Workplace Massage Culture
There has been a significant rise in Workplace Massage and Wellness Programs across Australia – but has this simply been a trend or is there more to it ?
Australian workers’ compensation figures consistently reveal that physical and psychological injuries pose a costly burden to the Australian economy. Since the 1980s, many employers have increasingly been providing workplace massage programs to their staff as one initiative to redress this trend. Masseurs have promoted the effectiveness of this intervention for improving musculoskeletal disorders and reducing stress, and claim massage therapy contributes toward increased employee engagement with the workplace, thus resulting in increased productivity and reduced levels of absenteeism. Clearly, one of the underlying aims for employers in providing such facilities is to prevent and manage work-related injuries and stress.
However, notwithstanding these claims, there remains a paucity of scholarly literature investigating: (a) reasons why managers implement and subsidise workplace massage, (b) what employees feel are the work-related effects such programs, and, (c) the therapeutic intentions of masseurs who offer this therapy. Using three conceptually linked studies, this thesis explores the stories of managers, employees, and therapists in order to gain a greater understanding of their perceptions about the overall benefits of workplace massage.
The findings revealed that massage programs deliver more than the expected physical and psychological outcomes. Overwhelmingly, all the participants in this study believed that workplace massage provided positive outcomes for both the organisation and those taking advantage of the program. Managers perceived that massage programs provided benefits such as positive influences on corporate culture and increased productivity. Employees explained how massage relaxed and refreshed them, allowing them to focus better and concentrate at work. Therapists described how, whilst they strove to help people achieve improved physical and psychological wellbeing, they believed workplace massage contributed significantly to improved worker morale.
The outcomes of studies provide some evidence-based justification for the continuance and expansion of such programs in the workplace. Such findings imply that the effects of the program can resonate far beyond the expected physiological and psychological benefits for the participants and for the productivity of the organisation.
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