Employee Well-being Programs and their Effect on Organizational Commitment in the UAE Banking Sector: A Case Study of Emirates NBD

Abstract

The present study aims to provide new insights on how employee well-being programs influence organizational commitment in the UAE banking sector, with Emirates NBD as a case study. Applying the qualitative method of semi-structured interviews with employees and HR managers at the bank, five key themes were identified through thematic analysis: well-being and commitment, mental health and flexibility, leadership support, workload pressure, and cultural factors. The findings therefore suggest that well-being programs were seen to enhance affective organizational commitment, especially when employees perceived genuine organizational care. Mental health support, flexible work arrangements, as well as leadership encouragement were identified as the strongest drivers of engagement and loyalty. On the other hand, heavy workloads and cultural stigma surrounding mental health were viewed as key barriers to employee participation in such programs. Recommendations based on these findings include integrating greater flexibility into workload planning, normalizaton of mental health conversations by leadership, structured workload alignment, integration of continuous employee feedback mechanisms, as well as tailored interventions for high-pressure roles. Overall, this study reveals that, in the UAE banking context, well-being programs are most effective when included in the organizational culture and leadership practices.