Creating sustained change: Avoiding derailment during the last stage of a wellbeing intervention

Abstract

In this chapter, we discuss the following three primary causes for wellbeing interventions failing to achieve long-term sustainability: lack of ongoing organizational support, badly organized intervention implementation, and lack of reinforcement from frontline supervisors. When senior leaders do not provide ongoing support for the intervention, the organizational climate does not reinforce the changes in attitudes and behaviors needed to embed the intervention. Additionally, an unorganized intervention implementation leads to some employees participating in the intervention while others have not, hindering the likelihood of a strong positive culture for change following the intervention. Finally, when frontline leaders do not continually recognize and reinforce wellbeing attitudes and behaviors targeted by the intervention, employees quickly lose traction for change. Given the consequence of these issues (the intervention outcomes are not sufficiently maintained over time), we suggest a more strategic implementation plan with specific embedding strategies as one solution for the long-term sustainability challenge. This type of implementation plan takes a more deliberate approach to introducing the intervention so that embedding strategies can be considered prior to intervention implementation. Embedding strategies might include identifying organizational champions to help foster the change over time, establishing associated reward and recognition programs to be used by frontline leaders, and creating opportunities for ongoing reinforcement of the intervention in team meetings and other forums. Finally, we recommend that the intervention be aligned with past programs and future initiatives to help employees fully commit to it and not see it as an isolated organizational project.