This document summarizes insights from the largest study on measuring employee well-being at scale. The study analyzed data from over 17 million employee reviews to measure various aspects of well-being, including happiness, stress, purpose, and satisfaction. It found significant variations in well-being both within and between organizations and industries. The study also examined what drives well-being by analyzing factors like achievement, appreciation, belonging, compensation, and management. Finally, the document discusses the business case for prioritizing well-being, finding relationships between higher well-being and better financial, stock market, and post-COVID performance.

1. Insights from
measuring employee
well-being at scale
OECD WISE Centre & Persol Holdings Virtual Workshop
22 November 2023
Prof. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve
University of Oxford

2. How to measure workplace wellbeing?
At scale?

3. De Neve & Ward 2023
• How we feel at work and about
our work.
• Important to distinguish these
outcome measures from their
drivers: i.e. how we feel vs. why
we feel the way we do at work
Measuring workplace
wellbeing
Happiness
“I feel happy at
work, most of the time”
Positive affect Eudaimonic happiness
Negative affect Evaluative wellbeing
Purpose
Stress
“I feel stressed at work,
most of the time”
“My work has a clear
sense of purpose”
Satisfaction
“I feel completely
satisfied with my work”

4. Measuring workplace
wellbeing at scale
• In collaboration with Indeed.
• Crowdsourced survey with over
17 million reviews submitted, and
counting.
• World’s largest study of
workplace wellbeing.

5. Much variation in wellbeing between organisations

6. Much variation in wellbeing within industries

7. There is also much variation in wellbeing within organisations
WALMART AMAZON
MCDONALD’S UPS
HAPPINESS

8. What are the drivers of workplace
wellbeing?

9. Achievement
How accomplished people
feel at work
Appreciation
How valued people feel
by their coworkers
Belonging
How accepted people
feel at work
Compensation
How fair people feel
they are paid
Energy
How energized people feel
by their work
Flexibility
How accommodating people
find their work schedule
Inclusion
How respectful people find
their work environment
Learning
How encouraged people
feel to learn new skills
Management
How supportive people
find their manager
Support
How encouraged people
feel at work
Trust
How much people feel they
can trust their coworkers
Measuring drivers that help explain why people feel
the way they do at work.

10. What actually drives wellbeing
(revealed importance)
Compensation
Flexibility
Inclusion
Achievement
Appreciation
Belonging
Support
Trust
Learning
Management
What we think drives wellbeing
(stated importance)
Belonging
Trust
Achievement
Compensation
Inclusion
Management
Support
Flexibility
Appreciation
Learning
Employee wellbeing driver analyses
Note: Stated importance analysis via a Max Diff analysis. Revealed importance analysis via a Shapley Regression.
Source: Indeed Work Happiness Report, based on a commissioned survey (n=5,026 US adults) conducted by Forrester Consulting, 2022.

11. Is there a general business
case for wellbeing?
• Financial and stock market performance

12. Work wellbeing score and company financial performance
Source: De Neve, Kaats, & Ward (2023), Indeed.com and Compustat
Note: Binned scatter plots for 1,636 US firms listed on NYSE/NASDAQ. Controlling for firm size,
number of reviews, lagged assets, capital intensity, year and industry fixed effects.

13. Pre-Covid wellbeing and post-Covid performance
Source: De Neve, Kaats, & Ward (2023), Indeed.com and Compustat
Note: Binned scatter plots for 1,636 US firms listed on NYSE/NASDAQ. Controlling for firm size,
number of reviews, lagged assets, capital intensity, year and industry fixed effects.

