Health and Well-Being Committees Reduce Turnover by 20% — Here’s Why Every Company Should Care.

Employee turnover is more than a human resources problem; it’s a direct and quantifiable drain on a company’s bottom line. The cost of recruiting, onboarding, and training a new employee can be staggering, leading to a vicious cycle where a stressed workforce generates high attrition, which in turn creates more pressure on the remaining team. For decades, the search for a cost-effective solution has led companies down a path of incremental fixes and generic engagement surveys with limited impact.

But what if a solution already existed? A groundbreaking research partnership between the MIT Sloan School of Management and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has introduced a new model for employee well-being that is both profoundly human and demonstrably data-driven. The research, published in a new guide titled “Starting a Workplace Health and Well-Being Committee: A Step-by-Step Guide for Managers,” presents a new form of participatory program that not only improves psychological well-being but also delivers a powerful financial return.

The central finding is clear and compelling: Health and Well-being Committees, or HaWCs, can reduce frontline worker turnover by an impressive 20% over a 12-month period. To achieve the same result through wage increases alone, the researchers estimated a company would have had to raise its hourly pay for frontline workers by 1.5%. For any business leader, this statistic is a wake-up call. This blog post will dive deep into the MIT research, translate its findings into actionable steps, and show how Jungji’s tools can complement the HaWC model to build a healthier, more profitable organization.

A Deep Dive into the HaWC Model: How It Works and What It Achieves

The HaWC model is a new form of participatory program that gives employees a direct channel to voice their concerns and ideas for improving the workplace. At its core, the program is built on the simple but powerful idea that when employees feel heard and empowered, their well-being and commitment to the organization increase.

The Improvement Project Cycle: A 5-Step Framework for Change

A HaWC operates by engaging its members in a continuous improvement cycle. This five-step process guides a committee from identifying a problem to implementing a solution.

1. Raise Concerns: The committee, led by a co-lead from the frontline and a co-lead from management, gathers concerns and ideas from employees through various channels, such as anonymous comment boxes, surveys, or direct conversations.
2. Prioritize Concerns: Concerns are evaluated based on their importance (how serious the problem is) and impact (how many people it affects) to determine which issue the committee will tackle next.
3. Analyze Root Causes: The committee uses structured techniques, such as the “Five Whys” analysis, to understand the true, underlying causes of the problem, rather than just treating the symptoms.
4. Brainstorm Solutions: With the root cause identified, the committee collectively brainstorms a range of possible solutions.
5. Identify Action Plans & Do: The committee develops specific action plans for the selected solutions, assigns responsibility to team members, and sets a clear timeline for implementation.

The HaWC model is designed to address concerns within three main categories:

• Psychosocial Environment: How employees feel about coming to work (e.g., feeling respected, work-life balance).
• Work Organization: How work gets done and can be improved (e.g., workflow, training, scheduling, workload).
• Physical Environment: Safety hazards and other physical concerns.

The Power of Employee Voice: Practical Examples from the Research

The research provides compelling, real-world examples of how HaWCs, by giving employees a voice, were able to implement simple but high-impact solutions.

• Problem: Material Handling Equipment (MHE) was parked inefficiently, blocking access to certain areas of the warehouse.
• Solution: The HaWC created designated MHE parking lots throughout the warehouse.
• Problem: Workers and supervisors felt stressed during operational disruptions due to unclear processes.
• Solution: A cross-departmental communication procedure was drafted and implemented to coordinate operations during disruptions.
• Problem: Workers felt unprepared when asked to cover work in a different department.
• Solution: A cross-training “cheat sheet” was created, with instructions on core tasks.
• Problem: The music played in the warehouse was repetitive and lacked variety.
• Solution: The HaWC surveyed workers about their music preferences and created a curated playlist.

These examples highlight a critical insight: the most effective solutions are often found by those closest to the problem. The HaWC model provides the formal structure needed to listen, prioritize, and act on these valuable insights.

From Research to Reality: Practical Implications for Your Company

The MIT report provides clear guidance for any organization ready to adopt the HaWC model. The process begins with a readiness assessment and is followed by recruitment and implementation.

Stage 1: Getting Ready for the HaWC

Before a successful launch, the report recommends asking three key questions:

1. Resources: Does the organization have sufficient time and budget to support the HaWC? This includes time for meetings, training, and implementing solutions.
2. Stability: Is the organization going through major changes (e.g., mergers or major policy shifts)? If so, it is recommended to postpone the launch to avoid overwhelming the team with too many changes at once.
3. Champions: Can you find strong champions in management and leadership? Executive-level support is critical for providing resources, signaling to employees that the initiative is a priority, and ensuring buy-in from middle managers.

