The Palgrave Handbook of Workplace Well-Being

Eudaimonia (generally translated as “happiness,” “flourishing,” or “well-being”) is a key concept in ancient Greek ethical and political philosophy. This chapter explores eudaimonic well-being insights from the Greek wisdom tradition that equates well-being with living a virtuous life; that is, a life lived in accordance with four cardinal virtues – wisdom, justice, moderation, and courage. It garners the view that moral virtue is the gateway to happiness and that being good and being happy are vitally interlinked. Drawing upon the moral writings of Plato and Aristotle, it takes as axiomatic that personal flourishing or well-being (eudaimonia) or living well (eu zên) is the foundation upon which the edifice of workplace well-being is built; for, organizational well-being is the sum total of the well-being of its constituent individuals and politics is ethics writ large. The eudaimonic happiness is not a passing mood or a fleeting feeling of elation but rather an abiding state of felicity emanating from leading a life that is worth living – which for the Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle would be a life of virtue or moral excellence.The wisdom of these ancient philosophers is particularly relevant in the present turbulent times when humanity seems to have lost its moral and spiritual bearings. These thinkers viewed philosophy as a way of life, a sort of spiritual exercise, and as an ongoing project of moral self-development. If “an unexamined life is not worth living,” as Socrates averred in Apology (38a), then self-examination – the “regular monitoring and assessment of our own moral progress” –becomes the whetstone on which to hone one’s character and gauge one’s success in attaining happiness and well-being. Being good and doing good then becomes synonymous with living a happy, flourishing life. For the true end of life, as Plato affirms in many of his dialogues, is not just to live, but to live well; not just to be, but also to be good.

Since the beginning of human time, work has been part of life, sometimes dreaded and sometimes enjoyed. Shifts in technology and societal trends have brought about new insights into what it means to live and work. Once relied upon for strength and muscle, humans are now more than ever becoming knowledge workers needed for the power within their minds. No longer can organizations ignore the well-being of workers if they want to succeed in a globally competitive environment. To be leverage the power of the workforce of the future requires a new approach to designing organization. Our design imagines a future where both workers and organizations can flourish live never before.

An organization should be efficient and effective in order to reach its organizational goals. In order for the organization to realize its goals, it should enable worker and workplace well-being. Within globalization and the increase in the usage of technology, a more diverse workforce is being created. The diverse workforce is composed of various employees. These diversities can be in terms of race, gender, age, education, ethnicity, or culture. Even though there are some laws and regulations regarding diversity management, there is still discrimination to many employees representing minorities, which end up with loss of workplace well-being in the organization. Managers and employers should gain experience in managing diverse workforce. If the managers can implement efficient and diversity management, they could enable competitive advantage for the organization. For the managers to provide worker and workplace well-being, they should implement efficient and effective diversity management. The chapter presents the impact of efficient diversity management on worker and workplace well-being. The aim of this chapter is to explain the concept of workplace well-being by considering the effect of diversity management. Thus, the relationship between workplace well-being and effective and efficient diversity management is focused in this chapter. Workplace well-being is defined. Following that, diversity management is explained in terms of race, gender, age, and nationality. The benefits and challenges of diversity management are also emphasized. In addition, ethical considerations for diversity management are explained as well. At the end, the relationship between efficient diversity management and workplace well-being is emphasized. This chapter would shed light to both executives and scholars to understand the importance of efficient diversity management.

This chapter aims to substantiate a theory-driven and context-specific conceptualization of employee well-being for Chinese employees. Drawing on three primary defining characteristics of well-being in psychology, i.e., the distinction between hedonia and eudaimonia, the imperative consideration of social dimension, and the indispensable attention to negative affect, this chapter conceptualizes Chinese employee well-being as a multidimensional concept consists of positive affect, individual well-being, social well-being, and negative affect. The qualitative and quantitative data from 544 Chinese employees support the proposition of multidimensionality but cannot distinguish individual well-being from social well-being. Aligning with this context-specific profile of employee well-being, future research would better clarify employee well-being-related concepts and select appropriate measures to address specific research gaps. The results also generate context-specific recommendations for management practitioners to improve employee well-being in China.

