Creating Healthy Organizations: Taking Action to Improve Employee Well-Being, Revised and Expanded Edition
© 2020
How can you future-proof your organization by making it humanly sustainable? Creating Healthy Organizations answers this question, showing how to forge stronger links between employee well-being and the future success of any organization. The book makes a compelling case for resilient and humanly sustainable businesses by focusing on improving employees’ well-being.
Employee stress, burnout, work-life conflict, and disengagement remain significant workplace problems. Yet, there are important signs of progress. The healthy organization concept has begun moving into the mainstream of corporate wellness. Scholarly research has advanced beyond making a business case for workplace health promotion to showing how successful interventions are based on a culture of health and closer ties with occupational health and safety. More companies are addressing mental health issues, striving to make workplaces psychologically healthy and safe. Expanded environmental sustainability frameworks provide an opening for the more sustainable use of human resources. As well, extensive tools are now available in many countries to guide actions aimed at developing healthy, safe, and thriving workplaces.
These recent workplace trends and resources highlight the need for an updated, concise, integrated, and practical analysis of the challenges of creating a healthier organization, the hurdles that must be overcome along the way, and the key success factors that can guide the improvement process. Creating Healthy Organizations, Revised and Expanded Edition fills this gap in knowledge and practice, guiding those committed to making their organizations healthier.
Product Details
- Imprint: Rotman-UTP Publishing
- World Rights
- Page Count: 368 pages
- Dimensions: 6.5in x 1.2in x 9.3in
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Reviews
"Graham, you have eloquently provided organizational and HR leaders with a framework for how and why to integrate employee health and wellness into everything the business does. Without healthy employees there can be no business sustainability; this is really not rocket science. Leaders have to stop talking about it and understand they have an important role in creating healthy organizations. Especially today, as the world continues to change, as mental health issues and isolation-loneliness continue to grow in our working population, as eco-anxiety increases, as geopolitical tensions mount, as financial discrepancy from the rich to poor widens, and as changes in AI technology shape the future of work. It is likely that being a human being will not get any easier. As you say in this book ‘…work is a determinant of health and health is a determinant of work.’ You have provided a vault of valuable information the reader can glean and learn as they read and reflect on your ideas and research."
Dr. Bill Howatt Chief of Research Conference Board of Canada"Finally, we have under one cover an action-oriented review focused on the What, Why and How of integrating employee health and well-being into the organizational fabric of any business - to return value to employees, shareholders and community stakeholders alike. This new edition is a must read for every health professional who is responsible for providing business leaders with strategic and tactical advice on maximizing workforce well-being and productivity. Graham has provided us with a comprehensive evidence-based analysis, drawn from the operational experience of numerous multinational organizations, and laid out as a process roadmap for empowering imbedded leaders to create sustainably healthy organizations."
Ken Lindemann, MD, PhD, Director, Corporate Medical Advisors"Graham Lowe is a national treasure. His insights challenge us to both understand the importance of improving the world of work and guide us towards the solutions"
Cam Mustard, President & Senior Scientist, Institute for Work & Health"In this book Graham Lowe provides an authoritative & meticulously well-researched vision of what a healthy workplace can be. Employers today are confronted with a bewildering array of workplace health interventions to choose from if they want to invest in the wellbeing of their workforce. This book confidently guides them and other practitioners through this evidence towards some practical & pragmatic solutions which have been shown to work. It is much to Graham Lowes’ credit that he avoids the trap of over-medicalising workplace wellbeing by focusing on the vital topics of culture, leadership, job design and rehabilitation. This is an important book which should be on the desk of all those charged with responsibility of implementing a workplace health strategy."
Stephen Bevan, Head of HR Research Development, Institute for Employment Studies"In this updated edition, Graham Lowe has created an accessible and practical guide that is highly relevant to the current and ever-changing nature of work and workers, including those that fall outside the traditional organizational structure. Backed by solid research, consideration of regulatory and legislative developments, and practical examples, this book provides a comprehensive model to assist organizations to create a workplace environment that supports the physical and psychological well-being and engagement of workers, enhances organizational success and sustainability and meets societal expectations of corporate responsibility."
