Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

High levels of well-being at work is good for the employee and the organization. It means lower sickness-absence levels, better retention and more satisfied customers. People with higher levels of well-being live longer, have happier lives and are easier to work with. This book shows how to improve well-being in your organization.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of Figures, Tables and Boxes (p. x)
• Foreword (p. xiii)
• Acknowledgments (p. xv)
• Part 1 Why Well-Being Matters
• Chapter 1 For Individuals (p. 3)
• PWB is linked to success and health (p. 4)
• Causes of PWB (p. 9)
• Chapter 2 For Organizations (p. 14)
• PWB and ôpresenteeismö (p. 17)
• Workplace factors and PWB (p. 19)
• Chapter 3 Well-Being and Employee Engagement (p. 27)
• PWB and engagement (p. 32)
• An integrated approach to employee engagement and PWB (p. 35)
• Part 2 What Is Well-Being?
• Chapter 4 Psychological Well-Being (p. 41)
• Psychological well-being - is there a set point? (p. 41)
• Changes in PWB (p. 44)
• Positive emotions (p. 46)
• Meaning and purpose (p. 48)
• Chapter 5 Measuring Well-Being and Workplace Factors (p. 51)
• Assessing PWB (p. 52)
• Assessing eudaimonic PWB (p. 53)
• Measuring workplace psychological well-being (p. 53)
• The ASSET model (p. 55)
• Measurement benchmarks and norms (p. 59)
• Other approaches (p. 62)
• Part 3 What Influences Well-Being?
• Chapter 6 The Whole Person and Psychological Well-Being (p. 65)
• Personality and PWB (p. 67)
• Personality and the set point for PWB (p. 70)
• Personality, PWB and work (p. 71)
• Non-work factors and PWB (p. 73)
• Social and domestic factors (p. 75)
• Chapter 7 Work and Well-Being (p. 78)
• Work and its context (p. 78)
• Positive pressure (p. 82)
• Relationships at work and the work-home interface (p. 85)
• Flexible working (p. 87)
• Sense of purpose and meaning (p. 89)
• Management and leadership (p. 90)
• Part 4 Getting The Benefits
• Chapter 8 Improving Psychological Well-Being - Personal Development and Resilience (p. 95)
• Resilience (p. 96)
• Positive attitudes and emotions (p. 98)
• Explanatory style (p. 99)
• Flexible thinking (p. 102)
• Challenges and mastery experiences (p. 104)
• Back to the beginning - personality (p. 106)
• Chapter 9 Improving Well-Being - Building a Healthy Workplace (p. 107)
• A strategic approach to PWB (p. 107)
• Engaging top leadership and developing managers (p. 109)
• Measure baseline metrics (p. 110)
• Branding and communication (p. 112)
• Measure well-being levels and their drivers (p. 113)
• Use results to develop action plans (p. 113)
• Communicate and Implement plans (p. 115)
• Part 5 Case Studies
• Chapter 10 Improving Employee Engagement and Well-Being in an NHS Trust (p. 119)
• Overview (p. 119)
• Background (p. 120)
• The approach (p. 121)
• Outcomes and evaluation (p. 124)
• Summary (p. 126)
• Chapter 11 Building an Organizational Culture of Health (p. 128)
• Overview (p. 128)
• Background (p. 129)
• The approach (p. 130)
• Outcomes and evaluation (p. 133)
• Chapter 12 Engaging in Health and Well-Being (p. 139)
• Background (p. 139)
• The approach (p. 140)
• Outcomes and evaluation (p. 146)
• Chapter 13 The Development of a Comprehensive Corporate Health Management System for Well-Being (p. 149)
• Overview (p. 149)
• Background (p. 150)
• The approach (p. 151)
• Outcomes and evaluation (p. 156)
• Chapter 14 The Journey Toward Organizational Resilience at the University of Leeds (p. 157)
• Overview (p. 157)
• Background (p. 157)
• The approach (p. 158)
• Outcomes and evaluation (p. 166)
• Chapter 15 Improving Well-Being at London Fire Brigade (p. 168)
• Overview (p. 168)
• Background (p. 168)
• The approach (p. 169)
• Outcomes and evaluation (p. 173)
• Chapter 16 On the Use of Internet-Delivered Interventions in Worksite Health Promotion (p. 174)
• Development phase (p. 175)
• Implementation phase (p. 178)
• Chapter 17 Mitigating the Impact of an Economic Downturn on Mental Well-Being (p. 183)
• Overview (p. 183)
• Background (p. 184)
• The approach (p. 185)
• Embedding (p. 190)
• Outcome and evaluation (p. 191)
• Chapter 18 Keeping Pressure Positive: Improving Well-Being and Performance in the NHS Through Innovative Leadership Development (p. 193)
• Overview (p. 193)
• Background (p. 194)
• The approach (p. 196)
• Outcomes and evaluation (p. 200)
• Notes (p. 203)
• References (p. 204)
• Author Index (p. 214)
• Subject Index (p. 216)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Engaged employees with a sense of well-being can provide organizational benefits such as high productivity, customer satisfaction, and lower illness-related absenteeism. Robertson (Leeds Univ., UK) and Cooper (Lancaster Univ., UK) provide a practical book based on considerable scientific evidence. The authors define well-being and employee engagement, and explain why they matter for organizations and individuals. They describe a strategic, model-based approach for helping organizations establish psychological well-being programs. Highlighting the final third of the book are nine case studies of well-being programs from organizations such as Johnson & Johnson, London Fire Brigade, and Mersey Care NHS Trust. The cases involve topics such as Internet-delivered interventions, work site health promotion, and strategies to mitigate the impact of economic downturns. Workplace flexibility arrangements such as flextime, compressed workweeks, and job sharing are a few of the many tools that can help employee well-being. The text contains numerous figures and tables. See related, Contemporary Occupational Health Psychology: Global Health Psychology Perspectives, v. 1, edited by Jonathan Houdmont and Stavroula Leka (CH, Mar'11, 48-3953), and Graham Lowe's Creating Healthy Organizations (CH, Nov'10, 48-1573). Summing Up: Highly recommended. Business managers, business professors, and undergraduate and graduate business students. G. E. Kaupins Boise State University

