The 'Beyond Workplace Wellbeing' Framework: A New Framework for the Organisation of Work to Cultivate Wellbeing and Productivity in Workplace.

Organisations’ attempts to improve wellbeing at work are too narrowly focussed and fail to account for the diverse and individualistic ways employees cultivate wellbeing. Moreover, a clear disconnect exists between the amount of money invested into organisational wellbeing initiatives and the ever-increasing levels of ill-being at work. The ‘Beyond Workplace Wellbeing’ Framework therefore brings together findings from a large qualitative study involving 100 semi-structured interviews across financial and professional services in the UK. We propose that employers should not intervene with wellbeing, but should instead focus more on improving psychological safety and reducing ill-being of employees that is directly attributable to their employment. We also highlight the significance of employees being given autonomy in choosing how and when they carry out responsibilities subject to satisfying operations. This autonomy allows employees to create a work structure that enables them to be both productive and enhance their own wellbeing. Findings are timely in response to Covid-19 and the re-organisation of work. They simultaneously highlight the importance of large and diverse samples in qualitative research.