Well-being of the workforce

Chapter 5 focuses on the well-being and well-becoming of the workforce. Happy people work more effectively and are less at risk of avoidable ill-health, disability, and premature death. Mitigating risk factors such as mental health problems and health-harming lifestyle choices can improve employee health and well-being, creating substantial savings to the UK National Health Service (NHS), employers, and government. In this chapter, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model is applied to the workplace to help us think about the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions that focus on employee health and well-being, reduce presenteeism and absenteeism, and improve rates of retention and productivity. This chapter is structured around dimensions of good work, such as: pay and benefits; contracts; work-life balance; job design and the nature of work; relationships at work; employee voice; and health and well-being. The chapter concludes with curiosity questions for the reader to consider.