What predicts well-being at work?

“Life’s not just being alive, but being well”, (Martial, a Spanish born, Latin epigrammist from the 1st Century).

Through the use of our quality of working life survey, we have been able to gather data related to a wide range of work life factors and outcomes, and we’re looking at how they interact to predict and explain well-being at work.

We spend a lot of our waking hours at work, and what we do that plays a large part in our identity and self-image. So well-being outcomes like happiness, depression, stress, and enjoyment at work really do matter.  Certainly, if we are unhappy at work it can sour how we feel about everything else.

The results from our surveys are helping us to begin to find answers to the following questions:

  • What factors most strongly predict well-being at work?
  • To what extent are these factors organisation-specific?
  • How does working time (for example, working long hours) influence well-being? 
  • How important is good management to well-being? 
  • What is the impact of stress at work on general well-being? 
  • Who are the happiest and unhappiest at work, and why? 
  • How does a managers' well-being influence the well-being of those they manage? 
  • How does absence from work influence well-being?
  • How do quality of working life factors influence sleep?

And not forgetting of course:

  • What really annoys people at work?  We have loads of data on that question!

The data we've gathered recently sheds some light on these important questions.  We’ll be writing up this research soon, but in the meantime, if you're interested in finding out more please get in touch.