An increased interest in corporate social responsibility has raised questions about the impact organizations have on employee well-being. But what is well-being? Drawing on the positive psychology movement, the definition of well-being has been broadened beyond the reduction of illness. For her research, Dr. Barrio defines employee well-being as the growth of the employee as a person through actions taken within or outside the workplace to improve the lives of others. In other words, a person’s well-being is enhanced when they contribute to others. The study identified manager behaviors that inspire, facilitate, or support employee caring activities.
Take-home messages:
- Well-being is more than the absence of illness.
- Other-oriented goals, such as contributing to the lives of others, are associated with well-being and personal growth.
- Although existing research supports the notion that an essential activity of managers is employee growth, there is limited research that examines specific manager behaviors associated with employee growth.
- Managers can play a role in enhancing employee growth by engaging in behaviors that fall into one of four themes.
Learning Outcomes
Manager behaviors fall into four themes: Build Relationship, Cultivate, Provide Resources, and Follow Up.
Building a manager/employee relationship is a foundation for the other behaviors,
Managers need to know themselves, their employees, and the organization to determine what behaviors best fit a particular employee, at a particular point in time, and in a particular context.
The similarity between some behaviors identified in this research to behaviors previously identified as effective manager behaviors suggests managers may be able to leverage existing skills in a new way. Skills traditionally viewed as contributing to the bottom line of the organization, such as planning and organizing, may also be used to contribute to employee well-being.