Debate among researchers and practitioners persists as to how to define a workplace well-being construct that measures people’s experienced well-being. Existing definitions often have a differing narrow focus on eudaimonic or hedonic aspects of well-being. An inductive approach to determining key features of workplace well-being through exploring real-life work experience might alleviate this issue as checking the meanings people assign to well-being would create further insight into key aspects of the workplace well-being concept. Further, the endeavor to understand how different people at work experience well-being is important as their understanding is likely to impact on how they maintain and enhance well-being, how they rate their well-being in occupational surveys, how they respond to interventions, and how they manage their own well-being. Therefore, this research explores through two studies of lay descriptions of workplace well-being and extends previous research by using an inductive framework of an occupationally heterogeneous sample. Different groups of employees in different work settings were given qualitative surveys and took part in interviews and focus groups in order to establish components of workplace well-being. Dominant components were established through thematic content analysis. Similarities and differences were found between lay and theoretical conceptualizations of well-being. Results indicate that a multicomponent measure of workplace well-being should go beyond hedonic and eudaimonic aspects by including an energy component and social and physical aspects of well-being at work. Further, the use of a context-specific definitions and resulting implications for designing workplace well-being interventions is also discussed.

Eudaimonic well-being, as an element of positive psychological well-being, has received increasing attention as scholars have begun to recognize the need to expand our definition of well-being beyond feeling good to include functioning well. Capturing agentic and spiritual elements of well-being such as personal growth, positive relationships, autonomy, and meaning, eudaimonic well-being offers additional pathways through which work can contribute to our functioning by using strengths and providing meaningful work as well as opportunities for developing competence and building positive relationships. There is evidence that eudaimonic pursuits contribute toward long-term well-being, through behaviors and cognitions that are within our control and influence and that inspire striving and goal attainment.Particularly in the workplace, there is increasing interest in what eudaimonic well-being can add to a context that is confronted with ongoing technological advances and societal shifts impacting how we work. However, there are a number of challenges regarding the conceptualization and operationalization of eudaimonic well-being, which, as the field matures, need to be addressed in order to consolidate what we know and to advance future studies. This chapter provides an integrative synthesis of what we know about eudaimonic well-being in an organizational context.

The emphasis in the study of workplace well-being has changed from an early focus on preventing illness to a modern focus on promoting wellness. The contemporary study of workplace wellness is incorporated into the domain of positive organizational studies. The present chapter introduces The Movement Model of Workplace Well-Being which serves to integrate the sundry concepts that have been suggested as indicators of workplace well-being and presents The Balance Framework in an effort to help address some of the criticisms of positive organizational studies and offer a mental scaffolding for effectively understanding research and practice on workplace well-being.

One of the enduring images of Christianity is that of Christ as the good shepherd, which is a relevant metaphor for servant leadership’s emphasis on promoting the holistic well-being of employees, clients, and customers. Hence, employee well-being is a global construct that reflects the overall physical, mental, and spiritual health of employees (Roberts, Working with Christian servant leader spiritual intelligence: the foundation of God honoring vocational success. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016). Servant leadership emphasizes two meta dimensions of stewardship and servanthood that directly promote employee well-being (Roberts, Christian scripture and human resource management: building a path to servant leadership through faith. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015). This chapter will review a large sample of servant leader empirical studies and present clear evidence of its efficacious influence on employee well-being. The research literature and subsequent analysis for this chapter is based upon 138 servant leader empirical studies published from 2004 to 2019. Well-being studies were then selected from this group of 138 by keyword search in the respective article abstracts. In addition, studies of closely related well-being variables such as employee thriving, work and family enrichment, work and family conflict, ethical and moral work climate, a positive work climate, and burnout were grouped with the well-being studies. A total of 22 well-being related studies were identified through this process. The 138 studies generated 285 empirical outcomes of which 275 (96.5%) are favorable in directionality regarding the influence of servant leadership on well-being–related outcomes. There were only 9 nonsignificant (3.3%) and 1 negative (0.35%) relationships identified. Of the 138 studies, a final grouping of 129 studies was selected for the final analysis through the elimination of non-well-being–related dependent variables.

