Support or Scrutiny? Experiencing Workplace Well-Being Interviews

Workplace well-being interviews are increasingly used as a preventive measure to reduce sickness absence and support employee well-being. However, little is known about how these interviews are experienced in practice or how interactions between employees and line managers shape these experiences. This study explored how interactions between employees and line managers shape their experiences of workplace well-being interviews in Danish public sector workplaces.

An exploratory qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with six line managers and nine employees from six work units in two Danish municipalities. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Experiences of workplace well-being interviews were strongly shaped by the quality of interaction between employees and line managers. Trust, empathy, and perceived genuine care contributed to interviews being experienced as supportive, meaningful, and relevant. In contrast, when trust was lacking, employees described discomfort, nervousness, and a sense of having to justify their sickness absence. Employees particularly experienced the interviews as less meaningful when the cause of absenteeism was perceived as unrelated to work and beyond their control. Standardized organizational procedures also appeared to influence how employees and line managers positioned themselves during the interaction, sometimes reinforcing expectations of accountability.

The findings highlight the central role of interaction in shaping experiences of workplace well-being interviews. The preventive potential of such interviews may depend on trustful employee-line manager relationships and flexible approaches that consider employees' individual circumstances and the perceived causes of sickness absence.