The relationship between employee well-being and organisational effectiveness

Abstract

Orientation: The changing demands employees experience because of the turbulent and competitive world of work has increased their workload, necessitating a focus on their well-being to ensure their contribution to the effectiveness of organisations.

Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between employee well-being (EWB) and organisational effectiveness (OE) in a South African bond origination company.

Motivation for the study: Organisations need to improve their effectiveness to remain competitive and are dependent on the well-being of their employees to achieve this. Understanding the effect of EWB on OE can assist organisations in managing this relationship.

Research design/approach and method: A quantitative cross-sectional approach was used in which a convenient sample of 203 employees completed five questionnaires to measure OE and the four underlying contructs of EWB. A correlation analysis was conducted to determine the statistical relationship between the four EWB constructs and OE.

Main findings: Results indicated a statistically significant positive relationship between job satisfaction, work engagement and OE and a statistically significant negative relationship between Burnout and OE, while no relationship was found between workaholism and OE.

Practical/managerial implications: Managers should implement interventions to increase job satisfaction and work engagement and decrease burnout to increase the performance of their organisations.

Contributions/value-add: This study provides managers with an understanding of how the performance of their organisations can be improved by managing the well-being of their employees.