Psychology at work: improving wellbeing and productivity in the workplace

The report can be used by policy makers, commissioners, practitioners and employers to apply relevant psychological theory, evidence and practice to design interventions that work with human behaviour, not against it.

'What's your name? And what do you do?'

A large part of how people define who they are is by what they do. Work can be a key part of our social identity, we use our membership of a group, organisation or profession to build our sense of self and find meaning. Working can be good for our health – being engaged and absorbed in a good job can promote psychological wellbeing. People who are employed have lower rates of psychological health problems.

But work is not a universally positive experience. Poorly designed jobs, work that is not organised well, difficult work environments, poorly trained managers and a lack of understanding of human behaviour in the workplace can create or exacerbate mental health conditions. For some people with physical or mental health conditions or disabilities, a lack of the right support at the right time from employers can make finding and keeping a meaningful job difficult. For many people who are unemployed, the experience of navigating the current welfare system in order to find work, claim benefits or seek suitable support has been extremely negative. Successive UK governments have attempted to address issues around work, health and disability.

In November 2016, Damian Green, the previous Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health, committed to halving the disability employment gap. They recognised the role of work in providing positive psychological and social support and that unemployment can mean a 'downward spiral' that affects not just the individual and their family, but also employers,
who lose valuable skills, and the health service that must cover additional demand. Following the 2017 snap election, there has been a change in leadership at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). It is vital that the government maintains positive progress on this agenda and ensures that nuanced positions, particularly around understanding how to measure the relationship between work and health are not lost.

The previous Conservative government's approach to work and health was not uniform across all departments. In January 2017 the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) launched a Building our Industrial Strategy green paper to consult over the most effective ways to encourage economic growth and optimise its global competitiveness. It omitted any mention of wellbeing strategies to further boost organisational and employee productivity, motivation or health as potential contributors to economic success, thus failing to fully consider the role of employees in the future economy.

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