The emotional state and job performance of an employee can greatly fluctuate over minutes, hours and days. Towards supporting employee wellbeing and maximizing productivity, Dr. Ze (Mia) Zhu at the University of Nebraska Omaha and her colleagues at George Mason University recently explored the potential of Just-in-Time Adaptive Interventions – or JITAIs. JITAIs encourage positive change in organizations, by intervening at the right moment and in the right context. Read More
Instead of introducing protocols that follow a fixed schedule, such as regular workshops for all employees, JITAIs adapt to changing dynamics of an organization and the internal states of individual employees.
The research team first outlined a set of questions that can identify situations in which JITAIs could prove effective. The first question is: ‘Can the primary outcomes of a planned study, such as employee performance, job satisfaction, and so on, significantly fluctuate over the course of minutes, hours or days?’
If the answer is ‘yes’, the next question is: ‘Do time-varying factors significantly influence the need for the intervention and its overall effectiveness?’ Examples of time-varying factors include stressful events and negative moods, which would vary in prevalence over time. If the answer to this question is also ‘yes’, a JITAI is the best intervention. If the answer to either question is ‘no’, Dr. Zhu suggests employing a traditional intervention.
The research team also outlines three fluctuating factors that influence the outcome of organizational interventions, namely vulnerability, opportunity, and receptivity. Vulnerability describes periods when an employee is more susceptible to negative influences, while opportunity describes times when they are susceptible to positive change. Finally, receptivity is an employee’s openness to receive, process, and benefit from experiences and support in the moment.
The research team then provides a question-based guideline that can determine when to introduce an intervention. They suggest asking the question: ‘Are individuals experiencing states of vulnerability and/or opportunity at this time?’
If the answer is yes, one should then ask: ‘Are these same individuals receptive to the intervention at this time?’ If the answer to this is also yes, then it is the right time to introduce the JITAI. If the answer to either of these questions is no, it is not the best time.
The team’s paper also outlines two distinct phases of JITAIs: Optimization and Evaluation. During the Optimization phase, all employees in the study randomly receive an intervention activity or a control activity at each time point, to test its causal effects and optimize its design.
During the Evaluation phase, the optimized JITAI is introduced, implementing tailored options at the right time. The outcomes of these options should be compared with those observed in a control group, consisting of employees who did not take part in the JITAI.
This work serves as a guide for organizations that wish to effectively implement JITAIs, helping to improve employee wellbeing while also maximizing productivity.
