From Stress to Success: How ACT and Performance Feedback Drive Workplace Change

How can organizations supports their employees in managing stress in fast-paced work environments, while improving performance?

Research supports Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) and structured performance feedback as a powerful combination.

High stress increases errors, reduces efficiency, and contributes to burnout. All of which lead to reduced productivity.

As stress levels increase, employee technical performance suffers and increased supervision can often feel like heightened pressure to perform, leading employees to engage in avoidance behaviours and disengage from work culture.

Enter ACT.

ACT is not about getting rid of internal discomfort, which leads to avoidance, but about building psychological flexibility. The ability to take actions towards values even when stress, and unhelpful thoughts or feelings show up.

ACT encourages employees to move forward with meaningful goals instead of getting stuck in avoidance patterns.

Verbal and written performance feedback, along with reinforcement, and removal of barriers to performance, has been shown to reduce stress levels in employees, however…including ACT produced even greater and more consistent performance improvements, higher employee engagement and stronger technical skills. Additionally, employees found ACT strategies enjoyable and practical (Pingo et al., 2020).

Why it works.

ACT aims to address the root causes of stress; typically avoidance. By clarifying workplace and personal values, breaking tasks into smaller, more manageable steps, and reinforcing actions aligned with values, employees increase their ability to adapt and thrive, even under pressure.

Bottom line.

While stress is inevitable, it’s impact doesn’t have to be. Combine performance feedback with ACT to create a compelling formula for

• reducing burnout and psychological stress,

• increasing engagement and productivity, and

• driving sustainable behaviour change

Organizations that invest in these strategies don’t just improve employee performance, they help build resilient, value-driven teams ready to thrive.

Paliliunas, D., Belisle, J., & Dixon, M.R. (2018). A randomized control trial to evaluate the use of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to increase academic performance and psychological flexibility in graduate students. Behavior Analysis in Practice. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-018-0252-x

Pingo, J. C., Dixon, M.R., Paliliunas, D. (2020). An examination of the intervention-enhancing effect of acceptance and commitment therapy-based training on direct service professionals’ performance in the workplace. Behavior Analysis in Practice. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-018-00275-9.

Pingo, J. C., Dixon, M. R. & Paliliunas, D. (2020). Intervention enhancing effects of acceptance and commitment training on performance feedback for direct support professional work performance, stress, and job satisfaction. Behavior Analysis in Practice. http://doi.org/10.1007/s-40617-019-00999-w

Prudenzi, A., Graham, C. D., Flaxman, P.E., Wilding, S., Day, F., & O’Connor, D. B.(2022). A workplace acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) intervention for improving healthcare staff psychological distress: A randomized controlled trial. PLoSONE. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0266357.