Abstract
This study outlines a company-run well-being program and an experiment to evaluate its effects. In a young, middle-sized company we ran a randomized controlled experiment with 253 employees (130 experimental group, 123 control group) participating in a six-week program (“flowlab”). Both groups were surveyed through an app at four points in time about their subjective perception of metrics related to the program’s potential outcomes and related factors. Additionally, some participants in both groups provided hair samples to measure their stress based on their cortisol levels. The “flowlab” aims at improving participants’ sleep quality, mindfulness and ability to focus through the introduction of a series of synergistic habits, which in turn are expected to lead to increased chances of experiencing flow states and ultimately higher well-being. It is delivered through a combination of workshops, digital content and daily “nudges” which facilitate habit formation. The experimental group showed significant positive differences to the control group for subjective levels of sleep quality, mindfulness, flow, well-being at work, happiness, life satisfaction, work commitment, corporate appreciation and inter-department cooperation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bazarko, D., Cate, R. A., Azocar, F., & Kreitzer, M. J. (2013). The impact of an innovative mindfulness-based stress reduction program on the health and well-being of nurses employed in a corporate setting. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 28(2), 107–133.
Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness andits role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 822–848.
Buysse, D. J., Reynolds, C. F., III, Monk, T. H., Berman, S. R., & Kupfer, D. J. (1989). The Pittsburgh sleep quality index: A new instrument for psychiatric practice and research. Psychiatry Research, 28(2), 193–213.
Diener, E., Wirtz, D., Tov, W., Kim-Prieto, C., Choi, D.-W., Oishi, S., et al. (2010). New well-being measures: Short scales to assess flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Social Indicators Research, 97(2), 143–156.
Engeser, S., & Rheinberg, F. (2008). Flow, performance and moderators of challenge-skill balance. Motivation and Emotion, 32(3), 158–172.
ESS Round 6: European Social Survey (2013): ESS-6 2012 Documentation Report. Edition 1.3. Bergen, European Social Survey Data Archive, Norwegian Social Science Data Services.
Feicht, T., Wittmann, M., Jose, G., Mock, A., von Hirschhausen, E., & Esch, T. (2013). Evaluation of a seven-week web-based happiness training to improve psychological well-being, reduce stress, and enhance mindfulness and flourishing: A randomized controlled occupational health study. Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 1, 1–14.
Frijters, P. (2000). Do individuals try to maximize general satisfaction? Journal of Economic Psychology, 21(3), 281–304.
Harter, J. K., Schmidt, F. L., Asplund, J., & Kilham, E. A. (2010). Causal impact of employee work perceptions on the bottom line of organizations. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5, 378–389.
Isen, A. M., Daubman, K. A., & Nowicki, G. P. (1987). Positive affect facilitates creative problem solving. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(6), 1122–1131.
Judge, T. A., Thoresen, C. J., Bono, J. E., & Patton, G. K. (2001). The job satisfaction-job performance relationship: A qualitative and quantitative review. Psychological Bulletin, 127(3), 376–407.
Kelly, C. (2012). O.K., Google, take a deep breath. New York Times. Retrieved March 27th 2019 from: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/technology/google-course-asks-employees-to-take-a-deep-breath.html. Accessed 10 Jan 2019.
Koys, D. J., & DeCotiis, T. A. (1991). Inductive measures of psychological climate. Human Relations, 44(3), 265–285.
Ludwigs, K., Lucas, R., Burger, M., Veenhoven, R., & Arends, L. (2017). How does more attention to subjective well-being affect subjective well-being? Applied Research in Quality of Life, 13(4), 1055–1080.
Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness Lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131(6), 803–855.
Mowday, R. T., Steers, R. M., & Porter, L. W. (1979). The measurement of organizational commitment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 14(2), 224–247.
Oishi, S. (2012). The psychological wealth of nations: Do happy people make a happy society. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.
Oswald, A. J., Proto, E., & Sgroi, D. (2015). Happiness and productivity. Journal of Labor Economics, 33(4), 789–822.
Page, K. M., & Vella-Brodrick, D. A. (2013). The working for wellness program: RCT of an employee well-being intervention. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14(3), 1007–1031.
Pressman, S. D., & Cohen, S. (2005). Does positive affect influence health? Psychological Bulletin, 131(6), 925–971.
Schaufeli, W. B., Bakker, A. B., & Salanova, M. (2006). The measurement of work engagement with a short questionnaire a cross national study. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66(4), 701–716.
Sonnentag, S., & Fritz, C. (2007). The recovery experience questionnaire: Development and validation of a measure assessing recuperation and unwinding at work. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12(3), 204–221.
Wolever, R. Q., Bobinet, K. J., McCabe, K., Mackenzie, E. R., Fekete, E., Kusnick, C. A., & Baime, M. (2012). Effective and viable mind-body stress reduction in the workplace: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 17(2), 246–258.
Wright, T. A., & Cropanzano, R. (2004). The role of psychological well-being in job performance: A fresh look at an age-old quest. Organizational Dynamics, 33(4), 338–351.
Wright, T. A., & Staw, B. M. (1999). Affect and favorable work outcomes: Two longitudinal tests of the happy – Productive worker thesis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20, 1–23.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
We hereby confirm that no one of the authors has any conflict of interest with this publication. Additionally, we declare that this research was conducted in line with the Declaration of Helsinki which explains all main rules for human research ethics.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ludwigs, K., Haese, P., Sivy, K. et al. Trivago Flowlab – a Case Study on how to Improve Employees’ Well-Being in a Corporate Environment. Applied Research Quality Life 15, 1353–1374 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-019-09736-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-019-09736-x