There is a large amount of evidence from the academic research to support the idea that if organisations nurture psychological well-being (PWB) in their workforce it will bring tangible bottom-line benefits.
At the Individual Level
Research has established that PWB is directly correlated with performance (Wright and Cropanzano, 2004) – so people with higher levels of PWB will perform better than those with lower PWB.
In addition, researchers have shown that people with lower levels of PWB are more likely to see neutral or ambiguous events as threatening (Seidlitz and Diener,1993; Seidlitz et al., 1997) this kind if reaction can cause problems in an organisational setting where change is taking place. Further evidence shows that negative feedback is seen as more hurtful by people with lower PWB and positive feedback produces fewer benefits for them. People with lower PWB also use more contentious interpersonal tactics (e.g. Larsen and Ketelar, 1991; Derryberry and Read, 1994).
In terms of productivity, as well as the above research Donald et al., (2005) found that almost 25% of the variance in reported levels of productivity was predicted by PWB.
At the Organisational Level
A study by Harter, Schmidt and Hayes (2002) has shown that well-being plays a central role in delivering most of the important outcomes that are associated with successful organisations. Data from nearly 8,000 separate business units in 36 companies were analysed and revealed that engagement/well-being was linked to business unit performance - predicting customer satisfaction, productivity, profitability, employee turnover and sickness absence levels. Using a sample of business units this large offers conclusive evidence that if you provide a sense of well-being and engagement to staff, along with a sense of purpose, the positive outcomes will follow.
Key findings from the field of Positive Psychology have informed the Robertson Cooper approach (e.g. Fredrickson, 1998; Fredrickson and Joiner, 2002; Seligman et al., 2005). The development of PWB is dependent on having an overall “sense of purpose” that gives direction and meaning to people’s actions. This is one of the reasons that Robertson Cooper’s approach focuses on the importance of leadership, as organisational leaders have the primary responsibility for providing this sense of purpose and direction for the workforce. The tools and techniques developed and offered by Robertson Cooper draw on this research to provide simple and effective ways of improving PWB and therefore performance.