The 2023 ‘Research’ List
Prioritise People: unlock the value of a thriving workforce
Rob’s highlight: “The opportunity of investing in helping employees thrive is much bigger than we might have expected.”
Summary: Investing in a thriving workforce improves financial performance and competitiveness. The consolidated evidence from academic literature and industry studies supports the economic value proposition (EVP) for investing in employee health and wellbeing and creates a compelling investment case.
Benefits include Productivity, Retention, Attraction, and The ability to attract investment.
By Business in the Community’s (BITC) Wellbeing Leadership Team with support and research from McKinsey Health Institute (MHI). It contains input from leading UK CFOs and expert collaborators.
The workforce well-being imperative
Rob’s highlight: “Presenteeism costs UK employers up to £28bn per year.”
Summary: Despite companies allocating significant resources to drive improvements in workforce wellbeing, little progress has been made in the wake of the pandemic. Deloitte conducted a marketplace survey of 1,274 US workers and found that leadership behaviors, job design, and ways of working are the three key determinants of work wellbeing. Leaders cannot rely solely on perks and programs, as they do not address the root causes of poor workforce wellbeing. To address these determinants, companies need to take wide-ranging action to support human sustainability, rather than focusing on ad hoc programs created by HR. The CEO, C-suite, and board should take ownership of the systemic change required to address this issue.
By Deloitte, United States
Mental Health at Work: Managers and Money
Rob’s highlight: ”For almost 70% of people, their manager has more impact on their mental health than their therapist or their doctor—and it’s equal to the impact of their partner.”
Summary: Is your manager stressing you out, or do they have a positive impact on your mental health?
For better or worse, managers have a greater impact on our mental health than doctors and therapists — and even equal to that of spouses and partners. The Workforce Institute at UKG surveyed 3,400 people across 10 countries to spotlight the critical role our jobs, leadership, and, most of all, our managers play in supporting mental health in and outside of work.
By UKG
Does Employee Happiness have an Impact on Productivity?
Rob’s highlight: “The link between wellbeing and productivity is clear. Happy employees are 13% more productive.”
Summary: An extensive study into happiness and productivity has found that workers are 13% more productive when happy. The research was conducted in the contact centres of British telecoms firm BT over a six-month period.
The authors state that while the link between happiness and productivity has often been discussed, their study provides the first causal field evidence for this relationship. ‘There has never been such strong evidence,’ said Professor De Neve.
The researchers found that happy workers do not work more hours than their discontented colleagues – they are simply more productive within their time at work.
By: Jan-Emmanuel De Neve (Saïd Business School, University of Oxford) George Ward (MIT), and Clement Bellet (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
Workplace Wellbeing and Firm Performance
Rob’s highlight: “The top companies rated on wellbeing significantly outperform the index in bull, bear and volatile markets”
Summary: The study analyzed data from Indeed, a major jobs website, to investigate the relationship between workplace wellbeing and firm performance. Self-reported job satisfaction, purpose, happiness, and stress were aggregated from over 1,600 listed companies in the United States. The study found that companies with high levels of wellbeing had greater profitability and subsequently outperformed standard benchmarks in the stock market, indicating a strong positive relationship between employee wellbeing and firm performance.
By Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Micah Kaats and George Ward, University of Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre
The Future of Workplace Wellbeing
Summary: Looking into the current state of Workplace Wellbeing, where are we heading, and what the Future holds.
By Rob Stephenson, CEO of FormScore