Why Workplace Wellbeing Matters
The Science Behind Employee Happiness and Organizational Performance
Harvard Business Review Press, forthcoming in March 2025
Why Workplace Wellbeing Matters provides a fresh, data-driven perspective on the connections between happiness, productivity, and organizational success. With in-depth analysis and keen insight, the book cuts through the often-confusing cacophony of voices on workplace wellbeing to test assumptions and debunk myths.
Most of us spend a third of our waking lives at work. Our jobs shape our schedules, relationships, identities, and economies—but are they actually making us happy? Drawing on extensive, large-scale data, the authors reveal the remarkable ways wellbeing varies across workers, occupations, companies, and industries. They clarify what workplace wellbeing is (and is not) and provide a framework for how businesses can meaningfully improve it.
Drawing on multiple academic disciplines, the authors demonstrate that workplace wellbeing encompasses both how we think about our work holistically and how we feel while doing it. Their research shows that enhancing wellbeing can boost productivity, aid in talent retention and recruitment, and ultimately improve financial performance. This comprehensive analysis offers both the evidence and tools needed to transform how organizations approach employee happiness and success
Further Praise
“Why Workplace Wellbeing Matters is a data-driven yet very readable guide for both managers and employees about the importance of measuring and increasing well-being in the workplace, from two of the top experts in the field.”―Michael I. Norton, Harvard Business School, author of Happy Money
“Investing in the wellbeing of your team is essential for your business, and this book is essential to explain why and how. With data and rigorous research, De Neve and Ward make the serious point that happier employees are good for business, and reveal which factors drive it.”―Cassie Holmes, UCLA Anderson, author of Happier Hour
“Drawing on data from over 20 million workers worldwide, De Neve and Ward demonstrate the critical link between employee wellbeing and business success. Their groundbreaking analysis offers leaders an essential, evidence-based roadmap for creating thriving workplaces. This book should be required reading for every leader and manager.”―Ashley Whillans, Harvard Business School, author of Time Smart
“Two superb researchers in the field of workplace well-being offer important insights and proposals, which, if followed, would dramatically enhance the well-being of our world.”―Tyler J. VanderWeele, Harvard School of Public Health, author of Measuring Well-Being
"Workplace well-being is more important but also more elusive than ever. The good news is that de Neve and Ward have given us an evidence-based guide to finding it. This book is truly essential reading for every leader in business today."―Laurie Santos, Yale University, host of The Happiness Lab
“Finally—a smart, complete, and readable account of the science of workplace well-being, along with practical advice about how to improve it. Forget all that nonsense about effective habits and visionary leadership—this is the book every executive, manager, and business owner should read.”―Daniel Gilbert, Harvard University, author of Stumbling on Happiness
“Well-being is good for us: it makes us happier, healthier, and more resilient. Finally, De Neve and Ward in this splendid book, also give us compelling evidence that wWell-being is measurable and profitable”―Martin Seligman, University of Pennsylvania, author of Authentic Happiness
“Few topics today in management are more important to understand and master than employee wellbeing. This invaluable new book demystifies what wellbeing really means and why it matters”―Amy C. Edmondson, Harvard Business School, author of The Fearless Organization
“"Workplace Wellbeing Matters." Everyone says this, but what is workplace wellbeing and how to improve it? This excellent, evidence-rich book opens the black box and identifies the specific features of workplace wellbeing that are linked to improved performance, providing practical steps for managers to enhance them.”―Alex Edmans, London Business School, author of Grow the Pie: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit
“This is an exciting and inspiring book. Ward and De Neve reorient our thinking about workplaces and wellbeing, providing new frameworks and clear steps for taking effective action.”―Erin Kelly, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, author of Overload: How Good Jobs Went Bad and What We Can Do About It
“Workplace wellbeing” is often discussed, but rarely defined with the clarity or depth it deserves. Supported by a unique and impressive body of research, this book provides crystal clarity about why wellbeing at work matters. An essential, illuminating read.”―Sonja Lyubomirsky, UC Riverside, author of The Myths of Happiness
“As this brilliant book shows, wellbeing at work really matters – not just to workers but to productivity and profit. A must read for any course on management, occupational psychology or labour economics.”―Richard Layard, London School of Economics, author of Happiness: Lessons from a New Science
“Authored by two leading researchers on workplace well-being, this superb and fact-filled book unpacks the 'why' and 'how' behind the hottest yet often misunderstood trend in managing companies. You'll never think about fostering well-being at work the same way again.”―Stephan Meier, Columbia Business School, author of The Employee Advantage
The Origins of Happiness
The Science of Well-Being over the Life Course
What makes people happy? Why should governments care about people’s well-being? How would policy change if well-being were the main objective? The Origins of Happiness seeks to revolutionize how we think about human priorities and to promote public policy changes that are based on what really matters to people. Drawing on a uniquely comprehensive range of evidence from longitudinal data on over one hundred thousand individuals in Britain, the United States, Australia, and Germany, the authors consider the key factors that affect human well-being. The Origins of Happiness offers all of us a new vision for how we might become more healthy and happy.
[Read the Introduction] [PUP] [vox column] [WHR summary] [online appendix] [replication files] [jstor version]
Selected Media
Financial Times, FT Editorial, Guardian, Independent, BBC News, Business Insider, Newsweek, HuffPost, Vice, Le Figaro, Folha de S Paolo, WBUR, Telegraph, Vanity Fair, Grazia, The Conversation (op-ed)
"Rooted in the best-available evidence for each stage in life, The Origins of Happiness provides an ambitious and comprehensive analysis of what leads to a satisfying life, from childhood to old age."―Alan Krueger, Princeton University, author of Inequality in America
"The Origins of Happiness is a wonderful book. It presents a new look at what causes human well-being, and carefully analyzes the policies and programs that can enhance it."―Ed Diener, author of Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth
"If policymakers want to improve lives, it is important to understand how people feel―and why. This book charts new territory, providing the first map of the long-term drivers of people's happiness."―Martine Durand, chief statistician, OECD
"This book—written by several masters in the field—brings our knowledge of well-being to a new level. It demonstrates how experiences and emotions in the early years link to adult outcomes, and highlights the importance of parental well-being to that of children. The authors provide new metrics for designing and assessing policies that can affect the welfare of millions of people throughout the course of their lives. This work is a must-read for the academic, policymaker, and informed citizen alike."―Carol Graham, author of Happiness for All? Unequal Hopes and Lives in Pursuit of the American Dream
"The most significant contribution of The Origins of Happiness lies in its integrated approach to life satisfaction over the life cycle. The authors combine cohort studies, longitudinal panels, and cross-section surveys to provide fuller perspectives. No one else has done this in such a systematic way."—John F. Helliwell, University of British Columbia