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Employee wellbeing, productivity and firm performance

Author

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  • Jan-Emmanuel De Neve
  • Christian Krekel
  • George Ward

Abstract

Does higher employee wellbeing lead to higher productivity, and, ultimately, to tangible benefits to the bottom line of businesses? We survey the evidence and study this question in a meta-analysis of 339 independent research studies, including the wellbeing of 1,882,131 employees and the performance of 82,248 business units, originating from 230 independent organisations across 49 industries in the Gallup client database. We find a significant, strong positive correlation between employees' satisfaction with their company and employee productivity and customer loyalty, and a strong negative correlation with staff turnover. Ultimately, higher wellbeing at work is positively correlated with more business-unit level profitability.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan-Emmanuel De Neve & Christian Krekel & George Ward, 2019. "Employee wellbeing, productivity and firm performance," CEP Discussion Papers dp1605, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1605
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Kampkötter, Patrick & Maier, Patrick, 2020. "The effect of appraisal interviews and target agreements on employee effort - New evidence using representative data," University of Tübingen Working Papers in Business and Economics 136, University of Tuebingen, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, School of Business and Economics.
    2. Fabio Berton & Stefano Dughera & Andrea Ricci, 2019. "Unions and Firms' Investments. A Unified View," LABORatorio R. Revelli Working Papers Series 168, LABORatorio R. Revelli, Centre for Employment Studies.
    3. Zlatev, Julian J. & Rogers, Todd, 2020. "Returnable reciprocity: Returnable gifts are more effective than unreturnable gifts at promoting virtuous behaviors," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 161(S), pages 74-84.
    4. Michiel Slag & Martijn J. Burger & Ruut Veenhoven, 2019. "Did the Easterlin Paradox apply in South Korea between 1980 and 2015? A case study," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 66(4), pages 325-351, December.
    5. Bellet, Clément S. & De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel & Ward, George, 2019. "Does Employee Happiness Have an Impact on Productivity?," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 1905, CEPREMAP.
    6. Petri, Böckerman & Pekka, Ilmakunnas, 2020. "Työhyvinvointi kannattaa. Työolot, työtyytyväisyys ja tuottavuus [Working conditions, job satisfaction and productivity]," MPRA Paper 103484, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Miller, Keaton, 2020. "Sharing the sacrifice, minimizing the pain: Optimal wage reductions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    8. Krekel, Christian & De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel & Fancourt, Daisy & Layard, Richard, 2021. "A local community course that raises wellbeing and pro-sociality: Evidence from a randomised controlled trial," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 322-336.
    9. Stefano Dughera, 2020. "Skills, preferences and rights: evolutionary complementarities in labor organization," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 843-866, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    employee satisfaction; engagement; employee productivity; firm performance; wellbeing; meta-analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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