Oxford Saïd experts explain the sources of employee happiness
A recent Harvard Business Review survey found 87% of business executives believed workplace wellbeing could give their companies a competitive advantage, and yet less than 15% had any sort of strategy in place to deliver it. Wellbeing is directly connected to employee engagement and consequently to organizational performance. Findings by Gallup, that only 20% of employees worldwide are engaged at work, suggests a crisis in employee engagement. This in turn links to low productivity—particularly in Europe, where average growth over the past decade languishes at 0.9%.
Added to this, a recent study from the global nonprofit, Six Seconds, reports that the world has entered an emotional intelligence and wellbeing recession. “On average,” Six Seconds CEO Joshua Freedman says, “people are more volatile, less likely to be able to navigate emotions, less likely to feel connected to empathy, or to a bigger sense of purpose. And less likely to be able to accurately understand and label the feelings they are experiencing—a crucial foundation for mental and emotional health.”
Troublingly, this sorry state-of-affairs does not appear to be improving despite organizations now spending significant sums on staff wellness programs and initiatives.
A timely new book, Why Workplace Wellbeing Matters, from Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, professor of economics and behavioural science at Saïd Business School, Oxford University, and Oxford research fellow Dr. George Ward, considers this dilemma and provides invaluable insight and advice.
Subtitled The Science Behind Employee Happiness and Organizational Performance, this intensely researched book starts by defining what is really meant by workplace wellbeing—something the authors say is often misconstrued. It shows how wellbeing involves not only how we feel while doing our work but also how we think about our work and its purpose, and its importance in our lives. The authors explain why work is central to a person’s wellbeing, and how wellbeing is not only about the individual but also about the system and culture around them.
Good for the employee, wellbeing and happiness can bring many benefits to organizations—fostering employee engagement, boosting productivity, aiding talent retention, and ultimately improving financial performance. Having described the benefits to employees and employers, the authors go on to examine the constituent parts of wellbeing and happiness—offering managers a guide to what interventions can bring improvements.
While acknowledging the obvious enemies of wellbeing—stress, burnout, lapses in health and safety, etc.—the book focuses on many wider aspects, such as workplace culture, and the quality of work not merely the quantity. Wellbeing at work depends heavily on how engaged a person is with their work, and on the quality of their relationships with their colleagues and bosses. Gaining a sense of fulfilment, is high amongst the factors that determine workplace wellbeing, as is the variety of work, independence and autonomy, flexibility, and belief in the purpose of the job.
It is also essential that managers recognize that individuals’ wellbeing at work and outside it is tied up with their feelings about their job security and career prospects. With the approach of the AI-enabled workplace alleviating career anxiety must be a priority. Here the authors take the view that the effects of technology are not inevitable and now is the time for organizations to direct AI to shape the future of work in a way that enhances wellbeing.
The strength of this timely book lies in the comprehensive research behind it (data gathered over 20 years from millions of workers around the world), the detailed picture presented of the drivers of workplace wellbeing and of how it varies across industries and geographies, and crucially on the clarity of the advice it gives on making improvements.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
The Saïd Business School is Europe’s fastest growing business school. An integral part of the University of Oxford, it embodies the academic rigour and forward thinking that has made Oxford a world leader in education.
Interpersonal collaboration trumps purpose as a motivator of performance finds Harvard Business School/Babson College study