Author notes provided by Syndetics

PROFESSOR IVAN ROBERTSON BSc, PhD, FBPsS, FBAM is a Chartered Psychologist, Fellow of the British Psychological Society and Fellow of the British Academy of Management. He holds a chair in Work and Organisational Psychology at Leeds University Business School and is Emeritus Professor at the University of Manchester. He is also Managing Director of Robertson Cooper Ltd - a University of Manchester spin-off business dedicated to improving well-being, performance and leadership. He remains an active researcher and during his career has been responsible for over thirty books on Work & Organizational Psychology and over 150 scholarly articles/conference papers. He is currently a member of Dame Carol Black's Occupational Health Sounding Board and of the Expert Reference Group for the NICE Public Health Advisory Committee work on mental health at work. Ivan's earlier experience included several years in industry and national government working as a psychologist. He has held visiting posts in the USA (Michigan State University, Singapore (National University of Singapore) and Australia (Queensland University of Technology)

SIR CARY COOPER is Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health, Lancaster University Management School and Pro Vice Chancellor (External Relations) at Lancaster University, UK. He is the author of over 100 books (on occupational stress, women at work and industrial and organizational psychology), has written over 400 scholarly articles, and is a frequent contributor to national newspapers, TV and radio. He is a Fellow of the British Academy of Management and also of the Academy of Management (having also won the 1998 Distinguished Service Award). In 2001 he was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for his contribution to organizational health. He is Chair of The Sunningdale Institute, a think tank on management/organizational issues, in the National School of Government. He was also the lead scientist to the UK Government Office for Science on their Foresight programme on Mental Capital and Well Being (2007-2008), and was appointed a member of the expert group on establishing guidance for the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence on 'promoting mental wellbeing through productive and healthy working conditions', 2009. He is Chair of the UK's Academy of Social Sciences. Professor Cooper is also the President of the Institute of Welfare, President of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, a national Ambassador of The Samaritans, a Patron of the Anxiety UK, and Patron of the National Bullying Helpline. HR Magazine named him the 6th Most Influential Thinker in HR in 2009.