Workplace wellbeing is an essential prerequisite for a well-functioning and productive workplace. Wellbeing is about creating an environment where employees feel valued, respected and motivated to perform at their best. This includes both the physical and psychological safety that employees experience in their daily work.
It is therefore an important task for employers to create a positive and supportive culture where employees thrive and can realize their full potential. It is often the responsibility of managers to ensure a focus on wellbeing, and it is also managers who typically have the power to initiate change processes.
That's why it's essential that workplace leaders have the necessary knowledge, tools and methods to create better wellbeing in the workplace.
Do you want to be even better equipped to manage the psychological work environment?
The "Management of Psychological Work Environment and Wellbeing" program gives you insights and methods to create a better work environment for your employees.
The program is especially relevant if you have challenges with high sickness absence, high employee turnover or widespread stress among employees.
Read more about our research-based education
Definition: What is wellbeing?
There are various definitions of wellbeing. Among them is the World Health Organization (WHO), which defines wellbeing as a prerequisite for mental health.
"Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to contribute to the community." (Source: WHO)
In the workplace, wellbeing can be defined as a state where employees feel satisfied with their work tasks, experience a sense of belonging and community, and have an appropriate work-life balance. Wellbeing can be influenced by a wide range of factors, including work tasks, collegial relationships, management style, pay and working conditions.
Wellbeing in the workplace is therefore both an individual responsibility, but just as much a shared responsibility. Individual employees can do a lot to improve wellbeing, but they can never do it alone. Involvement of managers and the rest of the organization is needed to create positive and sustainable changes to existing structures.
Workplace wellbeing can therefore be visualized in the following way:
What are the benefits of improving wellbeing in the workplace?
A good working environment and a high level of well-being among employees in a workplace can have a number of positive effects for both the individual employee and the company as a whole.
Here are some of the benefits that increased wellbeing in the workplace can bring:
- More productive employees: When employees are happy, they are more likely to perform at their best at work, which increases productivity.
- Lower sick leave: If employees are thriving, they will typically have fewer health problems and therefore sick leave will decrease.
- Better employee retention: If employees are thriving, they're more likely to feel more connected to the workplace and less likely to look for other jobs.
- Improved work environment: A good work environment is important for wellbeing, and when wellbeing increases, it often improves the work environment.
- Better collaboration and communication: When employees are happy, they are often more likely to collaborate and communicate effectively, which can lead to better performance and less conflict in the workplace.
Various studies also indicate that there is a strong correlation between wellbeing and psychological work environment and the profitability of a company. For example, this study published by DTU Management Engineering, in which the authors examine the correlation between well-being and finances. Here, the authors conclude, among other things:
"Overall, it can be concluded that there is a strong and significant statistical correlation
between psychological work environment and profitability. [...] On several occasions, positive changes in leadership have been followed by improvements in profitability, and it is therefore concluded that a good psychological work environment leads to good performance."
In addition, wellbeing can also have a positive impact on workplace image and reputation. A workplace where employees thrive can be more attractive to potential applicants and therefore attract and retain skilled workers. Furthermore, high wellbeing can also lead to better collaboration and less conflict between employees and increase the possibility of knowledge sharing and innovation.
On a broader level, workplace wellbeing can also have a positive societal impact, as it can help reduce stress and sickness absence and increase wellbeing and quality of life among employees.
What factors can affect wellbeing in the workplace?
No two workplaces are the same, so what can actually affect wellbeing will vary greatly from workplace to workplace - for better or worse.
Overall, however, there are some aspects and areas that are typically highlighted when talking about wellbeing in the workplace:
- Workload and work pressure: Too much work or pressure can lead to stress and overload, which can negatively impact wellbeing.
- Work content: Work content can influence how motivating and meaningful the work is, which in turn can affect wellbeing.
- Work environment and physical surroundings: Physical conditions such as noise, light and temperature can affect wellbeing, just as a healthy and safe work environment can also contribute to wellbeing.