This chapter will present the concept of a virtual organization and the role, responsibilities, and practices for leaders in these organizations. Corporations operate globally. Small- to medium-sized companies residing in a single country still rely on international suppliers and markets, among other things. As technology improves, develops, and advances, globalization will become more pronounced for all companies. Considering this technological trend, the virtual structure will likely become more prevalent. This chapter will also present models of leadership and how practical and effective they can be in a virtual platform. From a performance standpoint, employee engagement will be investigated, specifically considering how it functions under the “virtual” condition. Virtual organizations are highly suited to globalization and an international perspective will also be addressed. Finally, suggestions and recommendations will be offered to help virtual companies energize employee engagement.

This chapter introduces and integrates four theoretical and practical approaches to workplace wellbeing: (1) personality approach that addresses personal identity theories, personality types (e.g., Myers and Briggs), and personal strengths (e.g., StrengthsFinder) to enhance self-awareness; (2) ego or adult development approach with its various developmental stages that chart the dynamic developmental stages as experienced over a lifetime; (3) multiple role identity approach that leads to the fluidity of leadership and followership, which has the positive potential for enhanced individual wellbeing and organizational team performance; and (4) relational model approach that extends its four fundamental forms of interpersonal relationships (e.g., Communal Sharing, Authority Ranking, Equality Matching, and Market Pricing) further into the six complex social relations in the metarelational model with proper inclusion and preclusion of social relations that enhance workplace wellbeing within the bounds of legality, morality, and cultural norms. These four approaches assume diverse intrapersonal and interpersonal perspectives and provide varying yet connected theoretical understanding and practical implications for a workplace wellbeing located at both the individual and organizational level. For each approach, the theoretical definitions presented are followed by practical explanations and explorations supported by examples of what the theories imply for workplace wellbeing. Workplace wellbeing comes from both personal and relational perspectives. This chapter demonstrates that an integrated understanding of self and the self’s interdependency with others through dynamic and permissible relations is instrumental to workplace wellbeing.

This paper explores the history of human resource management and its contribution, or lack thereof, to human wellness and flourishing in the workplace. The role played by mental, social, and ethical models is considered, and the results of the programs that emerge from past models are found lacking. Because of this fact, and the potential for change that is presented by the latest industrial revolution, an alternative model is put forward. This alternative model, the Human Dignity-Centric Model, was originally constructed by Mea and Sims. The ethical foundations therein can be traced back to Aristotle’s concept of virtue ethics and the more modern articulation of Catholic social doctrine and teaching. An example of this model in practice is found at Homeboy Industries, the Los Angeles, California-based nonprofit that is the largest gang rehabilitation and reentry program in the world. By using work as a vehicle for the cultivation of wellness and a virtuous life, Homeboy has left an indelible mark on the lives of its program’s participants and the fabric of the communities that it is involved in. An exploratory quantitative pilot study was conducted, and the results were in accordance with the author’s hypothesis regarding the potential for this model as a generalizable framework that can be applied across the nonprofit sector and beyond.

Contemporary organizations have become increasingly aware of an employee’s desire for meaningful work. According to Afsar, Badir, and Kiani (J Environ Psychol 45:79–88, 2016), employees who feel a “sense of self-worth, meaning, interconnection, interdependence and collective purpose” (pp. 95–96) in their work are more likely to be intrinsically motivated to accomplish tasks and be more innovative (Afsar and Rehman, J Manag Spiritual Relig 12:329–353, 2015). Organizations that create a climate characterized by trust, open communication, and service see an increase in productivity and efficiency, a reduction in expenditures, higher customer satisfaction, lower rates of employee turnover, and deeper organizational engagement (Afsar and Badir, J Work Learn 29:95–108, 2017; Podsakoff et al., J Appl Psychol 94(1):122–141, 2009).As twenty-first century organizations and their members continue their quest for greater productivity and purpose, one historically distant source has emerged as an enduring reservoir of wisdom. Distressed by a lack of respect for human dignity and authentic community, the desert mothers and fathers disentangled themselves from secular society in search of a deeper grasp of interiority. For instance, in his Conferences, fifth-century C.E. monk and writer John Cassian (1997) tells the stories of individual spiritual leaders who lived and prayed in the deserts of Egypt. One such spiritual leader, Abba Moses, explains that while the ultimate goal of monastic life is the kingdom of God, the more immediate goal (that which leads to the kingdom) is the acquisition of puritas cordis, or purity of heart. Thomas Merton (The wisdom of the desert. New Directions, New York, 1960), a twentieth-century C.E. monk and writer, wrote that one who is pure of heart “has an immediate apprehension of the way things really are” (p. 8); i.e., such a person is not prey to extreme emotional reactions, considers things from a transcendent point of view, has discretion, and responds appropriately and completely to each person and every situation he or she encounters. In other words, personal well-being.Whether religious or secular, leaders are prey to addictive and neurotic thinking, segmentalism, and psychological projection, and their dysfunctional thinking and acting leads to unhealthy organizational environments. The concept of purity of heart, developed in the early years of Christian monasticism, has much to offer leaders and scholars of leadership, not only in understanding “the way things really are” in organizations but in how personal well-being is connected to community well-being, and vice versa.To that end, the purpose of this chapter is to draw wisdom from the stream of experience shared by the early Christian monks – the desert mothers and fathers – and illustrate their relevance to the contemporary quest for workplace well-being and human flourishing.

