Technique 7.26      Recovery Experience Questionnaire (REQ)

Introduction

This questionnaire looks at the 4 recovery dimensions; each reflects a distinct pathway to recovery. All 4 are correlated but conceptually unique; each replenishes different aspects of personal resources.

Each item captures a subjective experience rather than a behaviour, eg, feeling detached rather than not checking email.

Questions

It contains 16 items, grouped into 4 subscales (4 questions each).
Each is rated on a 5-point scale been:

1. Psychological Detachment(mental disengagement from work during non-work time)

1.1 During time after work, you don’t think about work at all.

1.2 After work hours, you forget about work.

1.3 You distance yourself from your work.

1.4 You get a break from the demands of work.

2. Relaxation(low level activities that are calm and restful experiences)
2.1. You kick back and relax.

2.2. You use the time to relax.

2.3. You do relaxing things.

2.4 You take time for leisure.

3.Mastery Experiences(challenging, growth-oriented activities unrelated to work)

3.1 You seek out intellectual challenges.

3.2 You do things that challenge yourself.

3.3 You learn new things.

3.4 You seek out activities that broaden your horizons.

4. Control(sense of autonomy and choice over one’s free time)

4.1 You decide your own schedule.

4.2 You determine for yourself how you will spend your time.

4.3 You decide what you want to do.

4.4. You take care of things the way that you want them done.

Scoring and Interpretation (summary)

• Compute the mean of each 4-item subscale to get scores for detachment, relaxation, mastery and control.
• Optionally, calculate an overall recovery score (mean of all 16 items).
• Higher scores = greater recovery experience and better restoration of psychological and physiological resources.

You can interpret the results as follows:

Application to Organisations and Change Management

Change initiatives can increase workload, uncertainty and emotional strain, which block recovery (people keep “working in their heads” after hours).

Using the Recovery Experience Questionnaire (REQ) helps leaders track and protect employee resilience during these transitions.

1. Diagnose Recovery Gaps

• Administer the REQ pre-change and mid-change.
• Identify which recovery dimension is weakest.
  • Low detachment → too much after-hours rumination.
  • Low control → change process feels imposed.
  • Low mastery → people not growing or feeling competent in the new system.
  • Low relaxation → physical stress overload.

2. Targeted Interventions

• If detachment is low: implement “digital sunset” policies, or mindful shutdown rituals.
• If control is low: co-design work schedules; give choice in change roles or timelines.
• If mastery is low: include learning micro-modules or innovation projects.
• If relaxation is low: introduce wellbeing breaks, quiet spaces, or self-care prompts.

3. Evaluate Change Fatigue

Tracking REQ scores across time helps detect early change fatigue before burnout or turnover emerge.

You can pair REQ data with engagement or turnover metrics to show ROI of supportive change practices.

(main source: Sabine Sonnentag et al, 2015)