Organizational Interventions

Organizational interventions are planned, theory-based actions that improve employee health and wellbeing by changing how work is designed, organized, and managed. These include changes to time and work location (e.g., flexibility in schedules), changes in tasks and job characteristics (e.g., job redesign), and changes in communication and coordination. Organizational interventions may also take a participatory approach in which managers and employees jointly agree on what changes in working conditions need to be made and how. A participatory intervention typically has five phases: preparation, screening, action planning, implementation, and evaluation. Intervention evaluation should consider the impact of the intervention process itself, which enables the organization and researchers to understand why an intervention worked or not. Four fundamental principles of the intervention process may influence whether participatory interventions achieve their intended outcomes of improving employee wellbeing. These principles are participation, management support, communication and intervention fit.