Summary of the book " Wellbeing at Work" -By Jim Clifton and Jim Harter

Key Concepts in this book:

1. The secret to living a long and happy life is to enjoy your work.
2. Everyone benefits when employees like their work.
3. Having the best buddy at work improves productivity and well-being.
4. Without increasing employee pay, businesses can improve their financial well-being.
5. Your company's resiliency is only as strong as its people.
6. By assisting their local community, businesses can attract the best people and increase profitability.
7. Senior leaders can hasten the development of a positive culture, while ineffective managers will stifle it.

Who can benefit the most out of this book:

• Stressed out workers
• Managers learning how to lead in a pandemic
• Wellness enthusiasts looking for inspiratiion

What am I getting out of it? Create a positive work environment.

The COVID-19 epidemic has posed a threat to our health in a variety of ways, and people all around the world have been affected by mental health concerns as a result. How can you, as an employer, assist your employees in regaining and maintaining their health?

This is where the blinks come into play. They look at the most recent trends and studies in employee engagement and well-being to figure out how mental health, productivity, and organisational performance are linked. You'll discover how to help your people in all aspects of their lives, from physical health to financial security.

This is a beginner's guide to establishing a total-well-being culture in the workplace.

• You'll learn why it's beneficial for coworkers to befriend each other.
• How community projects may help your bottom line.
• And what employees actually need from their leaders amid a crisis in this book.

1. The secret to living a long and happy life is to enjoy your work.

What does a happy life entail? You might fantasise about a life devoid of work, abundant leisure time, and unfettered socialising with family and friends. However, despite your thoughts of early retirement, a life without employment may not make you happy.

Are you still not convinced? Consider a groundbreaking study conducted in the 1950s. Hundreds of British and American 95-year-olds were interviewed in the study to understand the secrets of their longevity.

Unsurprisingly, these elderly people claimed to have enjoyed very stress-free lives. They placed a high value on spending time with friends and family, and they all had a positive attitude on life. Rather than fretting about the future, they took each day as it came.

However, when it came to their professional lives, the findings were surprising. Rather than taking stress-relieving holidays, the interviewees had spent their lives.... at work.

The main point here is that having fun at work is the key to living a long and happy life.

Until they were 70 or 80 years old, these men and women had all worked an average of sixty hours every week. And, to their surprise, half of the males had never taken a vacation in their whole working lives!

This merely goes to prove that, contrary to popular belief, labour is not the enemy of happiness.

Work, in fact, has been discovered to protect our well-being, according to experts. But not just any work will suffice; it must be fulfilling work.

One thing that set this happy bunch of 95-year-olds apart from the rest of the world was how much they appreciated their jobs. Ninety-three per cent of men and 85 per cent of women said their employment gave them a great deal of satisfaction and was a lot of fun.

In contrast, only 36% of American workers stated they were engaged in their work over the last decade. This suggests that 64% of employees aren't having enough pleasure and happiness at work!

When we appreciate what we do, it has a big impact on our health. Not only may it improve our daily lives, but it may also have a significant impact on how long we live, according to this study.

2. Everyone benefits when employees like their work.

When we're unhappy with our jobs, as we learned in this summary, our well-being decreases. People who dislike their jobs are more likely to be bored and irritable on a daily basis. Employees who don't enjoy their jobs have greater levels of the stress hormone cortisol circulating in their blood, according to research.

Employers are also affected by job dissatisfaction. That's because disliking work is linked to a lower level of job satisfaction. The lower an employee's level of engagement, the worse their job performance.

So, how can companies assist their employees in getting greater enjoyment out of their jobs?

The main point here is that when employees enjoy their employment, everyone benefits.

Management is the greatest place to start. According to studies, having a poor boss can ruin your day. Bullying supervisors can lead to a variety of negative behaviours among their employees, including insomnia and alcohol misuse.

Managers, on the other hand, don't have to be abusive to have a detrimental impact on their employees' well-being. Employees who work under a manager who is uninvolved or uninterested can get emotionally exhausted, which leads to greater rates of employee disengagement. Unfortunately, the average employee considers their time with their boss to be the most difficult part of their day.

Employees who believe their supervisors care about their well-being consistently outperform those who believe their superiors are unconcerned about their well-being. With this in mind, businesses may help their employees advance in their careers by teaching their managers to act more like coaches than bosses.

Coaching managers set their employees' goals in advance and check in with them during weekly feedback sessions, rather than merely intervening when things go wrong. Coaching managers also make sure that the topic of well-being is discussed. They don't simply discuss career goals with their employees; they also discuss personal aspirations. They also discuss how employees can incorporate other aspects of well-being into their work lives, such as social activities and physical health.

