Thriving Workplaces How Employers can Improve Productivity and Change Lives 2025

3. Use pilots to test the effectiveness of an intervention Pilots help organizations test interventions on a small scale before full implementation, helping to justify investments and refine interventions. They can compare intervention and non- intervention groups or assess pre- and post- intervention outcomes within specific employee subgroups or locations. Metrics such as adoption rate, direct impact on employee health and well-being (for example, anonymous and voluntary data on health scores), distress levels and burn-out symptoms, cost analysis, and ROI can all be used to measure success. Investment returns can be measured by comparing the cost of the intervention with outcomes. Some companies also look at cultural ROI, such as improvements in employee sentiment or scores from experience surveys. CASE STUDY 5 ASICS piloted a Movement for Mind intervention CASE STUDY 6 Wellhub shows that interventions become self-reinforcing when adoption rates are more than 20% to 25% To address the potential inactivity of desk-bound employees, often caused by insufficient time, facilities or motivation to be active, sportswear company ASICS developed the Movement for Mind initiative. The programme is an audio series with movement instructions for all fitness levels, aimed at improving mental health through a range of techniques. Participants listened to two 30-minute sessions per week for eight weeks. Initially piloted with 189 people (including but not limited to ASICS staff), the programme showed clinically significant improvements in mental well- being (Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being scale and WHO-5), low mood (PHQ-2 scale) and anxiety (GAD-2 scale). Of those taking part in the pilot, 71% said they felt happier and 70% reported being more active after completing the programme. Following this successful pilot, the initiative recruited nearly 3,000 additional participants worldwide over an 18-month period.92 4. Monitor employee health and well-being improvements over time Regular, ongoing monitoring helps ensure that interventions are effective, identifies areas for adjustment and helps organizations track progress and assess the impact of employee health and well-being programmes. Depending on their starting point, organizations can tailor their approach. Those starting on this journey can begin with a few data points and refine measurement over time, while advanced organizations may be able to use advanced analytics and modelling, depending on their resource levels. Wellhub, a wellness platform, connects clients’ employees to physical, mental and nutritional interventions, such as local gyms and meditation apps. Tracking more than 15,000 employees over time, Wellhub found an average adoption rate of 15% to 25%, but clients in the top quartile achieved a 40% to 70% adoption rate and an average year-on-year adoption rate growth of approximately 42%. Wellhub’s study suggests that fostering a healthy workforce culture could increase the adoption of employee health and well-being interventions by up to 12 times compared to simply offering the intervention. The platform finds that interventions surpassing an adoption rate of 20% to 25% tend to be self-reinforcing. One possible explanation is that when at least one in five employees participate, a microsociety of participants forms, which starts changing the organization to become healthier. Practically, this means colleagues influence each other, share recommendations on helpful interventions or invite each other to attend workout classes together, all of which help foster a thriving, healthy workforce culture. Thriving Workplaces: How Employers can Improve Productivity and Change Lives 29