employee health and well-being?

• Worksite health promotion
• Illness and injury prevention
• Well-being design
• Psychosocial and emotional intervention
• Ergonomics
• Nutritional education and food access
• Job design and workload management
• Organizational justice and fairness
• Quality of relationships/positivity
• Work/Family balance
• Mindfulness practices

Possible Path Forward

• Multi-pronged approach (comprehensive and integrated)
• “Baked in” rather than elective
• Evidence-based
• High commitment

(B. Collins, personal communication, June 25, 2013).

Microsoft – Redmond B4

Enable teamwork – improve coordination, flexibility,

high energy, daylight, texture, color

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Tech

O+A*

Microsoft – Redmond B16

Sophisticated, high energy environment, play at work,

daylight, texture, color

Tech

ZGF

Microsoft – Redmond B115

Variety in workspaces, light, teaming, collaboration points, security

Tech

ZGF

Microsoft – Redmond B121

Playful, collaborative Street, transparent, touchdown

Tech

SKB Architects

Microsoft – Mexico

Play, technology, local materials

SPACE

Tech

Microsoft – Vienna

Fun, Nature – wood and green

Innocad

Tech

Skype - London

Gensler

Gather, connect

Tech

Microsoft – Schiphol

Nature, mobile work

Sevil Peach

Tech

Microsoft – Kista

Mobile work, Interaction

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Tech

Murmans Arkitekter

Microsoft – DC

Lighting, social space, technology showcase

Tech

SmithGroup

Worksite Pledge

• Leadership
• Purpose
• Habitat/Physical Environment
• Engagement/Creation of Social Networks
• Policies & Benefits

(G. Tompkin, personal communication, June 25, 2013).

Taking the Lead

• The Interdisciplinary Center for Healthy Workplaces, UC Berkeley
• Collecting research from all health-related disciplines into a single repository
• Integrating the research into a coherent picture
• Translating research findings into a new organizational template
• Creating guidelines, recommendations, and case studies for the design of evidence-based interventions
• Underwriting new research to advance our knowledge
• Promoting innovation in workplace design and work practices

Where do you fit in?

• Join in the research –become part of an interdisciplinary research team.
• Join in the process of integrating diverse literatures into a set of evidence-based principles
• Join in the process of translating evidence-based principles into practice
• Point us to the best research literature and/or practice to add to our knowledge base

Thank You

Cristina G. Banks, PhD

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