3. Having the best buddy at work improves productivity and well-being.

Many bosses believe they should just be concerned with their workers' work lives. Even the best managers may be hesitant to get involved in their employees' personal life for fear of overstepping limits. But the truth is that our professional and personal lives are inextricably linked: we bring our work feelings home with us, and we bring our personal life into the office. Employers must assist employees well-being in all aspects of their lives in order to achieve this.

Let's begin by considering how leaders can improve their people's social well-being. How many meaningful friendships you have is a common indicator of social well-being. But what is the relationship between friendship and work? It turns out, quite a bit. In fact, three out of ten Americans claim they have a work best buddy.

The main takeaway is that having a best buddy at work improves one's well-being and productivity.

Having the best buddy at work isn't only about having a constant supply of positive energy around you. Employees who work alongside someone they consider a close friend enhance their performance and generate better results, according to research. And if a company doubles the percentage of its employees who have the best buddy at work, it may expect a reduction in workplace accidents, an increase in customer satisfaction ratings, and a 10% gain in profit margins.

So, how can businesses improve their workers' social relationships? It all starts with your onboarding programme for new employees. What's the quick version? Make sure to include socialising in your plans.

Make coffee breaks and lunches with new employees part of the onboarding plan when you have a new employee to orient. Make sure new hires know who they can count on in their team, as well as who they'll be collaborating with on future initiatives.

Managers should take the effort to find out who each team member gets along with and enjoys working with. Managers can use these discussions to pair those individuals on future projects, thereby building friendships.

You can gauge how successful your onboarding was by looking at how many of your new hires formed friendships within the first year of their employment.

4. Without increasing employee pay, businesses can improve their financial well-being.

Financial well-being is an important part of total happiness. Many of us may benefit from a boost in this area of our well-being. In the previous week, 75% of Americans said they were concerned about money. Low financial well-being is the leading cause of employees feeling concerned and worried on a daily basis.

Employees that are nervous and worried are unable to perform to their full ability. Knowing this, it's also in an organization's best interests to focus on improving the financial well-being of its employees.

The main point here is that businesses can improve their financial well-being-without increasing employee pay.

Financial well-being is defined as having a high level of financial security rather than a high level of income. After all, being wealthy does not imply financial stability. A person might make a lot of money and live a luxury lifestyle, which leads to credit card debt. On the other hand, someone on a modest income could obtain financial security while living more frugally.

People who believe they are financially secure believe they have enough money to conduct most of their daily activities. Their sense of security stems from being able to pay their bills on time each month – and from being comfortable enough to not be concerned about money.

It is, therefore, more crucial for businesses to focus on assisting people in achieving financial security rather than increasing their earnings. Importantly, studies show that a person's perception of having enough money to meet their goals and requirements has a three-fold impact on their happiness compared to their actual income.

How can businesses improve their employees' financial well-being in practice? It's simple: assist them in managing their finances so that they do not overspend and accumulate debt. Employers may, for example, give financial planning and savings tools, as well as bring in financial consultants to provide guidance.

5. Your company's resiliency is only as strong as its people.

Do you have enough energy to do all of your tasks? Probably not, if you're like the majority of Americans! Only 20% of Americans say they are active every day of the week, and only one in ten thinks they are in good physical shape. With alarming figures like these, it's past time for businesses to pay attention to their employees' physical well-being.

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the crippling nature of a major sickness. Americans with pre-existing diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease are much more prone to it. Employers must consider more than hand sanitiser and plexiglass partitions to preserve their most precious asset: their staff. If you're serious about keeping your employees safe, you should urge them to adopt healthy practices.

The takeaway here is that your company is only as strong as its people.

We all know that when we're well-rested, we learn faster and solve problems better. Getting enough sleep, on the other hand, is an important part of having a healthy lifestyle. In fact, research has shown that sleeping fewer than seven hours a night raises your risk of hypertension, stroke, and obesity. As a result, the fact that more than a third of Americans sleep less than seven hours every night is concerning.

Your staff most likely understand the significance of having a good night's sleep, but leaders may assist enforce this habit by informing their employees of the latest sleep studies. Managers in your company should be expected to talk about sleep on a regular basis.

The contagion effect, which explains how habits can spread, should also be understood by leadership teams. With this in mind, leaders should set a good example for their employees. Rather of staying late at the workplace, they should make it a point to leave at a decent hour – and return alert and ready to face the new day.

