Employee Well-Being as a Strategic Business Imperative at SAP - A prerequisite for organizational success?

Abstract: The main purpose of this study is to research how an organization can develop, implement and measure the effect of employee well-being strategies to ultimately boost the organization’s bottom line. In this exploratory case study, SAP served as the case of investigation and primary data was collected through six qualitative interviews. The sample included SAP representatives from different levels of the organization to get a global and a local perspective and find broad patterns to provide findings that would be valuable for organizations to work strategically with employee well-being. Interviews were conducted by both authors digitally. In today’s fast-paced business environment, ever-increasing digitalization as well as the current pandemic of Covid-19, the need to approach employee well-being in a strategic manner has become more relevant than ever. On the basis of the results of this research, it can be concluded that the connection between employee well-being strategies and organizational success is not a straight one-to-one relationship, but has several mediating factors, where the overall employee experience plays a dominating role. Further, the results revealed that working strategically with employee well-being extends beyond implementing initiatives in a structured manner, but also requires systematic follow-up and measurement, where feedback loops are essential. In turn, the key features of an employee well-being strategy have a positive impact on employee performance and ultimately the success of the whole organization. Lastly, the results support the view that certain willingness and maturity is required from the organization to ensure the success of the company and to work strategically with employee well-being as a business enabler, not as a problem.