What Does a Healthy Workplace Mean?

People spend about a third of their waking hours at work. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that an employee’s mental health can be affected by the working conditions that greet him or her on the job. If the working conditions leave employees feeling negative about their job, work performance will decrease and absences will increase

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), a psychologically healthy workplace should include these five components:

1. Work-Life Balance
2. Health and Safety
3. Employee Growth and Development
4. Employee Recognition
5. Employee Involvement

However, if the working conditions leave employees feeling negative about their job, work performance will decrease and absences will increase. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry backs up that claim. It examined trends in costs associated with MDD (Major Depressive Disorder or Clinical Depression). At the time of that study, the total economic burden of MDD was estimated to be $210.5 billion per year. Nearly half (48 to 50%) of these costs were attributed to the workplace, including absenteeism and presenteeism (reduced productivity while at work). Presenteeism associated with depression resulted in the equivalent of 32 incremental workdays lost (Greenberg et al., 2015).

For a workplace to support every employee’s well-being, it needs to offer a choice of spaces that reflect the type of work they need to do. Quiet, secluded space for when they need to work alone or as a team of two. Open spaces for group meetings and brainstorming. And lounge areas to relax and recharge

To learn more about workplace well being and the impact of design go to Kimball’s white page found here: https://www.kimball.com/getattachment/e86b5159-d865-4416-81ed-8da3f1266c2b/Connection-Between-Well-Being-and-Creativity_Nov2018_SM.pdf.aspk