Managers should also talk about how important it is to schedule time for another good habit: physical activity. According to studies, exercising merely two days a week enhances happiness and reduces stress significantly.

Redesigning the workplace to encourage movement can also help organisations improve their employees' physical well-being. Even for people who exercise regularly, sitting for more than four hours has been linked to an increased risk of obesity, according to research.

6. By assisting their local community, businesses can attract the best people and increase profitability.

How satisfied are you with your current residence? Your level of communal well-being is determined by your response to this question. And it could mean the difference between having a good life and having a fantastic one. People who say they enjoy where they live are more likely to claim their lives are better than they could have expected.

The connection between vibrant communities and prosperous businesses is stronger than you would believe. Over a third of job seekers say that a potential employer's beneficial impact on the community is very significant. Employees nowadays expect more than just a regular income; they want to believe that their work matters and that their company has a positive impact on the world.

The essential lesson here is that by aiding their local community, businesses can recruit the best talent and increase revenues.

Corporate social responsibility, or CSR, programmes are the most prominent way for firms to give back. According to research, these programmes have substantial benefits for employers in addition to aiding communities. Businesses who have better CSR projects outperform their competition financially as well. To put it another way, doing good can help you make more money.

So, how can businesses include community well-being into their operations?

To begin, executives should pay attention to the community challenges that are most important to their workforce. The best method to do this is to simply ask staff what their passions are. Employees with young families, for example, may have a special interest in helping their community's children prosper.

Managers should seek for ways to harness their people's particular abilities in order to maximise the positive impact on a community. Your salespeople's skills might be best put to use fundraising for a local charity, and your marketing team's skills might shine when assisting with graphic design needs for a community outreach project. Make sure that your people's skill is put to good use, whatever the community challenge may be.

Doing good makes us feel good, and businesses can boost their employees' feelings of community well-being by encouraging them to tell their coworkers about their good deeds. Leaders should set aside time to publicise and make visible the various community projects that employees have been working on.

7. Senior leaders can hasten the development of a positive culture, while ineffective managers will stifle it.

When it comes to the well-being of your staff, your corporate culture may make or break your efforts. There are various things you can do to help your company develop a well-being culture, as you'll see in this flash. However, there is one major danger factor that puts this well-being culture at jeopardy.

Let's start with how you can build a well-being culture faster.

The regulations of your company are the first element to consider: Are different facets of well-being encouraged or discouraged by your company's policies? The next accelerator is communication, which includes your leadership team's messaging. These messaging must be congruent with a positive culture.

The takeaway here is that while senior leaders can expedite the development of a positive culture, incompetent managers will stymie it.

Incentives and recognition are two other accelerators. Do you have an incentive structure in place to encourage employees to participate in well-being activities, and do you recognise and reward those who do? Finally, you may use your employee development programmes as a well-being culture accelerator. As a result, while creating an employee's growth plan, make sure to include personal well-being goals.

Incompetent managers, on the other hand, are a major impediment to creating a well-being culture. Managers are the most critical component in an organization's effectiveness and total employee engagement. Employees look to their supervisors for direction when their well-being is threatened in times of stress and uncertainty, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Employees require four certain things from their supervisors, and whether or not they obtain them has a significant impact on their sense of well-being. Employees, first and foremost, turn to their leaders for hope. They want to know if there is a plan in place for the future to ensure that things improve. They also want their leaders to provide them with a sense of security; they need to know that they will be given the resources they need to do their tasks.

Employees must also be able to put their faith in their bosses. They must believe that they are receiving pertinent information at the appropriate moment, even if the information is bad. Finally, when their safety is in jeopardy, employees require compassion from their bosses. Employees worry less and feel more confidence in their jobs when they believe their bosses have their best interests at heart, according to research.

The most important lesson conveyed by this summary is that employees do not operate in a vacuum. When they arrive at the office, they bring their entire lives with them. When things are going well in their personal lives, they are more involved and productive; on the other side, a difficult personal life can affect their professional performance. That's why it's critical for leaders to foster a positive workplace culture: when your employees are happy, so will your business.

Use your employees' strengths to your advantage.

Only 33% of employees worldwide think their employment allow them to utilise their unique abilities on a daily basis. Employee well-being is harmed as a result of this: workers whose strengths aren't utilised are more prone to experience boredom and low energy. As a result, it's critical for managers to recognise and capitalise on each employee's distinct skill set. Strengths tend to stay the same for ten years or more, according to research, so enhancing the wonderful traits that your staff currently possess will help them prosper in the long run.

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