People & Strategy Winter 2015 Vol. 38 Issue 1 - 14

Do Sweat the Small Stuff:
How Leaders Can Positively Affect
Human Well-Being in a Big Way
Recent Academic Research on People and Strategy
By Bradley A. Winn

In this issue of People & Strategy, we review
a recent study published in the Academy of
Management Journal by Joyce Bono and Theresa Glomb, et al. Their research focuses on
how, in the context of getting the big stuff
right, relatively small interventions and
events in everyday work life can have a significant impact on the wellbeing of employees, both in terms of their emotional wellbeing and their physical health. I had the good
fortune of interviewing Drs. Joyce Bono and
Theresa Glomb and asked them specifically
about implications of their research for HR
leaders and for bottom-line health care costs.
Several insights based on their experience in
organizations and their research are especially relevant for practice in the world of
work.
What I learned from Professors Bono and
Glomb is that our immediate work environment and the small events that happen to us
day in and day out may affect whether our
workday is awful, okay, or joyful. While
macro-organizational dynamics that occur
outside of our immediate departments have
an indirect effect, what we experience most
closely is what happens to us in our own
smaller work environment. What happens
between you, your direct supervisor, and your
close coworkers creates the actual climate
around you that either drains you or builds
you up. That is, the little things that supervisors do and other events that happen every
day affect the way you feel. These everyday
events can cause you to feel happy, frustrated,
or can potentially result in making you physically sick.
We all know of cases where workers' interactions with their supervisors have had a negative effect on them. Employees can become
overwhelmed, discouraged, and generally
experience the effect of work bringing them
down. These types of work events and interactions happen not only with supervisors, but
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PEOPLE & STRATEGY

with coworkers, clients, customers, and others. Yet, we are also aware of work environments and events that are enlivening, motivating, and enriching. Work events are a set
of activities that can either deplete or replenish employees' resources.
This brings us to the conservation of resources model (Hobfoll, 1989), summarized in
Bono and Glomb, et al.'s research publication
as follows:

"T he central notion of the model is that
humans strive to protect and enhance the self
through the acquisition and maintenance of
resources. When environmental conditions
deplete or threaten resources, people suffer
increased stress, and when environmental
conditions provide or build resources, people
enjoy better health and reduced stress."
The literature is replete with examples of
work environments that deplete employee
resources. This feeling of being depleted can
come from organizations that demand

employees to produce at all costs. In some
companies, people are thought of as a resource
to be used up. In these organizations, managers are pushed to ensure that employees are
completely spent when they leave work.
Employees end up giving their all but feeling
drained.
On the other hand, there are organizations
that treat people as human beings rather than
human resources. These types of organiza-

tions recognize that people spend a significant
part of their life at work. Managers recognize
that employees want to do a good job, care
about the quality of their work, and want to
accomplish the business goals that are before
them. In these work environments human
beings are thought of as people who are
working with you rather than resources to be
used up. Most people want to do a good job,
but sometimes organizations prevent them
from doing their best work. It is the microculture in the local department and the events
that happen in proximity that make the most

People & Strategy Winter 2015 Vol. 38 Issue 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of People & Strategy Winter 2015 Vol. 38 Issue 1