A participatory HR-led training programme for employee wellbeing

Editorial verdict

Methodologically transparent but severely limited in scope — the participatory co-design process is well-documented and culturally grounded, but the single-organisation, 19-participant qualitative sample makes generalisability claims premature; treat the ENGAGE framework as a promising prototype, not a validated intervention.

Executive summary

This study addresses the gap in HR-led, culturally contextualised workplace wellbeing interventions, particularly in non-Western settings such as South Africa, where engagement and mental health indicators are significantly below global averages. The authors argue that HR professionals, without clinical expertise, can co-design and deliver effective wellbeing training by integrating evidence-based psychological constructs with employee-driven content selection. The study employed a three-phase qualitative design within a single South African pharmaceutical company: a literature review to identify 25 evidence-based wellbeing constructs, a 4-hour pilot training session with 19 purposively sampled employees, and a focus group discussion (FGD) in which participants voted to prioritise six constructs — relationships, physical health (sleep, nutrition, exercise), mental health (mindfulness, gratitude, optimism), job health (character strengths, job crafting), and meaning in life. These constructs formed the ENGAGE training programme, delivered in a 2-day classroom format. Outcome data measured by the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) are reported in a separate publication. The authors conclude that participatory, bottom-up programme design enhances cultural relevance and employee engagement, offering a scalable model for embedding wellbeing into HRM strategy, particularly in under-researched African organisational contexts.

Frameworks mentioned

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