786: Finding Your Totem: A Digital Intervention to Promote Strengths-Oriented Feedback Within Work Teams (17437)

Designated as a “Best Paper” by HR
view abridged “best paper” (if available)

Workplace strengths interventions have been linked to improved worker well-being and performance, but their accessibility and sustainability are often questioned. This research examined the impact of an online strengths-based activity, the Totem activity, on need satisfaction, autonomous motivation, psychological well-being, and perceived team effectiveness. Using a mixed-methods approach combining quasi-experimental and longitudinal design features, we studied the outcomes of this activity on a sample of full-time workers (n = 395) and contrasted them to those of a control group (n = 61). Data was gathered pre- and post-intervention for both groups, with the experimental group providing additional feedback three weeks post-intervention. The findings revealed that the experimental group displayed notable increases in all of the outcome variables post-intervention compared to the control group, with effect sizes varying from low to medium. Longitudinal analyses via a latent change score model (LCSM) indicated that changes in need satisfaction post-intervention were predictive of shifts in work motivation, psychological well-being, and team effectiveness over three weeks. Additionally, autonomous motivation appears to partially mediate the link between changes in need satisfaction pre- and post-activity and the shifts in perceived team effectiveness over three weeks. However, variations in need satisfaction consistently emerged as the sole significant predictor of well-being during the same period.

view paper (if available)