New research uncovers best ways to support employee well-being

Limeade Institute Shares the Organizational Support Model with All Employers

BELLEVUE, WA–(Marketwired – February 14, 2017) – To help leaders understand how to best support employees, the Limeade Institute released its research-based Organizational Support Model.

“We know organizations must authentically support employees for well-being programs to really succeed. But we wanted to study what it looks like for employers. How do they demonstrate organizational support?” said Dr. Laura Hamill, chief people officer and research director of the Limeade Institute.

Organizational support describes how an organization intentionally encourages and reinforces well-being improvement for employees. Limeade research found the eight most important ways that organizations do this. The Organizational Support Model structures these eight components to help employers pinpoint how and where they can better support employees.

Why organizational support matters
Well-being is the combination of feeling good and living with purpose. When organizations aren’t supportive, employees aren’t as likely to achieve well-being on their own. Recent research shows that 72 percent of employees with high well-being say they also have high organizational support. The opposite is true, too — employees are more likely to feel lower levels of well-being when they perceive lower organizational support.

The Well-Being & Engagement Report tested the components of the Organizational Support Model and found that these are the most important drivers:

1. Manager support
2. Well-being tools and resources
3. Leadership support

“We assumed leaders played the key role in organizational support for well-being — but our research on this model indicated that managers are actually most important,” Dr. Hamill said. “Although our research indicates that all eight components are important, we know now that these three have the most impact and should be prioritized.”

The Organizational Support Model
Organizational support for well-being shows up at the local and organization-wide levels with eight components:

Local level

• Manager support – An employee’s direct supervisor, who can be the biggest influence (or obstacle) in well-being improvement
• Team/peer support – The people an employee directly works with every day (typically reporting to the same manager)
• Social networks – Formal and informal networks that provide support for well-being improvement
• Physical work environment – The characteristics that make up an employee’s physical work space

Organizational level

• Strategic alignment – The direct connection between business strategy, people strategy and well-being initiatives
• Leadership support – Primary messengers of business strategy and the importance of employee well-being
• Well-being tools and resources – An organization’s well-being activities, tools, campaigns, platforms and programs
• Culture – The underlying norms, values and beliefs of an organization that drive employee behavior

“Ultimately, for well-being programs to be successful, there must be authentic support from the organization. And now we know how organizations can do this,” Dr. Hamill said. “We hope employers use this model to inform their strategy for improving well-being in their workplace.”

The Limeade Institute
The Limeade Institute team consists of Ph.D. organizational psychologists, cognitive neuroscientists, psychometricians, business insights experts and data scientists. The Limeade Institute will continue to launch research reports and share findings on well-being and engagement. To learn more about the Limeade Institute, please visit www.limeade.com or contact [email protected]

About Limeade
Limeade is a corporate wellness technology company that drives real employee engagement. Limeade takes a whole-person approach to well-being, amplifies an organization’s commitment to its employees and delivers smart technology that fits how people work today. Employees earn points and rewards for taking steps to improve, while employers experience better business results. Recognized for its own award-winning culture, Limeade helps the world’s best companies develop happier, healthier and more productive employees. Learn more at www.limeade.com.