FROM INTERVENTION EFFICACY TO ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSLATION: A THEORY-BUILDING SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF PSYCHOSOCIAL INTERVENTIONS FOR EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING

Abstract

Psychosocial risks are increasingly recognized as major determinants of employee well-being, organizational functioning, and sustainable workforce performance. Over the past several decades, psychosocial interventions in the workplace have evolved from individual-focused stress management approaches toward more diverse, multilevel, and organizationally embedded strategies. Even with this growth, the literature remains unclear about why some interventions lead to long-term benefits for organizations. In contrast, others only help individuals in the short term. This systematic literature review synthesizes 165 studies published between 1987 and 2025 to examine the evolution, effectiveness, and implementation of psychosocial interventions for employee well-being across individual, supervisory, digital, and organizational levels. The review demonstrates a clear historical transition from symptom management approaches such as Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT), mindfulness, and psychoeducation toward digital, participatory, and psychosocial risk-oriented intervention models. Across the literature, most studies report beneficial effects on stress, burnout, psychological distress, engagement, and psychosocial climate. However, three persistent limitations constrain the field's cumulative development: organizational outcomes such as productivity, absenteeism, and retention remain underrepresented; implementation fidelity is inconsistently reported; and contextual and sector-specific evidence remains limited. To address these gaps, this review advances the Psychosocial Intervention Translation Framework (PITF), which explains intervention success as contingent on three interrelated conditions: structural enablement through Psychosocial Safety Climate (PSC) and leadership support, implementation conversion through fidelity, participation, and organizational readiness, and outcome conversion through the embedding of proximal well-being gains into broader organizational performance. The review contends that the primary challenge in psychosocial intervention research has shifted from merely identifying effective intervention modalities to comprehending how these interventions are converted into enduring organizational value. Accordingly, the article repositions psychosocial interventions from isolated treatment mechanisms to context-dependent organizational change processes.