About the Book
Reach new levels of organizational productivity and achievement by redefining the phrase “workplace health”
In Make Work Healthy, a team of distinguished organizational transformation professionals delivers an insightful how-to manual for improving organizational performance with a new approach to workforce management. The book offers organizations, leaders, and managers with the knowledge, data, frameworks, and methodologies they need to radically transform how they approach day-to-day operations into a sustainable and resilient business success model.
The authors focus on workplace health—in a broad sense—as a way of focusing organizational attention on culture, building work capacity, productivity, and sustainability. They explain the tangible business value that comes from focusing on wellbeing as well as the symbiotic relationship between organizational health and employee health. Make Work Healthy includes:
Strategies for moving beyond typical “wellness” initiatives such as just addressing illness and absence reduction to a more holistic understanding of “healthy work”
Ways to locate, attract, recruit, and retain talent over the long-term by aligning organizational goals with employee health
Tactics to help managers of dispersed, hybrid, and remote teams manage feelings of pressure and isolation
An indispensable, effective, and holistic new take on organizational and employee health, Make Work Healthy will earn a place in the hands of managers, executives, board members, and other business and human resources leaders who seek impressive gains in company productivity and fulfilment.
Table of Contents:
Introduction: A Critical Moment xi
Part I
1 The Ultimate Driver of Organizational Performance 3
Defining “Healthy Workplace” 4
Knowing versus Doing 5
Modeling the Healthy Way 7
Demonstrating Care as Leaders 9
Why Talk about Health Now? 11
2 Why Work Isn’t Working 15
Pandemic Overload and Other Extraordinary Demands 15
The Horrible Micromanaging Boss 16
No Room for Difference 17
Ultimate Betrayals 18
The Stress of the Daily Grind 19
Social Pollution 21
3 How Work Can Be the Solution 23
Thinking About Work in Terms of Energy 24
One of Our Biggest Health Decisions 24
Finding a Role That Helps You Flourish 25
Take the Expert Assessment Quiz 30
Wilmar Schaufeli 32
4 The Evolution of Workforce Health 35
The Concept of “a Good and Virtuous Life” in Ancient Times 36
Well-being Beginnings in Spain and Italy 36
Developments in Great Britain during the Industrial Revolution 37
Improvements in the Early Part of the Twentieth Century 40
Changes in the United States after the World Wars 40
Studies and Research from Governments and Universities 41
Challenges in the Twenty-first Century 43
5 Salutogenesis: A New Model for Workplace Health 47
A Pathogenic Orientation versus a Salutogenic Orientation 47
The Ease to Dis-ease Continuum 49
Salutogenesis in an Organizational Context 51
Georg Bauer, MD, DrPH 55
Part II
6 Accelerating to Success: Where Some Get It Right and Others Get It Wrong 61
Knowing What Successful Organizations Do 61
Avoiding Common Mistakes 65
Ron Goetzel 70
7 The Symbiotic Relationship of Workforce and Workplace Health 73
Individual Health Factors 74
Organizational Health Factors 77
Putting It All Together 80
8 The Development Scale: Where Is Your Organization? 83
Leadership 84
Ownership 86
Investment 86
Approach 87
Interventions 88
Shows Up As: How Managers Think About Organizational Health 89
Employer Perception of Employees 90
Peter Cheese 92
9 A New Lens: Individual and Organizational Measures 95
Unhealthy to Healthy: An Overview of the Journey 96
The Crucial Steps to Becoming a Healthy Workplace 98
Dave Ulrich 112
Jeffrey Pfeffer 115
10 From Unhealthy to Healthy: A Plan for Success 119
Characteristics of Effective Change 119
Core Considerations for a Healthy Plan 123
Mapping the Terrain 130
The Journey Continues 133
Paul Litchfield 134
Susie Ellis 137
11 Healthy Interventions 139
Moving from “Normal” to an Equity Lens 139
Healthy Interventions Based on the Data 147
12 Stories of Healthy Success 151
Centiro, Sweden, Organizational Design 153
Thames Water Company, United Kingdom, Workforce Analytics 156
Deloitte, United States, Healthy Sponsorship 159
Aviva, United Kingdom, Net Positive Work 162
IIH Nordic, Denmark, Four-day Workweek 165
Takeda, Switzerland, Responding to Presenting Needs 167
Cohesive, the Netherlands, Healthy Manager Conversations 170
P&G, Latin America, Incentivizing Healthy Behaviors 173
SAP, Ireland, Neurodiversity 176
RSPCA, United Kingdom, Trauma Support 178
Concentrix, Global, Flexible Working 180
Futurice, Finland, Healthy Clients 183
SAS Institute, United States, Recruit Well-being 185
Amêndoas do Brasil, Brazil, A Culture of Well-being 188
Leek United Building Society, United Kingdom, Healthy Strategy 191
ISS, Denmark, Diversity at Its Core 194
PwC, Building a Very Personalized Learning Future 197
Kingston Council, United Kingdom, Leading the Way 200
Danske Bank, United Kingdom, Podcasting Health 203
Dubai Police, United Arab Emirates, Physical Readiness 205
Version 1, Europe, a Healthy Strategy 207
13 A Deep Dive into the Science of Well-being 213
Purpose 214
Mental Resilience 216
Connection 221
Physical Health 226
The Four Pillars and 21 Elements 228
Dr. Els van der Helm 229
Arnold Bakker 232
International Well Building Institute 235
14 A Healthy Conclusion 239
A Different Approach 240
The Pandemic: Heroes Take a Bow and Workers Deliver Again 241
A Need for a Major Shift 243
Board Members’ Roles and Responsibilities 245
A Legacy in the Making 246
Jim Loehr 248
Notes 251
Appendix: Assessment and Impact 257
Acknowledgments 269
About the Author 271
Index 273
About the Author :
JOHN S. RYAN is the Chief Executive Officer at Healthy Place to Work. He formerly led Great Place to Work Ireland and was a broadcast journalist. He is a regular international speaker and media contributor in Wellbeing, Trust, and Organizational Performance.
MICHAEL J. BURCHELL, EdD, is an independent consultant and executive coach. He is an expert in organizational change, well-being, team effectiveness, and DEI. He is the co-author of No Excuses: How You Can Turn Any Workplace Into a Great One and The Great Workplace: How to Build It, How to Keep It, and Why It Matters.
