Thesis
Employee wellness matters : exploring employee physical activity and related wellbeing initiatives in the workplace
- Creator
- Rights statement
- Awarding institution
- University of Strathclyde
- Date of award
- 2025
- Thesis identifier
- T17522
- Person Identifier (Local)
- 202290100
- Qualification Level
- Qualification Name
- Department, School or Faculty
- Abstract
- Background: In recent years the focus on workplace wellbeing initiatives including physical activity has gained considerable attention. The movement has been driven by the increased awareness of the association between employee wellbeing and key organisation outcomes such as improved productivity, increased job satisfaction, lower attrition, and improved overall health. However, despite this growing area in the literature, little research has focused on how wellbeing leads who are tasked with implementing such initiatives understand their role, the challenges they face, and the factors that shape the success or failure of wellbeing initiatives. To address this gap, the present study aimed to explore the effectiveness of physical activity and related wellbeing initiatives and identify ways to support employee wellbeing in the future. Methods: Ethics approval was granted by the University of Strathclyde Department of Psychological Sciences and Health ethics committee. Participants were recruited by sending an email to a database of workplace wellbeing leads of an organisation that supports both organisational wellbeing in the United Kingdom. Participants were eligible if they were over 18 years old and self-identified as being responsible for supporting their organisation wellbeing initiatives and work for an organisation based in the United Kingdom. After obtaining consent, participants provided demographic information and were scheduled for 30-minute online interviews via the online platform Zoom. These interviews followed a semi-structured guide and were transcribed verbatim. A thematic analysis of the transcripts was then conducted, resulting in the identification of key themes and sub-themes. Results: From the thematic analysis of 12 participant transcripts, three main themes and six subthemes were identified. The main themes were organisational culture, support for the wellbeing leadership role, and health and wellbeing programme components. Within organisational culture, the sub-themes included the influence of managers and senior leadership on employee wellbeing, and barriers to employee participation in wellbeing initiatives. Under support for the wellbeing leadership role, the sub-themes were the wellbeing role appointment pathway, and the training provided for wellbeing leads. Lastly, the health and wellbeing programme components theme included physical activity interventions and future considerations to support employee wellbeing. Conclusions: Senior leadership and manager support is pivotal to ensuring employee wellbeing initiatives impact at employee level. Barriers to participation were linked to hybrid work patterns and remote staff. Health and wellbeing initiatives, particularly physical activity initiatives, varied, with few linked to organisation objectives. Wellbeing leads were often appointed the role based on tenure, current role or personal interest, but formal training in how to deliver effective wellbeing programmes and initiatives were limited. Recommendations for future research are to explore how wellbeing initiatives can be better embedded into organisations and how tailored interventions can address the needs of a diverse workforce. Recommendations for practice from this research call for organisations to provide formal training for wellbeing leads to equip them with the necessary skills to implement effective wellbeing programmes with a particular focus on behaviour change.
- Advisor / supervisor
- Harrington, Deirdre M.
- Hughes, Adrianne R.
- Resource Type
- DOI
- Date Created
- 2024
- Embargo Note
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File | 2025-10-29 | University of Strathclyde |