Development of an online intervention to improve sustainable employability of low-educated employees

Abstract

Abstract Background Although low-educated employees are more at risk of poor health, they participate less often in workplace interventions, and when they do participate, they tend to profit to a lesser extent than high-educated employees. When developing sustainable employability (SE) interventions, the perspectives of the low-educated employees are often lacking, leading to a mismatch between the intervention and the needs. This group should be included when developing SE interventions in work organizations. The paper describes the development of a web-based intervention for employers to improve the SE of their low-educated employees using the Intervention Mapping (IM) approach. Methods The development builds on the first four steps of IM. A needs assessment (step 1), based on empirical evidence from previous literature and focus groups with employees (N = 11) and with representatives of employers (N = 5), was used to formulate the intervention objective (step 2), followed by selecting relevant theoretical methods and translation to practical applications (step 3). Subsequently, a web-based intervention was developed (step 4). Results The needs assessment identified the importance of the active involvement of employees and of a true dialogue between employee and employer. An online toolkit, called 'Healthy HR' (HHR) was developed, with eight steps, each consisting of several tasks, for developing and implementing local SE interventions that are tailored to the organization by the employer and employees themselves. Every task comprises one or more supportive dialogue-based tools. Adapted Intervention Mapping was used as the guiding principle to structure the eight steps. Conclusions The systematic development resulted in an easy-to-use online toolkit for employers that supports developing SE interventions tailored to the needs of the low-educated employees and organization. Using IM principles is expected by both the researchers and the employers to improve the effectiveness of HHR. Key messages ‘Healthy Human Resources’ (HHR), is an online dialogue-based toolkit that facilitates employers to develop tailored SE interventions by involving their low-educated employees via dialogue. The principles of intervention mapping (IM) are used at two levels: to develop HHR, and as the leading principle within HHR.