- Leadership style and workplace relationships: A good leadership style and positive relationships between colleagues and between managers and employees can contribute to wellbeing in the workplace.
- Work organization: Good work organization, including clear goals, sufficient resources and appropriate working hours, can contribute to well-being in the workplace.
It's important to emphasize that every workplace is different. Therefore, the above points should be seen as inspiration for areas to consider investigating further.
How do you measure wellbeing in the workplace?
There are many ways to measure wellbeing in the workplace. The typical and most common method is through surveys that are sent out to employees, typically once a year.
In this context, the Danish National Research Center for the Working Environment has prepared a free and freely available template that you can draw inspiration from. When you click on the link, you will be able to download the template, and in the template you will find further information on how to use the questionnaire.
However, measuring wellbeing in the workplace annually may not be enough. Ongoing dialog and employee involvement is key to strengthening interpersonal relationships in the workplace.
Continuous work with wellbeing enables you as a company to work preventively rather than reactively - and if you only conduct one wellbeing survey a year, it will most likely result in a reactive action plan.
These are among the points made by authors Andreas Fricke Møller, Chief Consultant at LEAD, and Stephanie Semay Bäckström, former partner and co-owner of LEAD, in their article "Thefuture of HR is data-informed and can measure engagement in real time".
But measuring wellbeing - whether annually or continuously - is not enough on its own. Of course, there needs to be action behind it. In fact, conducting a wellbeing survey without follow-up can be more damaging than not conducting the survey at all.
Therefore, there needs to be a clear action plan based on the information employees provide in their survey responses.
At LEAD, we specialize in training leaders to translate knowledge and empirical evidence into action-oriented and practical transformation processes. The program provides you with the leadership skills needed to manage or prevent stress and unhappiness. You will be trained by some of the country's leading business psychologists who, on a daily basis, deliver the solid and passionate professionalism and impact that LEAD is known for.
Ideas to boost wellbeing
There are many different ways you as a company can improve wellbeing in the workplace. Here are some ideas on what you can do right away:
Create an open and inclusive culture: Start by creating an open and inclusive culture where employees feel comfortable talking about their feelings and concerns. This can help foster collaboration and trust, and can have a positive impact on wellbeing.
Offer wellbeing courses: You could also consider offering wellbeing courses to employees. These courses can help employees learn how to deal with stress and challenges in the workplace, and it can also give them tools to better manage their personal lives.
Flexible working hours: Consider whether flexible working hours will benefit employee wellbeing. This way, they can better align their working hours with their personal lives. This can help reduce stress and give employees a better work-life balance.
Focus on the work environment: By focusing on strengthening the work environment, you can ensure that the workplace is healthy and safe for employees. This includes physical things like good ergonomics and proper lighting, but just as important is the psychological work environment. It's often easier to buy new, ergonomic furniture than it is to "fix" an unhealthy psychological work culture. However, managing psychological work culture is something we at LEAD specialize in training managers to navigate - contact us.
Support employees: Make a point of supporting employees and offer them support when they need it. This could be by offering a mentoring scheme where employees can get advice and support from more experienced colleagues, or by offering psychological counseling to employees who need it.
Sustainable solutions in terms of wellbeing and work environment require thorough and knowledge-based preparatory work, which is no easy task.
Here at LEAD, we're happy to help. Our approach is professional and research-based, and we're able to understand your unique work culture so that the tools we present to you can be easily and effectively applied to your existing working environment.
Do you want to be better at:
- Map your own situation and action areas to improve your work environment and well-being
- Work strategically with organizational culture
- Building a learning culture
- Create a growth mindset in your employees
- Prevent stress and unhappiness
- Manage stress and unhappiness
- Lead the development of an attractive workplace with low sick leave and low employee turnover
- Drive better performance in your area of responsibility
Then fill out the form below and receive our description of the research-based education that gives you the most effective tools to strengthen the psychological work environment and well-being in your workplace .
