Why Workplace Wellbeing Matters (Professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve)

World Happiness Summit®
26 Mar 202520:53

Summary

TLDRThis insightful presentation explores the importance of workplace well-being, highlighting the significant gap between leaders’ beliefs and actions. It discusses key indicators for measuring well-being, such as happiness, stress levels, job satisfaction, and sense of purpose, backed by large-scale data from companies like S&P Global and Indeed. The presentation emphasizes the social aspects of work, including belonging and managerial support, as the main drivers of employee well-being. It further demonstrates how improved well-being leads to higher productivity, talent attraction, and retention, with compelling evidence linking workplace well-being to better financial performance and organizational success.

Takeaways

  • 😀 The importance of workplace well-being should be self-evident, as it’s fundamentally about treating people with care and creating positive work environments.
  • 😀 Despite many senior leaders expressing support for workplace well-being, there's a significant gap between their words and actions, with only 33% of leaders prioritizing employee well-being.
  • 😀 Workplace well-being can be measured by four key indicators: happiness at work, stress levels, job satisfaction, and sense of purpose.
  • 😀 These four indicators are based on well-established principles in positive psychology, offering a comprehensive view of workplace well-being.
  • 😀 Companies like S&P Global and Indeed are collecting vast amounts of data on employee feelings at work, revealing that only 22% of global respondents rate their well-being as excellent.
  • 😀 There's vast variation in workplace well-being within and across organizations, showing that improvement is possible even in industries or regions facing economic challenges.
  • 😀 Drivers of workplace well-being include fair compensation, trust among co-workers, flexibility, appreciation, belonging, and inclusion.
  • 😀 Social elements, such as belonging, inclusion, and managerial support, play a particularly important role in driving workplace well-being.
  • 😀 Research shows that workplace well-being has a direct impact on business outcomes, including productivity, talent attraction, and retention.
  • 😀 A study on British Telecom's call center employees shows that improving emotional well-being increases productivity, with a 12% increase in weekly sales per unit increase in well-being.
  • 😀 Data from Indeed’s platform reveals that job seekers are more likely to apply to companies with higher workplace well-being scores, indicating the importance of well-being in attracting top talent.
  • 😀 High workplace well-being is linked to lower voluntary turnover, with companies that prioritize well-being losing a third less of their employees, saving substantial costs in hiring and training.
  • 😀 Companies that invest in improving workplace well-being show higher profitability, with a direct correlation between well-being scores and financial performance, proving that it's a smart business strategy.
  • 😀 A synthetic portfolio created from top companies based on employee well-being shows that companies with high workplace well-being consistently outperform traditional stock indices, demonstrating long-term financial benefits.

Q & A

  • What is the main purpose of the presentation in the script?

    -The presentation aims to highlight the importance of workplace well-being, provide evidence on its impact, and advocate for investing in it from both a human and business perspective.

  • Why was the book 'Why Workplace Well-being Matters' written despite the concept being self-evident?

    -The book was written because there is a gap between what senior leaders say about workplace well-being and what they actually do, with many not prioritizing it despite acknowledging its importance.

  • What are the four key items used to measure workplace well-being?

    -The four key items are: 1) Happiness at work (positive emotions), 2) Stress levels (negative emotions), 3) Job satisfaction, and 4) A sense of purpose and worth in the work being done.

  • What is the role of positive psychology in measuring workplace well-being?

    -The approach to measuring workplace well-being is based on the consensus in positive psychology, specifically the affective, evaluative, and demonic aspects of well-being, which are then adapted to the workplace setting.

  • How does Indeed contribute to measuring workplace well-being?

    -Indeed collects crowdsource data on workplace well-being from millions of workers across different regions, providing a large-scale dataset that allows for the comparison of well-being across organizations and industries.

  • What is the variation in workplace well-being among different organizations?

    -There is significant variation in workplace well-being across organizations, with some companies averaging scores of 2 out of 5, while others achieve scores closer to 4 out of 5. This variation is seen across industries and even within specific companies.

  • What are the most important factors that drive workplace well-being according to the research?

    -The most important factors are social elements, such as belonging, inclusion, and managerial support. While compensation and flexibility are important, the social capital around the workplace has a greater impact on overall well-being.

  • How does workplace well-being affect productivity?

    -Improving employee well-being is linked to increased productivity. For example, a 1-point improvement in well-being can lead to a 12% increase in weekly sales, with even greater improvements seen in tasks requiring social and emotional intelligence.

  • What is the relationship between workplace well-being and talent attraction?

    -Higher workplace well-being scores attract more job applications, particularly from talented candidates. Job seekers are more likely to apply to companies with higher well-being scores, which leads to the attraction of better talent.

  • How does workplace well-being impact employee retention?

    -Companies with higher workplace well-being scores have significantly lower voluntary turnover rates. Organizations with better well-being retention experience a 33% lower annual turnover compared to those with lower well-being scores.

  • How does the business case for workplace well-being relate to stock market performance?

    -Companies with higher workplace well-being scores outperform traditional stock market indices. A synthetic stock portfolio based on well-being scores has consistently outperformed the S&P 500, NASDAQ, and Russell indices, demonstrating the financial benefits of prioritizing employee well-being.

Outlines

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Transcripts

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Ähnliche Tags
Workplace Well-beingEmployee EngagementBusiness StrategySocial CapitalProductivity BoostTalent RetentionEmployee SatisfactionOrganizational CultureMental HealthLeadershipPositive Psychology
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