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employee engagement:putting employees in the driver’s seat
contentsSelf-Renewing Engagement: Putting Employees In The Driver’s Seat ............3
Motivation: Putting Theory Into Practice .................................................................4
Profile: Motivation and Diabetes .................................................................................4
Profile: Motivation and Healthy Lifestyle Change ..................................................5
Profile: Motivation and Exercise ..................................................................................5
Putting The Pieces Together ........................................................................................6
Giving Employees The Keys: The Natural Next Step .............................................6
2 employee engagement: putting employees in the driver’s seat
indeed, engagement becomes its own reward— and truly the new currency of employee wellness.
3 © 2013 hubbub
self-renewing engagement: putting employees in the driver’s seatFor many of us, the most vivid memory from our teenage years is that momentous day when
our parents first handed us the car keys and said “Drive safe and don’t stay out too late.”
We were thrilled—and our parents were secretly terrified. They envisioned perils that even
Hollywood has never dreamed up. Sure, we had a few close calls: Remember that time you got
off with just a warning about speeding?
But we made it home safely that night. And every night thereafter. We became confident,
experienced drivers who know when to slow down and when to pull over.
Entrusting your employees to control their own wellness
priorities feels a lot like giving your teenager the keys to the
family car. You know it’s the right thing to do—but behind
that upbeat façade, you’re terrified that nothing will happen.
You’re worried that without external pressure, without
traditional carrots and sticks, your employees won’t be
more active, eat healthier and manage stress better.
And their wellbeing and productivity will suffer.
Fortunately, the evidence shows that employee
engagement truly is a self-renewing cycle. Businesses
that support employees in establishing and addressing
their own individual health priorities with carefully
chosen extrinsic motivators encourage progressively
deeper, self-reinforcing participation that produces
lasting health benefits.
Indeed, engagement becomes its own reward—and truly
the new currency of employee wellness.
+EXTRINSIC MOTIVATORS
SELF-DIRECTED
HEALTH, COST, PRODUCTIVITYBENEFITS
+ INTRINSIC MOTIVATORS =
the employee drivenwellness equation =
motivation: putting theory into practiceResearch by Dr. Edward Deci and Dr. Richard Ryan
(University of Rochester), Dr. B.J. Fogg (Stanford),
Dr. Nicholas Christakis (Harvard), Dr. James Fowler
(University of California, San Diego) and Dr. Abraham
Maslow explains why “giving the employees the
keys to the car” works.
They’ve found that motivation results from basic and
universal psychological needs:
Autonomy or self-determination—the sense that
we’re choosing our own path
Competency or self-efficacy—the sense that
we’re capable of accomplishing what we set out
to do
Relatedness—the sense that we’re part of a
bigger community that respects and
appreciates us
People are biased towards learning, development
and participation in activities that increase
their feelings of personal fulfillment and
self-actualization.
Intrinsic motivation leads us to do an activity
because it’s inherently satisfying or interesting.
It feeds our innate interest in learning, personal
fulfillment and achievement.
Extrinsic motivation leads us to engage in an
activity to achieve or avoid a particular tangible
or intangible outcome. It:
Helps identify and fan tiny sparks of positive,
volitional motivation into flames of true
engagement
Makes it easy for employees to engage in
activities or challenges that are personally
meaningful, building progressively on small
wins to change behaviors
Deepens the employee’s connection to his or
her community of interest
4 employee engagement: putting employees in the driver’s seat
profile: motivation and diabetesSCENARIO: Aaron received a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes
in January.
THE EMPLOYEE-DRIVEN APPROACH: Aaron’s employer offers
a disease management program, which will help him decide
whether medication or lifestyle change is a better fit
for him. This approach increases his sense of autonomy
and self-efficacy.
Instead of scaring Aaron about the long-term health risks of
poorly controlled diabetes, the disease management team
works with him to identify the intrinsic motivators that are
important to him. For example, he’d love to do more fun things
with his grandchildren, but he often feels slow and lethargic
as a result of elevated blood sugar levels. Improving his energy
by lowering his blood sugar is highly motivating to him.
