Wharton’s deep dive into wellness at work

“Ripple Effect,” the Wharton School’s faculty research podcast, considers the holistic workplace culture in its latest series, "Wellness at Work.” From connecting on social media to corporate mindfulness, experts at Wharton look at the culture of work from a wellness standpoint, and try to connect the dots between investing in wellness and the return on investment.

In “Workplace Boundaries and Social Media,” Wharton Deputy Dean Nancy Rothbard talks about how social media has changed office culture by giving colleagues a way to connect with each other outside of work.

“One of the things that we found in the study is that people will be much more comfortable connecting to other people who disclose personal information. It doesn’t have to be deeply intimate personal information. By the way, cute dog pics are a very, very hot commodity,” says Rothbard. “If you have a cute dog and you want to post pictures of them, that’s a very good strategy, because people always love them, and they feel like they know you, and they feel connected to you.”

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In “Unpacking Employee Wellness Programs,” management professor Iwan Barankay sifts through conflicting research about whether workplace wellness programs improve health outcomes for employees.

“This has been not just a fad, but there was really a horse race in the market, where companies offered more and more elaborate programs that signal [to employees] in what comprehensive ways they can really pay attention to them and help them with their careers,” says Barankay. “But then when we come to the data and look at who used what and whether it actually made a difference, it becomes a much more nuanced picture.”

Citing the data, Barankay goes on to say, “There have been a number of rigorous studies, randomized control trials that tested with a control group, to see whether those who were offered a program actually changed their behavior and had different outcomes. … When we look at the two biggest, most prominent studies from these randomized control trials, we see that there is slight evidence that people report and have been shown to change their behavior somewhat. But there’s no compelling evidence, or no significant evidence, in terms of outcomes that we care about—absenteeism, productivity, health care costs, and health risks.”

“Mindfulness in the Workplace” explores how practicing mindfulness at work is helpful for employees and the larger organization. Management professor Lindsey Cameron discusses the benefits for both the health of the employee and the financial health of the business. 

“Yes, there are individual bottom-line benefits. But there’s a way in which there are also group and team benefits. There’s another line of research that looks at how medical teams are less likely to make errors if there are these collective mindfulness practices,” says Cameron. “There are multiple benefits of being able to be focused at the personal level, so that the organization can receive some sort of a benefit, too.”

And in “Work-life Balance: Path to Success,” Stew Friedman talks about how work-life balance has changed over the decades. Friedman, Emeritus Practice Professor of Management and director of the Wharton Work/Life Integration Project, started researching work-life balance in the late 1980s.

“Today, you have many more young men interested in having fulfilled lives beyond work. And you have many more women in positions of authority who are also helping to drive innovation and change,” Friedman says. “I started the leadership program at about the same time that I started the Work/Life Integration Project. There, we were developing new models for how people learn what it means for them to lead and how to grow as leaders. Thirty-five years ago, this wasn’t standard fare. Now it is.”

For a full list of podcast episodes, visit the “Ripple Effect” website.