This book examines the complex interplay between employees and management, to determine how a psychologically healthy workplace is constructed and maintained.

The contributions in Creating Healthy Workplaces include a number of interventions that relate the efforts undertaken by researchers and organizations together, to reduce stress and improve the mental and physical health of employees through positive change initiatives. Those working in the field of occupational stress have received criticism that too much emphasis has been placed on negative issues and that positive initiatives have been largely ignored. With the growing influence of the positive movement, this book explores the implications of using a positive approach as opposed to a stress management one and compares the types of interventions they each require. From a positive perspective, there is a need to understand the characteristics of healthy, thriving, and flourishing people and organizations. This book explores the implications of using a positive approach as opposed to a stress management one. Some of the interventions described in Creating Healthy Workplaces target individuals and their attitudes and behaviours, others target workplace relationships, work units and the wider organization. Outcomes such as reduced occurrences of smoking, obesity, depression, elevated blood pressure, accidents and workplace injuries, presenteeism, absence and staff turnover are reported. The factors associated with the success of these interventions are identified and advice is given as to how interested individuals and organizations might proceed to develop worksite interventions on their own.

Learn how to improve the well-being of your employees that will ultimately boost your company’s bottom line. Studies show that unhealthy work habits, like staring at computer screens and rushing through fast-food lunches, are taking a toll in the form of increased absenteeism, lost productivity, and higher insurance costs. But should companies intervene with these individual problems? And if so, how? The Healthy Workplace says yes! Companies that learn how to incorporate healthy habits and practices into the workday for their employees will see such an impressive ROI that they’ll kick themselves for not starting these practices sooner. Packed with real-life examples and the latest research, this all-important resource reveals how to: Create a healthier, more energizing environment Reduce stress to enhance concentration Inspire movement at work Support better sleep Heighten productivity without adding hours to the workday Filled with tips for immediate improvement and guidelines for building a long-term plan, The Healthy Workplace proves that a company cannot afford to miss out on the ROI of investing in their employees’ well-being.

Work, so fundamental to well-being, has its darker and more costly side. Work can adversely affect our health, well beyond the usual counts of injuries that we think of as 'occupational health'. The ways in which work is organized - its pace and intensity, degree of control over the work process, sense of justice, and employment security, among other things - can be as toxic to the health of workers as the chemicals in the air. These work characteristics can be detrimental not only to mental well-being but to physical health. Scientists refer to these features of work as 'hazards' of the 'psychosocial' work environment. One key pathway from the work environment to illness is through the mechanism of stress; thus we speak of 'stressors' in the work environment, or 'work stress'. This is in contrast to the popular psychological understandings of 'stress', which locate many of the problems with the individual rather than the environment. In this book we advance a social environmental understanding of the workplace and health. The book addresses this topic in three parts: the important changes taking place in the world of work in the context of the global economy (Part I); scientific findings on the effects of particular forms of work organization and work stressors on employees' health, 'unhealthy work' as a major public health problem, and estimates of costs to employers and society (Part II); and, case studies and various approaches to improve working conditions, prevent disease, and improve health (Part III).

The current global economic environment is defined by unprecedented uncertainty, a premium placed on knowledge, and the threat of future talent scarcity. Key to an organization's success under these conditions is its ability to strengthen the links between people and performance. Creating Healthy Organizations provides executives, managers, human resource professionals, and employees an action-oriented approach to forging these connections by creating and sustaining vibrant and productive workplaces. A healthy organization operates in ways that benefits all stakeholders, including employees, customers, shareholders, and communities. Using a wide range of examples from a variety of internationally based industries, Graham Lowe integrates leading practices with research on workplace health and wellness, quality work environments, employee engagement, organizational performance, and corporate social responsibility to make a compelling business case for creating healthy, resilient, and sustainable organizations. Creating Healthy Organizations offers readers, whether CEOs or front-line workers, an innovative framework and practical tools for planning, implementing, and measuring healthy change in their workplaces.

Workplaces can often be sources of stress, interfering with both job satisfaction and performance. This book explores ways to combat the factors contributing to an unhealthy workplace by building on the advances in positive psychology and organizational scholarship over the last 15 years.