A simple two-week routine of jotting down daily work wins on a smartphone app gave Japanese employees a measurable boost in energy and enthusiasm.
Study: Effects of a Smartphone-Based Positive Reflection Diary on Work Engagement Among Japanese Workers: Randomized Controlled Trial. Image credit: insta_photos/Shuttrstock.com
A recent study in JMIR mHealth and uHealth evaluated the effect of a newly developed smartphone-based positive reflection diary, WEDiary, on improving work engagement among Japanese workers, using a randomized controlled design.
Work engagements and smartphone-based apps
Work engagement refers to an employee’s strengths and positive attitude, such as vigor, dedication, and absorption in their work. In a positive psychological state, employees feel that time passes quickly and may have trouble leaving work. Work engagement positively correlates with job satisfaction, performance, and organizational commitment. It is beneficial for both the organization and employees.
The job demands-resources (JD-R) model suggests that job resources facilitate work engagement through a positive motivational process. Elevated job resources lead to increased work engagement and positive health and organizational outcomes. However, higher job demands or stressors increase the risk of burnout and negative health and organizational outcomes.
Positive work reflection is considered a personal resource in the JD-R model, crucial for increasing engagement. Previous studies have highlighted that employees’ engagement improves when employees reflect on their work achievements and growth. Therefore, strategies that involve increasing personal resources and focusing on workers' achievements, rather than dwelling on negativities, may improve work engagement.
Positive work reflection focuses on the positive aspects of one’s job, such as successful task performance and supportive work relationships. A recent meta-analysis found that off-job positive work-related thoughts positively impact work engagement.
Smartphone apps for tracking work engagement offer several advantages, including being easy to start and complete quickly, requiring minimal explanation, and being accessible at any time and place. There are two types of smartphone apps: web browser apps (web apps) and those that run as native apps. Compared to web apps, native apps are more effective in memory usage. However, not many native smartphone apps are available that are explicitly designed to improve worker well-being.
About the study
A two-group parallel-group, nonblinded, randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted to assess the impact of WEDiary on work engagement among Japanese employees. The intervention period lasted for two weeks, followed by a three-week follow-up.
The current study recruited registered participants in a web survey company, Macromill Inc., Japan. All participants were between 20 and 59 years of age, had two consecutive days off in a week, had no inclination to resign from their job within the next three months, and used iOS 10.0 or later or Android 5.1 or later smartphones.
After completing the baseline survey (between October 31, 2019, and November 5, 2019), participants were randomly allocated at a 1:1 ratio either to the intervention group or the wait-list control group. Each group contained 300 participants.
Participants in the intervention group downloaded WEDiary, which was designed to incorporate a post-work experience. This app encouraged participants to write what they could do at work that day. In contrast, participants from the wait-list control group were advised to carry on their usual activities until completion of the survey, 3 weeks after the intervention. Work engagement was evaluated at pre-intervention (T1), post-intervention (T2), and 3 weeks after the intervention (T3) in both groups.
Study findings
Participants completed questionnaires at T2 and at T3. In the intervention group, approximately 85.7% of the participants responded to the questionnaires at T2 and 83% at T3. Similarly, 94.7% of participants from the wait-list control group responded to the questionnaires at T2 and 93.7% at T3.
No significant demographic differences were observed among participants in both study groups, except for education level. In contrast to the wait-list control group, most participants in the intervention group had completed high school (19.7%), and some attended graduate school (8.3%). Additionally, the majority of participants were male and married.
The effect of the WEDiary on work engagement was assessed using intention-to-treat (ITT) analyses, which revealed a significant effect between the two groups. In the intervention group, participants exhibited significant vigor and dedication. However, no significant difference was observed between the two groups.
A total of 124 participants from the intervention group and 277 from the wait-list control group were included in the per-protocol analyses, which revealed a significant effect on work engagement, particularly in terms of vigor and dedication. A mixed model analysis indicated that the WEDiary had significantly improved work engagement among females, university graduates or higher, white-collar workers, and regular employees.
Out of the 80.3% of the participants in the intervention group who installed the WEDiary on their smartphones, 63.7% used it at least once. A gradual decrease in the number of daily users was observed over the study period. Although these results were statistically significant, the effect sizes were small (Cohen’s d ≈ 0.11 – 0.12), suggesting that while the app had a measurable impact, the magnitude of improvement was modest.
Conclusions
The current RCT revealed that the newly developed WEDiary effectively improved work engagement among Japanese workers. Effect sizes were small but consistent across measurement points, indicating gradual accumulation of positive emotions over time.
In the future, more research is required to investigate the long-term effects and the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects.
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