{"id":272,"date":"2011-12-06T15:45:11","date_gmt":"2011-12-06T20:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/?p=272"},"modified":"2011-12-06T15:48:18","modified_gmt":"2011-12-06T20:48:18","slug":"study-suggests-flexible-workplaces-promote-better-health-behaviour-and-well-being","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/2011\/12\/study-suggests-flexible-workplaces-promote-better-health-behaviour-and-well-being\/","title":{"rendered":"Study suggests flexible workplaces promote better health behaviour and well-being"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From the American Sociological Association press release:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright\" title=\"happy workplace\" src=\"http:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/images\/blogpics\/SmilingMan4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"299\" height=\"198\" \/>A flexible workplace initiative improved employees\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 health behavior  and well-being, including a rise in the amount and quality of sleep and  better health management<\/strong>, according to a new study by University of  Minnesota sociology professors Erin Kelly and Phyllis Moen, which  appears in the December issue of the <em>Journal of Health and Social Behavior<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our study shows that <strong>moving from viewing time at the office as a sign  of productivity, to emphasizing actual results can create a work  environment that fosters healthy behavior and well-being<\/strong>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Moen.  \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This has important policy implications, suggesting that<strong> initiatives  creating broad access to time flexibility encourage employees to take  better care of themselves<\/strong>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Using longitudinal data collected from 608 employees of a white-collar  organization before and after a flexible workplace initiative was  implemented, the study examined changes in health-promoting behaviors  and health outcomes among the employees participating in the initiative  compared to those who did not participate.<\/p>\n<p>Introduced at the Best Buy headquarters in Richfield, Minn. in 2005, the  workplace initiative\u00e2\u20ac\u201ddubbed the Results Only Work Environment  (ROWE)\u00e2\u20ac\u201dredirected the focus of employees and managers towards measurable  results and away from when and where work is completed. Under ROWE,  employees were allowed to routinely change when and where they worked  based on their individual needs and job responsibilities without seeking  permission from a manager or even notifying one.<\/p>\n<p>KEY FINDINGS:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Employees participating in the flexible workplace initiative reported  getting almost an extra hour (52 minutes) of sleep on nights before  work.<\/li>\n<li>Employees participating in the flexible workplace initiative  managed their health differently: They were less likely to feel  obligated to work when sick and more likely to go to a doctor when  necessary, even when busy.<\/li>\n<li>The flexible workplace initiative<strong> increased employees\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 sense of schedule  control and reduced their work-family conflict which, in turn, improved  their sleep quality, energy levels, self-reported health, and sense of  personal mastery while decreasing employees\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 emotional exhaustion and  psychological distress<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Narrower flexibility policies allow some \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcaccommodations\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for family  needs, but are less likely to promote employee health and well-being or  to be available to all employees,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Kelly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From the American Sociological Association press release: A flexible workplace initiative improved employees\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 health behavior and well-being, including a rise in the amount and quality of sleep and better health&#8230; <a class=\"read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/2011\/12\/study-suggests-flexible-workplaces-promote-better-health-behaviour-and-well-being\/\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,10,8],"tags":[59,12,39,102],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":275,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272\/revisions\/275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}