14. Work wellbeing score and stock market performance
JAN’21 JUL’21 JAN’22 JUL’22 JAN’23
Value
of
$1,000
Initial
Investment
Nasdaq-100
S&P 500
Dow Jones
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
Source: De Neve, Kaats, & Ward (2023). Indeed.com and Yahoo Finance

15. JAN’21 JUL’21 JAN’22 JUL’22 JAN’23
Value
of
$1,000
Initial
Investment
Nasdaq-100
S&P 500
Dow Jones
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
Top 100 by Work
Wellbeing Score
Top 100 Wellbeing
Work wellbeing score and stock market performance
Source: De Neve, Kaats, & Ward (2023). Indeed.com and Yahoo Finance

16. Of leaders report prioritizing
employee wellbeing can
give their organization a
competitive advantage.
Yet only 35% have made it
a strategic priority.
HBR “Cultivating workforce wellbeing to drive business value” Research Conducted in Q1 2020

17. Thank you

18. S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment

19. Updated Question

20. Appendix:
Building a Menu of Evidence-based
Interventions
Example: Trust

21. Trust fosters a safe work environment where employees feel
supported and valued. Employees who trust their organization,
managers, and coworkers are more likely to express their ideas,
feel encouraged to innovate and collaborate, exhibit higher levels
of organizational commitment and job satisfaction, and manage
stress more effectively.
Work Wellbeing Strategies
Trust
21

22. Studies show that employees of companies that practise Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR), such as donating to charities or investing in social
programs, exhibit higher levels of organizational trust and job satisfaction,
which are known drivers of retention.1,2
CSR activities can demonstrate to employees that their organization cares
about more than just profits, which can improve employee–management
relations and employee performance. The potential impact of CSR on
employees' organizational trust and wellbeing will depend on the type of CSR
initiative pursued in relation to the company’s core business activities,3 and
the extent to which employees have a voice in CSR decision-making.4,5
22
Practise Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR)
Trust
Sources:
1. Dhanesh (2014)
2. Lee et al. (2013)
3. Lee et al. (2012)
4. Breeze and Wiepking (2020)
5. Hejjas et al. (2019)

23. 23
Create a climate of
psychological safety
Employees who feel a high sense of psychological safety (PS) in their
work environment are more likely to share ideas, ask questions,
and voice concerns.1 Studies show that trust is a critical component of PS
and, in turn, a strong catalyst for work engagement and mental wellbeing.2
PS is especially important for driving wellbeing and productivity
among teams:
○ PS helps remote work teams navigate the challenges associated with dispersion
more efficiently.3
○ PS helps diverse teams find common ground, build inclusion, and spark
engagement, especially for minority workers.4
Sources:
1. Edmondston (2019)
2. May et al. (2004)
3. Gibson and Gibbs (2006)
4. Bradley et al. (2014)
Trust

24. 24
Establish multiple
communication channels
Effective communication is the cornerstone of trust. Organizations should
aim to establish multiple open lines of communication across and within
teams to ensure that employees will receive timely and relevant information
and, in return, can raise their own questions or concerns.
Regular, transparent, and forthcoming communication is an effective way for
managers to establish trust, especially among employees who perceive there
to be high power imbalance and for those who work remotely.1, 2
Furthermore, reliable information-sharing strongly influences employees’
perception of workplace fairness. Failure to share critical information can
result in negative attitudes, low job satisfaction, and employee turnover.3,4
Sources:
1. Young and Daniel (2003)
2. Willemyns et al. (2003)
3. Albrecht and Travaglione (2003)
4. Herr et al. (2020)
Trust

25. 25
Facilitate collaboration
to build coworker trust
Employees often build informal social groups based on shared background
characteristics such as race, ethnicity, or native language. Depending on
the workplace culture, this can create conflict across groups and slow down
productivity, especially for low-skilled workers and/or first-generation
immigrants.1 Thus, facilitating collaboration across teams can improve
coworker communication, trust, and business performance.
Offering vocational training courses, team-building workshops, regular
meetings, and social events are effective interventions for facilitating a more
collaborative and inclusive work environment where employees feel a sense
of belonging.1 Formalizing these groups into Employee Resource Groups with
the mission of building inclusivity can improve mental health and wellbeing.2
(See section on Inclusion & Belonging for more details)
Sources:
1. Smith et al. (2013)
2. Medium.com
Trust

