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

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