Well-being: Productivity and Happiness at Work

Ivan Robertson & Cary Cooper
Palgrave Macmillan
£26.00

PM Rating: 5/5

Although wellbeing is of current political interest both in France and in the UK, it was a Greek physician who originally declared that employment is essential to human happiness. Wellbeing is not just good for businesses for all sorts of reasons, including lower sickness rates and higher retention rates, but individuals work better, live longer and have happier lives.

If this sounds attractive, then Professors Robertson and Cooper have produced sound advice and practical guidance on how to improve and sustain wellbeing and gain benefit from so doing.

The first half of the book covers why wellbeing matters, what it is, what influences it and getting the benefits, while the second half contains case studies, mainly from health – both private and public sectors – and then one each from a university and a fire brigade.

The subject is evidence-based, well researched and presented clearly. It is worth reading for items like the Thinking Errors and a checklist of those should be on everyone’s phone or iPad. Learning that American millionaires, Inuits of North Greenland and the Masai in Kenya shared average happiness scores of 5.8 out of a potential, total, happiness score of 7 was intriguing. I particularly liked the use of Keeping Pressure Positive in one of the case studies.

There is so much to be gained from this win-win outcome for both organisations and individuals of improved well-being that managers cannot afford to ignore the subject. This book is strongly recommended.