OUTCOME: Although he was initially opposed to medication,
Aaron decides to start metformin, the drug of choice for type
2 diabetes, immediately. He enlists his family members to help
him remember to take it daily and also signs up for a walking
challenge with coworkers, setting a personal goal of walking
in the annual Step Out Walk To Prevent Diabetes sponsored by
the American Diabetes Association. Nine months later, Aaron’s
A1C is 6.0, he’s completed six walking challenges, and he, two
coworkers and a neighbor have completed the Step Out Walk
as a team.
Further reading: “Reducing The Health Risks of Diabetes: How Self Determination Theory May Help Improve Medication Adherence and Quality of Life,” Geoffrey C. Williams, MD, PhD, et al.
profile: motivation and healthy lifestyle changeSCENARIO: Maria’s doctor has told her that her lab results
indicate that her health is suffering because she is inactive
and overweight.
THE EMPLOYEE-DRIVEN APPROACH: Maria believes in the
“healthy-at-any-size” philosophy, so she doesn’t want to
commit to a weight loss goal. However, she’s alarmed by her
lab results. Uninterested in dietary changes, she’s relieved to
hear that exercise alone can often improve cholesterol levels
and decides to increase her amount of activity, reinforcing
her sense of self-determination.
She notices on social media that one of her good friends at
work has just started their employer’s couch-to-5K walk/run
program and gets to celebrate each week of training with
a small, skinny latte. That sounds doable and fun to Maria,
so she signs up too.
Three months later, Maria completes her first walk/run event
and receives a badge from her workplace wellness program.
Now that the competitive bug’s bitten her, she decides to
shoot for a 10K. She finishes it. Seeing cyclists every day
while training reminds her how much she enjoyed cycling
as a kid, and this intrinsic motivation prompts her to start
riding again. As she sets and achieves cycling goals, she
begins to make small dietary changes in hopes of improving
her finish times and distances.
OUTCOME: Two years later, Maria is routinely completing
cycling events and loving it. She’s completed 30 levels in
her workplace wellness program, has normal lab results
and regularly exchanges questions, tips and ideas with
over 150 friends in her online wellness community. She’s
also made significant dietary changes, eating more fruits,
vegetables and healthy fats and avoiding saturated fat and
added sugars. The result: a 20-pound weight loss.
Further reading: “Exercise Autonomous Motivation Predicts 3-Yr Weight Loss In Women,” Pedro Teixeira, PhD, et al.
profile: motivation and exerciseSCENARIO: Sheryl is at an appropriate weight for her
height, but her doctor has warned her that she has elevated
blood pressure that they need to watch closely and has
recommended daily exercise. She’s also been feeling down
about life in general. Her doctor offered to prescribe an
anti-depressant, but Sheryl isn’t crazy about that idea and
isn’t even convinced it would help.
THE EMPLOYEE-DRIVEN APPROACH: From Sheryl’s
perspective, her biggest problem isn’t anything that her
doctor mentioned. Her top priority is finding some peace
of mind. As a part-time caregiver for her elderly mom, she
feels nearly constant pressure. The thought of joining a
gym or trying to run or walk every day is overwhelming.
Sheryl’s employer offers a twice-weekly lunchtime yoga
program that includes a snack for both practical and
externally motivating reasons. Sheryl jumps at this, because
not having to fix her own meal relieves at least a little of
her stress. After a few weeks of yoga, she’s pleasantly
surprised to realize that she’s feeling slightly calmer and
sleeping better at night.
She starts to miss that oasis of calm on the days that her
workplace yoga class doesn’t meet and asks the instructor
for some home practice suggestions. At first, she just focuses
on the breathing exercises. Over time, she starts adding in
more yoga postures.
OUTCOME: A year later, Sheryl’s rediscovered her resilience.
She’s still attending the twice-weekly onsite yoga classes
and does two additional yoga sessions every week at home.
Her blood pressure has returned to normal and, while
the situation with her mom is still stressful, she has new
self-care tools that help her protect her health as she deals
with each new challenge. Feeling newly empowered to
manage her situation, she’s begun sharing updates and
advice in the online wellness community sponsored by
her employer.