26. References (1/2)
Albrecht, Simon, & Travaglione, Anthony. (2003). Trust in public-sector senior management.
International Journal of Human Resource Management, 14(1), 76-92.
Blasi, Joseph, Freeman, Richard, & Kruse, Douglas. (2016). Do Broad-based Employee
Ownership, Profit Sharing and Stock Options Help the Best Firms Do Even Better? British
Journal of Industrial Relations, 54(1), 55-82.
Bradley, B.H., Postlethwaite, B.E., Hamdani, M.R., & Brown, K.G. (2012). Reaping the Benefits of
Task Conflict in Teams: The Critical Role of Team Psychological Safety Climate. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 97(1), 151-158.
Breeze, B, & Wiepking, Pamala. (2020). Different drivers: Exploring employee involvement in
corporate philanthropy. Journal of Business Ethics, 165(3), 453-467.
Dhanesh, Ganga S. (2014). CSR as Organization–Employee Relationship Management
Strategy. Management Communication Quarterly, 28(1), 130-149.
Edmondson, Amy C. (2018). The Fearless Organization. Newark: Wiley.
Eklof, Mats, & Ahlborg Jr, Gunnar. (2016). Improving communication among healthcare
workers: A controlled study. The Journal Of Workplace Learning, 28(2), Pp81-96.
Gibson, Cristina B., & Gibbs, Jennifer L. (2006). Unpacking the Concept of Virtuality: The
Effects of Geographic Dispersion, Electronic Dependence, Dynamic Structure, and National
Diversity on Team Innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 51(3), 451-495.
Hejjas, Kelsy, Miller, Graham, & Scarles, Caroline. (2019). "It's Like Hating Puppies!" Employee
Disengagement and Corporate Social Responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 157(2), 319-
337.
Herr, Raphael M., Almer, Christian, Bosle, Catherin, & Fischer, Joachim E. (2020). Associations
of Changes in Organizational Justice with Job Attitudes and Health—Findings from a
Prospective Study Using a Matching-Based Difference-in-Difference Approach. International
Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 27(1), 119-135.
Lee, Yong-Ki, Kim, Young “Sally”, Lee, Kyung Hee, & Li, Dong-xin. (2012). The impact of CSR on
relationship quality and relationship outcomes: A perspective of service employees.
International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(3), 745-756.
Lee, Choong-Ki, Song, Hak-Jun, Lee, Hye-Mi, Lee, Seoki, & Bernhard, Bo Jason. (2013). The
impact of CSR on casino employees’ organizational trust, job satisfaction, and customer
orientation: An empirical examination of responsible gambling strategies. International Journal
of Hospitality Management, 33, 406-415.
26
Trust

27. References (2/2)
May, Douglas R., Gilson, Richard L., & Harter, Lynn M. (2004). The psychological conditions of
meaningfulness, safety and availability and the engagement of the human spirit at work.
Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77(1), 11-37.
Olfat, Mohammad, Ahmadi, Sadra, Shokouhyar, Sajjad, & Bazeli, Sepideh. (2022). Linking
organizational members' social-related use of enterprise social media (ESM) to their fashion
behaviors: The social learning and stimulus-organism-response theories. Corporate
Communications, 27(1), 91-109.
Smith, Louise Hardman, Hviid, Kirsten, Frydendall, Karen Bo, & Flyvholm, Mari-Ann. (2013).
Improving the psychosocial work environment at multi-ethnic workplaces: A multi-component
intervention strategy in the cleaning industry. International Journal of Environmental Research
and Public Health, 10(10), 4996-5010.
Snyder, Jason, & Cistulli, Mark D. (2020). Social media efficacy and workplace relationships.
Corporate Communications, 25(3), 463-476.
Willemyns, Michael, Gallois, Cynthia, & Callan, Victor. (2003). Trust me, I'm your boss: Trust
and power in supervisor-supervisee communication. International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 14(1), 117-127.
Young, Louise, & Daniel, Kerry. (2003). Affectual trust in the workplace. International Journal of
Human Resource Management, 14(1), 139-155.
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Trust