Health, wellbeing and productivity in the workplace

A Britain's Healthiest Company summary report

Marco Hafner, Christian Van Stolk, Catherine L. Saunders, Joachim Krapels, Ben Baruch

ResearchPublished May 22, 2015

This report aims to draw upon data collected during the 2014 Britain's Healthiest Company (BHC) competition in order to understand what drives productivity at work in the participating organisations and, in particular, to examine the relation between the health and wellbeing of staff and their resultant productivity. To understand this relationship, we look at the links between lost productivity in terms of presenteeism (being in suboptimal health at work) and absenteeism in association with a range of factors. These include:

  • Job and work environment (e.g. stress and health-promotion interventions in the workplace)
  • Personal (e.g. lifestyle risk-factors related to obesity, smoking and alcohol consumption)
  • Health and physical risks (chronic conditions and mental health).

Using regression modelling techniques we establish associations between these factors and productivity loss in the workplace and compare our results to the wider literature.

The report is aimed at policymakers and practitioners and aims to contribute to the wider debate on the link between health, wellbeing and productivity at work.

Topics

Document Details

Citation

RAND Style Manual
Hafner, Marco, Christian Van Stolk, Catherine L. Saunders, Joachim Krapels, and Ben Baruch, Health, wellbeing and productivity in the workplace: A Britain's Healthiest Company summary report, RAND Corporation, RR-1084-VH, 2015. As of October 7, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1084.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Hafner, Marco, Christian Van Stolk, Catherine L. Saunders, Joachim Krapels, and Ben Baruch, Health, wellbeing and productivity in the workplace: A Britain's Healthiest Company summary report. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2015. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1084.html.
BibTeX RIS

Research conducted by

The research described in this report was prepared for VitalityHealth and conducted by RAND Europe.

This publication is part of the RAND research report series. Research reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND research reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.