“Confusion often
abounds as to what workplace wellbeing actually is and what it entails,”
explain the authors of the new book, Why Workplace Wellbeing Matters: The Science Behind Employee Happiness and Organizational Performance.
“Workplace
wellbeing is how we feel at work and about our work,” share Jan-Emmanuel De
Neve and George Ward. “It has evaluative, affective, and eudaimonic
components. These may sound complicated but are actually very straightforward.”
Evaluative
workplace wellbeing refers to how we think about our jobs. It is an overall
judgment, an assessment about how things are going, and it is typically
measured by job satisfaction.
Affective
wellbeing refers to how we actually feel on a day-to-day basis while we are
at work. It is an emotional or hedonic experience, and it can involve both positive
and negative emotions.
Eudaimonic
wellbeing is about how much of a sense of purpose we get out of our work.
The authors
also point out that wellness and wellbeing are too often
conflated. They explain that wellness is somewhat more nebulous as a concept
and is often defined more in terms of the wellness programs designed to promote
it.
Within the
three parts of the book, the authors offer a framework for how businesses can
approach and improve workplace wellbeing. Drawing on extensive large-scale
data—including the world's largest data set on employee wellbeing, gathered in
partnership with the jobs platform Indeed—the book reveals the remarkable ways
in which wellbeing at work varies across workers, occupations, companies, and
industries.
The authors
present new, evidence-based insights into the origins of workplace wellbeing
and how businesses can enhance the employee experience. Their research
demonstrates that improving wellbeing can boost productivity, aid in talent
retention and recruitment, and ultimately improve financial performance.
Two of the key
insights from the research conducted and shared within the book include:
- The most
important driver of wellbeing is not pay. Instead, it is actually a sense of belonging. - Being a
full-time, permanent employee delivers the strongest sense of workplace
wellbeing.
Most of us
spend a third of our waking lives at work. Work shapes our schedules,
relationships, identities, and economies—but is it actually making us happy?
This crucial question is explored in depth within this timely, compelling and
book.
George Ward
Ward
shares these additional insights with us:
Question: You
studied six key groups of drivers of workplace wellbeing, namely: development
and security; human relationships at work; independence and flexibility; variety
and fulfillment; earning and benefits; as well as risk, health, and safety.
Which are the most important?
Ward: While
many factors are essential for workplace wellbeing—including fair wages and
consistent scheduling—our research clearly shows that human relationships at
work stand out as especially influential. Good relationships with managers and
coworkers form the foundation for employees feeling valued, supported—and,
ultimately, happy at and about their work.
Question: How,
overall, should business leaders strategically use the research findings and
teachings in the book?
Ward: Leaders
should approach workplace wellbeing not as a peripheral issue, but as a
strategic imperative directly tied to organizational performance. This involves
systematically measuring wellbeing and embedding it into daily management
practices and strategic decisions.
Question: What
is the best next step for a leader who after reading your book wants to improve
wellbeing in their workplace?
Ward: The
best first step for leaders is to objectively assess the current state of
wellbeing within their organization. Using validated measures of job
satisfaction, stress, purpose, and happiness, leaders can identify key areas
needing improvement. They should then translate these insights into targeted
interventions that directly address the most influential drivers of workplace
wellbeing.
___
Jan-Emmanuel De
Neve is Professor of Economics and Behavioural Science at the University of
Oxford, where he directs the Wellbeing Research Centre. His research, published
in top academic journals, was included among “The Management Ideas That
Mattered Most” by Harvard Business Review. He is an editor of the World
Happiness Report and coauthor of the preeminent textbook on wellbeing science.
George Ward
earned his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is currently
the Mary Ewart Junior Research Fellow in Economics at Somerville College,
University of Oxford. He coauthored The Origins of Happiness: The Science of
Well-Being over the Life Course and has published widely on the topic of human
wellbeing in leading academic journals.
Thank you to
the book’s publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.
