Leveraging healthy workplaces as a strategic benefit

This article argues for the strategic importance of creating healthy workplaces as a non-monetary benefit.

Key points:

1. Historical context: The article traces the evolution of workplace design from scientific management to the quality of work life movement, highlighting the neglect of human motivation in traditional approaches.
2. Definition of healthy workplaces: A holistic approach that combines both physical and behavioral environments to support employee health, well-being, and productivity.
3. Seven primary human needs: The authors identify autonomy, belongingness, competence, positive emotions, psychological safety, fairness, and meaning as crucial for employee well-being.
4. Implementation strategies: The article provides detailed suggestions for creating healthy workplaces, including elements of the physical environment (e.g., indoor environmental quality, biophilia) and behavioral environment (e.g., leadership, organizational culture).
5. Benefits: Healthy workplaces are shown to improve employee well-being, productivity, engagement, and retention while reducing costs associated with absenteeism and healthcare.
6. Competitive advantage: The authors argue that offering a healthy workplace as a non-monetary benefit can differentiate organizations in the competitive talent marketplace.
7. Post-COVID-19 relevance: The article emphasizes the increased importance of healthy workplaces in the wake of the pandemic.

Creating healthy workplaces requires both servant leadership and workspace leadership, presenting an opportunity for organizations to become employers of choice by prioritizing employee well-being alongside business success.