Sustaining employee well-being in the 21st Century

幸福感是个人、组织和社会越来越感兴趣的话题。从概念上讲，从最广泛的层面来看，它将“感觉良好”与“有效运作”结合在一起。这引发了人们对各个方面的关注，从宏观层面(例如，经合组织对GDP等幸福经济指标的关注，以及现任英国政府创建的“国民幸福指数”)，到对个人身体、心理、精神和情感健康的关注。这一系列研讨会将关注幸福感的一个关键方面，即工作场所的幸福感，通常被称为员工幸福感。过多的研究证据表明，糟糕的工作幸福感可能会对个人的身心健康造成不利影响，并导致负面的组织结果，如增加病假和降低员工的生产率。特别是，压力和心理健康问题现在被认为是长期缺勤的主要原因。因此，这一系列研讨会将主要关注心理健康，旨在增加对如何管理和维持员工心理健康和福祉的洞察和理解。人们对员工福祉的兴趣增加是在工作生活和经历发生变化的背景下进行的。全球化、工作密集化和工作不安全感加剧，都预示着21世纪的工作。此外，我们正在改变我们的工作方式(即更多地使用移动技术，减少面对面的互动)，我们在哪里工作(在家或移动工作的增加，工人的地理流动性增加)，我们工作的时间(例如，灵活的工作规则和工作生活平衡问题)以及谁工作。例如，现在英国有更多的女性工人、更多的国际工人和更多的老年工人。此外，经济衰退也加剧了管理工作福利的挑战，因为预计雇主、人力资源管理人员和职业保健专业人员将以更少的时间和更少的资源提供更多的服务。鉴于这一主题的重要性，举办一系列研讨会，强调维持员工福祉的重要性是合理和及时的。该系列旨在更好地理解幸福感的本质，如何衡量幸福感，如何培养幸福感。通过这样做，将提高人们对如何以全面和可持续的方式管理员工福祉的认识。该系列将利用国际、行业和人生阶段的差异来考虑如何在员工需求与组织绩效之间取得平衡。它也将汇集来自不同背景的非学术利益相关者，包括早期职业生涯和来自不同学科的成熟学术利益相关者，从而提供机会弥合学术研究和组织实践之间的差距，并促进研究能力建设。为期一天的八个研讨会将分别侧重于员工福祉可持续发展的不同但相互关联的方面。这些主题将包括：重新考虑福祉的性质；审查当前在维持员工福祉方面的机会和挑战；探索维持工作场所福祉的机制；学习国际方法；重新审视衡量福祉的方式以及监测和评价工作场所干预措施的方式；思考与福祉有关的挑战延伸到更长的工作年限。最后一次研讨会将以为期一天的小型会议的形式举行，目的是更正式地利用前几次研讨会之间的相互关系，邀请代表们反思前几次研讨会的讨论，并共同努力建立新的伙伴关系，以推动员工福祉议程。

Well-being is a topic of increasing interest to individuals, organisations and societies. Conceptually at its broadest level it combines 'feeling good' with 'effective functioning'. This has prompted attention to a variety of facets, from macro level (e.g. OECD's focus on economic indicators of well-being such as GDP and the current UK Government's creation of a 'national well-being index') to concerns over individual physical, mental, spiritual and emotional well-being. This seminar series will focus on a key aspect of well-being, that of well-being in the workplace, often termed employee well-being. A plethora of research evidence indicates that poor well-being at work can lead to adverse physical and mental health consequences for individuals and negative organisational outcomes such as increased sickness absence and reduced productivity of workers. In particular, stress and mental health issues are now cited as the primary cause of long-term absence from work. As such, this seminar series will focus predominantly on psychological well-being, aiming to add insight and understanding into the ways employee mental health and well-being can be managed and sustained.The increase in interest in employee well-being sits within the context of changes to working lives and experiences. Globalisation, work intensification and increased job insecurity are all indicative of 21st century work. Furthermore, we are changing how we work (i.e. the increased use of mobile technologies and less face to face interaction), where we work (an increase in home or mobile working and an increase in the geographical mobility of workers), when we work (e.g. flexible working regulations and work life balance issues) and who works. For example, there are now more female workers, more international workers and more older workers in the UK. In addition, the economic downturn has also contributed to the challenges in managing well-being at work, as employers, HR managers and occupational health professionals are being expected to deliver more, in less time but with fewer resources. Given the significance of the topic, a seminar series which highlights the importance of sustaining employee well-being is justified and timely. The series aims to provide greater understanding of the nature of well-being, how well-being can be measured and how it can be fostered. In doing so, awareness will be raised of ways in which employee well-being can be managed in a holistic and sustainable way. The series will draw upon international, sector and life stage differences to consider ways in which the needs of employees can be balanced with organisational performance. It will also bring together non-academic stakeholders from diverse backgrounds with both early career and established academic stakeholders from a range of disciplines, thereby offering opportunities to bridge the gap between academic research and organisational practice, as well as facilitating research capacity building.Eight of the one-day seminars will each focus on distinct, but inter-related, aspects of sustainability of employee well-being. The themes will encompass: reconsidering the nature of well-being; reviewing current opportunities and challenges in sustaining employee well-being; exploring mechanisms for sustaining well-being in the workplace; learning from international approaches; revisiting ways in which well-being is measured and ways in which workplace interventions are monitored and evaluated; and thinking about challenges associated with well-being extending across a longer working life. The final seminar will take the form of a one day mini conference, the purpose of which will be to utilise more formally the inter-relations between the previous seminar sessions by inviting delegates to reflect on the discussions from the previous seminars and to work together to forge new partnerships to take the employee well-being agenda forward.