The 'What', 'Why' and "How' of Employee Well-Being: A New Model

This paper examines the 'what', 'why' and 'how' of employee well- being. Beginning with the 'what' of well- being, the construct of mental health was explored with the aim of building a model of employee well- being. It was proposed that employee wellbeing consists of three core components: ( 1) subjective well- being; ( 2) workplace wellbeing and ( 3) psychological well- being. Following this, the ` why' of employee well- being was investigated; that is, why employee well- being should be an important matter for organisations. It was argued that employee well- being is an important precursor to organisational well- being, as indicated by its links to employee turnover and performance. The next section was concerned with the ` how' of employee well- being; that is, how wellbeing can be reliably enhanced. Drawing on two models of strengths and a practice model of psychological assessment, it was asserted that strength- based development can reliably enhance employee well- being. A solid framework for understanding and measuring employee well- being is offered in the hope that it will foster a more integrated approach to assessing and optimising employee well- being.