A healthy employee is a productive employee, or is it the other way around? The Families and Work Institute published a report last year that showed a clear link between “effective” workplaces and employee health.

Although the report indicates that the overall health of employees in the US is declining, it also shows that an effective environment within an organization can actually improve employee health. To measure the effectiveness of workplaces, The Families and Work Institute use six criteria that can be found on page 27 of the report. The criteria are supported by strong performance management practices.

The research concludes that not only are employees of effective workplaces “more likely to be engaged and satisfied in their jobs” (p. 15), but they also “have better health and well-being” (p. 29).

Criteria: “Job challenge and learning”

PM practice: understanding an employee’s strengths, learning needs, abilities, goals and career aspirations, providing learning opportunities, maintaining an ongoing performance discussion with a focus on learning

Criteria: “Autonomy”

PM practice: placing employees in positions for which they are well matched, providing clear performance expectations, providing regular goal-related feedback without micro-managing

Criteria: “Work-Life Fit”

PM practice: understanding the individual strengths and needs of employees, establishing performance goals and giving employees appropriate flexibility to meet these goals

Criteria: “Supervisor Task Support”

PM practice: clearly communicating performance expectations, holding ongoing performance discussions, providing appropriate resources to meet expectations, answering job-performance questions in a timely fashion

Criteria: “Climate of Respect and Trust”

PM practice: holding regular performance discussions, taking the time to understand individual aspirations, providing open honest feedback

Criteria: “Economic Security”

PM practice: providing fair performance related compensation, clearly communicating the link between performance and compensation, clarifying which performance milestones or learning activities can improve an employee's chance of progressing in an organization

References:

Aumann, Kerstin and Ellen Galinsky. 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce: The State of Health in the American Workforce. Families and Work Institute, 2008.