Work influences our well-being through factors like high demands, lack of support, and limited control, but addressing these can help improve mental health.

Reminder to Disconnect - blogpost (Facebook-omslagfoto) (4)How does our work influence our well-being?

In recent years, we’ve become more conscious of the importance of well-being, especially at work. That’s a good thing: awareness and asking questions are the first steps toward improving well-being. Since we spend around 8 hours a day at work, what happens there clearly impacts our overall state. So, today, we look at the meaning of well-being, how it is influenced by our work, and what we, as employees and HR professionals, can do to improve it.

What is well-being?

First, let's talk about mental well-being, also known as mental health. It refers to a state in which individuals “realize their own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and are able to contribute to their community.” (WHO).

A term often used to refer to well-being is stress. We often think of stress as negative and the cause of problems related to well-being. However, the simple presence of stress does not cause poor well-being, and the lack of stress does not mean someone is flourishing; it’s more complicated than that.

To assess someone's well-being, we need to look at symptoms indicating the lack thereof: signs of depression (feelings of sadness, hopelessness, loss of interest, pain) or anxiety (persistent, intense worry, fear, perceived lack of control). If we look at what aspects of our work are associated with these symptoms, we can understand how to improve our well-being.

Work-related factors that influence your well-being

                    1. 1. High demands

You know that job ad that talks about a “fast-paced environment,” “focus on results,” “work hard, play hard” culture, and “challenge”? These are all fancy words for describing a demanding work environment: sustained physical or mental effort due to time pressure, work volume, or challenging goals. These job characteristics are correlated with more mental health problems and, thus, lower well-being.

So, how can we deal with high job demands? Setting deadlines according to actual needs, not “I want this yesterday.” Set achievable goals: even if someone consistently outperforms, this does not mean they necessarily need higher and higher goals. As for employees, learn your limits and state them in a respectful manner. @loewhaley on Instagram shares some useful tips on the phrase “how do you say…” different statements in a work environment.

  1. 2. Lack of social support

“A problem shared is a problem halved” – this saying, with equivalents in many languages, is true. Having others be there for us when we struggle at work helps our well-being. Getting assistance or advice from managers or colleagues at work is associated with higher psychological resilience, while its absence makes workers more likely to develop mental health problems. Support from co-workers has the strongest influence on us.

Since social support goes both ways, the best way to obtain it is to start offering it: show your colleagues you’re ready to give them a piece of advice or support them by simply listening to their worries. On the other hand, you could also ask for support yourself: openly stating that you need help is likely to work.

  1. 3. Lack of control

Humans need to feel they can determine their lives and control aspects of their work. If we don't feel in control—of our tasks or what we do, who we work with, when and how we contact clients, working hours, speed, and when we can have a break—our well-being is more likely to suffer.

It’s hard to gain control when others are unwilling to give it to you. However, as workers, we can reflect on our work and identify aspects we can control, even if they might not be obvious. We might not choose when we take our lunch break, but we can decide to take a walk to a sandwich shop or eat our packed lunch with colleagues. Also, asking for more control over specific aspects of our work can be more feasible for our managers than asking for more control in general.

A small but certain step towards better well-being

These factors impacting our well-being are largely controlled by the organization, and less up to us as individuals. However, they can be worked on individually, which is what we encourage you to start doing. In parallel, you could also bring more awareness to your organization and its leadership about the importance of well-being and how it can be promoted for all. 

Iulia Cioca

Iulia graduated in Work and Organisational Psychology from the University of Valencia, after an educational journey that started in Romania, and continued through Austria, Italy, and Canada. She has worked in different HR consulting and management roles. As an HR Scientist at Balance HR, Iulia is contributing to bringing Better Work for All by identifying HR practices that really work – based on evidence. In addition, she collaborates on projects in Talent Management, and she is a fellow of CEBMa and a PhD candidate.