Once readiness is confirmed, the goal is to build support from all stakeholders, from frontline workers who may be skeptical of yet another “initiative” to senior leaders who need to understand the ROI.

Stage 2: Forming the Committee

The HaWC is intentionally designed to be a collaborative effort, with shared leadership and broad representation.

• Co-leads: Each HaWC is led by two co-leads—one a frontline worker and one a supervisor or middle manager. This structure ensures that a worker’s voice is at the center of the program. It’s recommended that co-lead responsibilities, such as meeting facilitation and action plan coordination, are recognized in their annual performance reviews to reward this innovative work.
• Members: The committee should consist primarily of frontline workers (8 to 12 members for a team of 200–300 people). This ensures a broad range of perspectives, with representation from each department or shift.
• Communication: Multiple channels for sharing concerns and ideas should be established, including anonymous comment boxes in common areas and direct communication with committee members. It’s just as important for the committee to have a process to communicate back to the wider workforce, building trust by showing that ideas and concerns have been heard. The MIT research found that the more projects a HaWC completes, the greater its effect on reducing turnover.

Jungji’s Role: Turning Insight into Actionable Well-being

The HaWC model is a robust framework, and Jungji’s suite of digital tools is designed to provide the data, insights, and action plans that can make a HaWC even more effective and data-driven from day one.

Profiling for Success: Building the Right Committee

The MIT report emphasizes the importance of recruiting the right people for HaWC leadership and membership. Jungji’s profiling tools can be a game-changer here. By understanding the core personalities within your workforce, you can strategically recruit members who will make the committee dynamic and effective. For example:

• Analytic: Their logical, data-driven, and methodical approach makes them ideal for Step 3 of the Improvement Cycle: analyzing root causes.
• Innovator: Their spontaneous and creative nature is perfect for Step 4: brainstorming new solutions.
• Synchronizer: Their empathy and focus on relationships can ensure the committee operates harmoniously and communicates effectively with the wider team.
• Stoic: Their strong convictions and dedication to principles make them a perfect champion for upholding the values of the HaWC and ensuring follow-through.

Quantifying the Impact: The Burnout-to-VND Calculator

The MIT research has proven that reducing turnover through well-being initiatives is more cost-effective than through wage increases. However, making this case internally still requires hard data. Jungji’s Burnout-to-VND Calculator is the perfect complement. By using just two data points per employee, our calculator can instantly turn hidden burnout into a quantifiable financial impact, showing the potential P&L leak from attrition before it happens. This provides HaWC champions with the CFO-grade numbers they need to secure the budget and resources for the program.

Data-Smart Prioritization: Jungji Dashboards and Executive-Ready Cards

One of the most challenging parts of the HaWC’s role is prioritizing concerns. Our Executive-Ready Cards and dashboards simplify this process. Our system provides clear, one-click insights, powered by indices like BPI (Burnout Performance Index), RCF (Readiness and Commitment Index), and PSD (Profile Stress Dysfunction), that allow a HaWC to identify the teams or departments with the highest levels of burnout or stress dysfunction. This ensures the committee’s efforts are focused on the most impactful areas, leading to faster, more meaningful results.

A Playbook for Better Collaboration

The HaWC relies on a manager and a worker co-lead collaborating effectively. Jungji’s manager-focused SnapInsight™ tool gives co-leads a crystal-clear playbook for collaborating smoothly. By instantly decoding their own stress triggers and learning how to adapt their communication style to each other—and to the wider team—they can defuse conflict, ensure seamless communication, and model a high-EQ leadership style that is essential for the committee’s success.

Conclusion: A New Way to Lead with Empathy and Data

The MIT research on HaWCs provides a compelling, data-backed blueprint for a new form of leadership—one that recognizes that a healthy, empowered workforce is a productive and profitable one. By giving employees a voice, a company can not only reduce costly turnover but also foster a culture of trust and shared ownership.

The HaWC model, when supported by tools like Jungji’s, moves well-being from a “soft” initiative to a data-smart strategy with clear, measurable ROI. It’s a pragmatic, human-first approach that turns valuable insights into tangible business results.

Download the full MIT report here:

• English (Orgin) :https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/what-a-workplace-health-and-well-being-committee-and-why-do-you-need-one
• Vietnamese (Translated by Jungji): https://docsend.com/view/6st47fm7fda2isut

This blog is based on the original MIT Sloan Management Review report, translated into Vietnamese for learning purposes.