Dr. Merv Gilbert is a Director at Vancouver Psych Health + Safety Ltd -
Author Information
Graham Lowe is president of The Graham Lowe Group Inc., a workplace consulting and research firm, and a professor emeritus at the University of Alberta. -
Table of contents
Figures
Preface
AcknowledgmentsIntroduction
The Healthy Organization Ideal
Looking at Your Organization through a Health Lens
Helping Change Agents
Leveraging Where You Are Today
Learning from Your Peers
Chapter Overview1. The Healthy Organization
Integrating Well-Being and Performance
Healthy Organizations in Action
A Healthy Organization Model
Vibrant Workplaces
Inspired Employees
Beyond Engagement
The Capabilities of an Inspired Workforce
Learning
Collaboration
Culture and Leadership
Culture and Leadership in Action
Better Workplaces
Sustainable Success
Stronger People-Performance Links
Healthier Employees and Communities
Making Well-Being a Priority2. Beyond Workplace Health Promotion
The Wellness Paradox
Healthy Workplace Pay-Offs and Potential
Wellness Returns on Investment
Healthy Lifestyle Programs
Addressing Chronic Health Conditions
Targeting High-Risk Employees
An Organizational View of Health and Wellness
Limitations of Workplace Health Promotion
Comparing Health Promotion and Organizational Perspectives
Leveraging Workplace Health Promotion
Organizational Solutions for Wellness
Rethinking Absenteeism
Present but Not Productive
Healthy Psychosocial Work Environments
Talking about Health and Performance3. How Vibrant Workplaces Inspire Employees
How Employees Experience Healthy Organizations
Envisioning Vibrant Workplaces
Envisioning an Inspired Workforce
How Vibrant Workplaces Inspire Employees
Focusing on Work Experiences
Defining Good Jobs
Healthy Workplaces through Employees’ Eyes
Why Some Workplaces Are Healthier than Others
Why Employees’ Perceptions Matter
Closing the Inspiration Gap
The Dynamics of a Healthy Organization4. Positive Cultures
What Is Culture?
Culture as Competitive Advantage
Unhealthy and Healthy Cultures
Unhealthy Cultures
Healthy Cultures
Culture Change
Cultures Can Be Revitalized and Can Evolve
The Culture-Strengthening Process
Strengthening Values
The Importance of Values
New Values
Renewed Values
From Values to Behaviours
Revitalizing Your Organization’s Culture5. Inclusive Leadership
Leading the Way to Healthier Organizations
Leading at the Micro Level
Who Are the Leaders?
Widely Distributing Leadership Responsibility
Qualities of Inclusive Leaders
Leading with People Skills
Gaps in People Skills
Follow-Through on People Commitments
Setting the Tone
Focusing on Leadership Behaviours
Living the Guiding Principles
Leadership to Build Supportive Workplaces
Leading Change6. Healthy Change
Getting on a Healthy Change Trajectory
Focusing on the Journey
The Role of Culture and Leadership
Five Principles for Healthy Change
Understanding Change Readiness
Aligning Structure and Culture
Linking People Initiatives to the Business Strategy
Widen the Circle of Involvement
Make Time for Learning and Innovation
Change as Renewal7. Sustainable Success
What Makes Success Sustainable?
Social and Environmental Dimensions
Human Resource Dimensions
Ingredients of Sustainable Success
Renewing Relationships with Society
Corporate Social Responsibility Evolves
The Changing Face of Social Responsibility
Good Corporate Citizen, Outstanding Employer
Making Sustainability Strategic
Vibrant Workplaces Support Social Responsibility
Renewing Workforce Capabilities
Workforce Diversity Strategies
Inspiring Three Generations of Workers
Long-Range Workforce Planning
Making Progress8. Measuring Progress
Using Evidence for Action
Practical Challenges of Using Evidence
Thinking Ahead
The Value of Qualitative Consultations
Measurement Tools
Measures
Tools
Design Options
Return on Investment
Using Surveys for Healthy Change
Survey Guidelines
Finding a Clear Direction from Survey Data
Using Survey Results for Leadership Development
Integrated Performance Reporting
Examples of Effective Performance Reporting
Triangulating Your Existing Data
Guidelines for Measuring Improvements
Healthy Organization Measures Are Good Public Policy9. Designing a Healthy Organization Strategy
Notes
Index
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Subjects and Courses