Further reading: “Active Human Nature: Self-Determination Theory and the Promotion and Maintenance of Sport, Exercise, and Health,” Richard M. Ryan, PhD, and Edward L. Deci, PhD.
5 © 2013 hubbub
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They nurture universal psychological needs:
self-determination, self-efficacy, self-esteem
and approval by others
They provide flexibility and make it easy
for employees to select or design activities
or challenges meaningful to them
They enable interaction with
the individual employee’s
community of interest
They provide a mix of recognition, rewards
and incentives so that employees can choose
what’s personally meaningful to them
summary: wellness programs
that successfully
blend these
elements will
reap the benefits
of putting their
employees back in
the driver’s seats,
steering their
individual health
and wellbeing.
They make it easy for employees to
chain together small wins that build
on existing competencies
putting the pieces togetherWhat do the previous success stories share?
6 employee engagement: putting employees in the driver’s seat
1 Reed Hastings, CEO, Netflix, “Netflix Culture: Freedom & Responsibility,” August, 2009.2 www.Atlassian.com, “ShipIt Days at Atlassian,” November, 2013.
giving employees the keys: the natural next stepSome employers have already given employees the keys to the business, with results that demonstrate
the power of greater engagement and self-determination. Extending this approach to wellness and its
unique confluence of business goals and employee wellbeing is the natural next step.
NETFLIX: THROWING OUT
THE EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK
Netflix has responded to rapid growth
and an increasingly complex business
model in a thoroughly unconventional
fashion. CEO Reed Hastings argues that
the conventional response to growth
and complexity attempts to bring order
to chaos by progressively substituting
process adherence for judgment—
everything from increasingly onerous
time tracking to rules and policies
that govern even the most trivial
day-to-day processes.1
For example, if you have lots of people
with chronic health issues, give them
all a standard list of recommended
interventions. Then follow up to make
sure they comply by requiring monthly
check-ins. Netflix believes that this
process-centric response drives away
high-performance employees just as you
need them most. Instead, the company
supports a culture of freedom paired with
responsibility and creativity balanced with
self-discipline. That means no vacation
policy, no vacation tracking and a travel
and entertainment (T&E) policy their CEO
defines as “Act in Netflix’s best interest.”
How can your workplace wellness
program give your workforce room to
choose what’s right for them and good
for the company? What resources make
it easier for employees to take actions
that pair freedom and responsibility,
individuality and self-discipline?
ATLASSIAN: FOLLOW YOUR
(PROGRAMMING) BLISS
Every quarter, software developer
Atlassian sponsors a 24-hour in-house
“ShipIt Day” hackathon.2 For this
24-hour period, normal product
priorities are kicked to the curb.
Employees are free to tackle any
technical topic they think needs
attention. It might be a bug fix that’s
a personal pet peeve or an ultra-cool
feature that never quite makes it into
the official product roadmap. Each
hackathon ends with an employee
vote that chooses that quarter’s
winner–the lucky recipient of a t-shirt
and owner of the ShipIt Day trophy
until the next hackathon.
Not every ShipIt Day project is a
winner. But the risk associated with
any given project is low—worst case,
the company loses a day of productive
time. In fact, many ShipIt projects
yield commercial value or provide
valuable learning experiences for
ShipIt developers.
Atlassian demonstrates their trust
in employee judgment, nurtures
employee creativity and retention,
benefits from the occasional home-
run, and creates a work atmosphere
that developers love—all for the cost
of a t-shirt and one day per quarter
devoted to exploring what’s possible.
What would your wellness program
look like if you gave employees room
to decide for themselves what their
health priorities were? What would
happen if you gave employees time
at work to invest in their own health
and productivity? Which tools would
be most useful to employees as they
pursue self-directed wellness initiatives?
Why not put your employees in the
driver’s seat and give them the keys?
Good things can happen.
why not put your employees in the driver’s seat and give them the keys? good things can happen.
© 2013 hubbub 7
hubbub is a technology-driven wellness solution that uses social circles, the love of the game, a turnkey incentive engine, and the quickest health quiz on the planet to inspire employees to get moving and live healthy.
for more information, go to hubbubhealth.com/employers
© 2013 hubbub
Printed on recycled paper for a healthier planet.
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