June 2015

IZA DP No. 9096: Does Worker Wellbeing Affect Workplace Performance?

published in: Human Relations, 2017, 70 (8), 1017-1037

This paper uses linked employer-employee data to investigate the relationship between employees' subjective well-being and workplace performance in Britain. The analyses show a clear, positive and statistically-significant relationship between the average level of job satisfaction at the workplace and workplace performance. This finding is present in both cross-sectional and panel analyses and is robust to various estimation methods and model specifications. In contrast, we find no association between levels of job-related affect and workplace performance.