What does Workplace Well-Being Mean?
Workplace well-being (or well-being at work) is concerned with the psychological, emotional and physical well-being of people in the context of work. Providing a safe and nurturing work environment is increasingly recognized as a moral duty of employers and a social responsibility of organizations.
Workplace well-being is much more comprehensive than just having a ‘happy workforce’ however. It implies an in-depth examination of why we work, what we work for, and how we work. From an organizational and management perspective, well-being at work means analyzing the work culture and the value system that prevail in the organization. Then, managers can investigate the processes and structures in place to assess whether they are adapted to the needs of the people who support the sustainable growth of the organization.
Well-being at work underpins many aspects of organizational life. It relates to issues of occupational health and safety, organizational development, job design, management and, more broadly, social and economic welfare. Well-being at work is a more holistic term than wellness, which focuses mostly on physical health (for example fitness regimes, eating and sleep patterns). In contrast, well-being recognizes the importance of mental health factors, and the psychological and emotional welfare of people, as key dimensions of work-life.
As a result of increased visibility of such issues at local and national levels, a growing number of companies have adopted well-being plans targeting stress management and healthy lifestyle for the benefits of their staff. These policies demonstrate a willingness to enable individual workers to adopt healthier practices that can make a difference in their overall wellness, such as taking up a regular physical activity to the practice of mindfulness and meditation. However, if organizational and work factors are not concurrently examined, the effect on workplace well-being will only be partial, short-term and limited.
Why is Workplace Well-Being Important?
Work by and large defines who we are and gives us opportunities to develop as individuals. When we are involved in tasks that we enjoy, and that give us opportunities to perfect our skills and nurture our social ties, work is a source of self-fulfillment and group cohesion.
However, work may also generate physical suffering and mental ill-being. For example: precarious employment, stress-inducing working conditions, physical exhaustion, unsupportive management, moral conflicts left unaddressed are some of the factors that negatively affect the psycho-emotional and the physical well-being of worker.
Stress and ill-being at work are first and foremost detrimental to people’s health and quality of life. They also negatively affect workers’ performance and productivity, as well as their ability to engage with their work and develop their skills. A culture of relentless pressure to perform and attain unrealistic objectives with insufficient resources (human or material) is prejudicial for individuals and organizations alike. On the other hand, investing resources into creating a safe, supportive and humane work environment is key to sustainable growth.
What Affects Well-Being at Work?
Many factors contribute to well-being at work. A supportive work environment depends upon tangible things (for example: the space, the equipment, the work itself) and less tangible aspects (such as: the wage levels, the management style, the organizational culture, or the opportunity to socialize with colleagues).
Endemic stress negatively impacts an organization’s sustainable performance, and an anxious workforce is, in the long run, a more expensive workforce. Burn-out and long-term disability due to depression or nervous exhaustion are recognized as work-related diseases, and employers have a responsibility to provide a healthy work environment. Likewise, when workers do not feel well about their job and fail to relate to their work in a meaningful way, there may be higher staff turnover rates, lower engagement and reduced creativity.
Suffering at work is a growing social concern, and employers are increasingly held accountable, both morally and legally, for the quality of the working life they provide their staff with. In the present context, enhancing workplace well-being requires both a greater understanding of the various dimensions of well-being at work, and a holistic perspective on organizational development.
Improving Well-Being at Work
The literature and research in this area tend to emphasize two dimensions that are part of the jigsaw:
- the role of leaders and managers in enabling a working environment conducive to employees achieving their potential – starting with their own self-awareness of well-being matters;
- the role of each person in developing a positive mindset and undertaking practices such as mindfulness to enhance their own state of well-being (this agenda is mostly covered by the Positive Psychology movement, and used increasingly in coaching and staff development interventions).
In practice, both of these dimensions are essential; but so are the more complex psycho-social dynamics that characterize life in a work organization. The culture, the history and stories, the mix of characters and personalities, the unacknowledged or unconscious wounds and blessings that infuse the workplace – all play a key role in determining each individual’s relation to their work, to their workplace and to their own sense of well-being. Approaches that are able to grasp the subtle hints of unconscious manifestations, such as Analytical Psychology, are therefore a precious tool to explore well-being at work more comprehensively and more systematically.
What are Psychosocial Risks?
Psychosocial risks at work refer to the environmental factors in the workplace that affect the mental, emotional and, relatedly, the physiological health of workers. Workers’ health is affected by the way they relate to their job demands and to the work environment as a whole. Well-being (or ill-being) at work implies a dynamic relationship between the individual worker and the organization as a collective entity.
The most commonly discussed psychosocial risk is stress. Half of European workers have stated stress is a recurring problem in their work experience in surveys conducted by the European Union’s Occupational Safety and Health Agency (EU-OSHA). The health implications of enduring work-related stress are significant. They have been recognized as sources of physical and psycho-emotional or mental diseases, ranging from musculoskeletal disorders to burn-out and suicidal tendencies.
Prevention of Psychosocial Risks
In contrast with more traditional health and safety factors, psychosocial risk factors are complex and harder to manage. To address psychosocial risks at work, we need to consider at once the design, organization and management of work as well as the resources of each individual worker. Reported sources of ill-being at work include:
- work pace and mental load (e.g. work intensity and patterns of resting breaks, even when these are linked to the nature of the job)
- excessive workload (especially when caused by job reorganization)
- job control and input in work methods (which in turn affects job engagement)
- excessive performance expectations and/or constant monitoring (which can create a feeling of devaluation of one’s skills and competence detrimental to work motivation and organizational commitment)
- limited opportunities for social interaction and co-worker support (which can lead to a sense of alienation and dehumanization of individuals at work, and therefore a toxic work atmosphere)
- quality of leadership and management support (e.g. aggressive or exclusive management style, communication patterns)
- (in)adequacy of organizational support in cases of bullying and harassment
- job insecurity or role ambiguity
A holistic approach to organizational management and development is able to understand and effectively address psychosocial risks at work to enhance the well-being of workers. Some initiatives can be implemented quickly, others demand a more substantial investment towards redesigning jobs and work structures. However, several key psychosocial risks can be greatly mitigated through a better awareness of existing organizational dynamics and a more inclusive and participatory dialogue.
How does a Psychodynamic Approach Help?
Organizational and staff development programs need to understand that the culture, the history and stories, the mix of characters and personalities, the unacknowledged or unconscious wounds and blessings that infuse the workplace, all play a key role in determining each individual’s relation to their work, to their workplace and to their own sense of well-being. To effectively make a difference in the well-being of the unique individuals that shape the organization, it is essential to understand who the people are, what the organization is about, and draw upon existing resources and experience in a respectful and inclusive manner.
Because work is a complex socio-economic activity shaped by external and subjective factors, workplace well-being programs need to accommodate the contingencies and ambiguities inherent to working lives. Sustainable change demands that leaders and managers learn to design and manage a working environment which enables workers to achieve their potential; on the other hand, it asks each individual worker to consider what resources they can bring to work so as to contribute further to the organizational community while nurturing their own needs.
A psychodynamic approach acknowledges how these complex and subtle dynamics, both conscious and unconscious, set the tone in an organization’s or a group’s culture and structure. When collective behavioural patterns and individual mindsets and stories are accounted for at once, we can draw a more comprehensive and systematic picture of what goes on in the organization, what tensions exist – manifested or latent – and what resources may lie yet undiscovered.