Employee Wellbeing Predicts Performance

Written by Mark Millard BSc C.Psychol

10-25% of the variance in work performance
is due to wellbeing related factors

	Employee Wellbeing Predicts Business Performance free login
	Employee wellbeing affects the performance of individuals, teams and organisations Improving employee wellbeing can create significant, sustainable business benefits Returns of 3:1 are common Employee wellbeing surveys can help show you how

Employee Wellbeing Predicts Performance

There is extensive evidence showing that people with higher levels of wellbeing perform better.

And it's not just because tired, anxious or unfit people perform poorly. There are gains to be made at the top too.

Employees with higher levels of wellbeing actually become more positive, focused, energetic, resilient and resourceful in the way they work.

These positive wellbeing effects have been found to produce significant performance gains on all sorts of measures

From productivity & profitability to resilience, engagement and effort, higher levels of wellbeing consistently predict higher levels of performance.

Wellbeing Predicts Performance

Objective Criteria & Outcomes

In teams & organisations, higher levels of wellbeing have been found to improve output, achievement, productivity and profitability

Assessments & Ratings

Employees with higher levels of wellbeing are more highly rated by managers, supervisors, colleagues and customers

Corporate Citizenship

Employees with high levels of wellbeing are also regarded as more helpful, constructive, engaged and popular by colleagues and customers

Direct & Indirect Costs

And when it comes to costs, employees with higher levels of wellbeing have predictably lower levels of illness, absence, withdrawal, disputes, conflicts and accidents

		10 to 25% of the variance in work performance is due to wellbeing related factors.
		Source: K State U 2009

In fact, it seems that work performance may be more strongly correlated with employee wellbeing than with job satisfaction.

Employee Wellbeing Programs - Business Aims

		Presenteeism can reduce individual productivity by up to 33% and is a much bigger cost than absenteeism.
		Source: ESRC 2006

There is much that organisations can do and are doing to enhance the health and wellbeing of their people.

Wellbeing initiatives come in all shapes and sizes, from the multi-million investments of major corporations like GlaxoSmithKline, Google and BP to the low or no cost approaches developed in-house by smaller businesses.

Large or small, these wellbeing programs aim to achieve similar things - reductions in costs and tangible business benefits:

	Wellbeing Program Business Aims

Reduce Costs	Of illness, sickness absence, presenteesim and impaired work performance and health care

Increase Returns	From health, resilience, engagement and effort

Build the Brand	As an employer, supplier, partner & investment

Corporate Citizenship	To meet or exceed expectations & requirements of CSR, Health & Safety and society

Employee Wellbeing Programs - Typical Returns 3:1

		Presenteeism presents a bigger opportunity than sickness absence. Even a modest 10% improvement in employee productivity is equivalent to an additional 23 working days annually compared with current absence levels of about 7 days annually.
		Source: AXA PPP

Employee wellbeing programs have been extensively evaluated and the evidence shows they can achieve their aims and generate healthy returns on investment.

Many company case studies show that returns of between 2:1 and 5:1 are fairly typical.

And a major research project conducted by PwC also suggests Benefit-Cost ratios of 3:1 are common, with every £1 spent on employee wellbeing generating about £3 of cost savings and performance gains.

In many organisations employee wellbeing may be the biggest untapped source of performance and competitive advantage.

Employee Wellbeing: Getting Started

It is better to start doing anything, however small, than doing nothing.

Our wellbeing surveys and suggestions help businesses make informed, cost effective decisons.

To see how we could help your organisation, or if you would like a free trial or some promotional materials for your wellbeing event please contact us