MIT Sloan Research: Rethinking HR by Breaking Down Silos to Improve Well-Being and Performance
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A new article in MIT Sloan Management Review examines why traditional human resources structures fail to address employee well-being—and argues that performance gains depend on integrating talent, learning, and benefits into a unified system focused on how work is designed.Click here to subscribe to the ESM weekly e-newsletter.
A growing body of research highlighted in MIT Sloan Management Review suggests that organizations seeking better performance and workforce well-being must rethink the very structure of human resources. In their article, Reimagining HR for Better Well Being and Performance, adapted from their book Tomorrowmind, Gabriella Rosen Kellerman (a physician, former Chief Product Officer at BetterUp, and faculty affiliate at Harvard Medical School) and Martin Seligman, Professor of Psychology at University of Pennsylvania and a leading figure in positive psychology, argue that the traditional separation of HR functions—particularly between talent development and employee benefits—undermines organizations’ ability to prevent burnout and sustain performance. Based on a
synthesis of psychological research and organizational practice, the authors find that most companies focus on treating symptoms of stress through wellness programs rather than addressing root causes embedded in job design and work systems. Their central insight is that well-being and performance are not separate outcomes but mutually reinforcing results of how work is structured. The research identifies key barriers, including fragmented HR ownership, reactive approaches to employee health, and a reliance on “fix-the-worker” interventions such as resilience training or wellness benefits.
Instead, the authors advocate redesigning work itself—integrating learning, benefits, and job design—to build psychological capacity, reduce chronic stressors, and enable sustainable performance over time. The authors suggest that organizations that continue to treat well-being as a peripheral program rather than a core design principle are unlikely to achieve lasting improvements in either engagement or results.
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