The need to belong has long been established as a fundamental human need and one that when thwarted has significant detrimental implications for psychological well-being, including self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and cognition, as well as behavior. A growing body of work has explored the experience of belonging and social exclusion in the workplace and found belonging in the workplace to have equally significant implications for emotion, cognition, and sense of self, as well as performance. In particular, sense of not belonging at work has been found to impact self-efficacy and self-esteem, as well as undermine a consistent and coherent self-concept through the conflict that emerges between who individuals know themselves to be and how they feel and behave during the experience.Research also suggests, however, that the organizational culture of the workplace is involved in both determining and fostering a sense of not belonging at work, and as such organizations have a role to play in fostering a sense of belonging at work and enhancing employee well-being.

Happiness and well-being – being the main objectives of human pursuit (Fisher 2010) – have attracted attention in organizational context (Cooper and Marshall 1978; Smith et al. 1995; Danna and Griffin 1999; Simone 2014), given the growing emphasis on quality of life at work. Increasingly, larger part of waking life is being spent at the workplace, resulting in spilling over of the workplace experiences into personal and family life. Happiness and well-being have also known to have positive effect on customer care and, consequently, on profitability and productivity. It has been observed that transformational and other forms of positive leadership have great potential to contribute significantly to individual’s happiness and well-being (Turner et al. 2002; Sivanathan et al. 2004) by ensuring justice with different stakeholders and customers but also providing money as well as meaning that help to eradicate negativity and useless stress and contribute to positive experiences. Transformational leadership and its variants like authentic leadership, servant leadership, ethical leadership, and responsible leadership are deeply rooted in spiritual and ethical values (Kumar and Vij 2014). Practicing moral values stemming from spirituality contributes to individual’s happiness and well-being (Ricard 2008). This chapter explores how transformational leadership and its variants contribute to happiness and workplace well-being and how spiritual values contribute to transformational leadership as well as happiness and well-being of the people in the workplace.

One prevailing characteristic of the modern and postmodern eras is the steadily growing disconnectedness between spirituality and science. For centuries, these dimensions were naturally considered independent or even antagonistic, in times where spirituality – and their congenital religions – reigned absolute with an unquestionable predominance over science. More recently, as scientific knowledge soared, these two worlds reinforced and deepened their strangeness, creating two very powerful and well-structured knowledge expressed in their respective and distinctive languages. In a similar way, religion and spirituality were torn aside, the former absorbing and taking out the essence of the latter, through a merciless rational process in which religion is being gradually transmuted in an inert body of inflicted rituals and dogmas over increasingly extremist believers. Realistically, a rupture with this pervasive model is paramount, bringing religions back to their divine nature and embracing true science, that which complements and integrates with spirituality, the true nature of human beings. In fact, spirituality should assume its natural leadership in this process of commingling with the scientific world, leaving behind the tempting secular move, astray from wise traditions, relentlessly and unselfishly taught by the prophets of humankind. And so, like two fraternal twins, spirituality and science must grow and live in harmony, not endangering the weakest twin and, thus, not endangering Nature. The present article explores the positive consequences that a new balance between these two dimensions may bring for the well-being of individuals in the workplace and in society at large.

Judeo-Christian origin narratives connect work with communication to begin all creation and to begin humanity. God speaks the universe into existence and breathes His image to life, giving dominion to name and replenish and fill the earth. In this world-view, communication drives relationships; it is divine creative power at work advancing both personal and sociocultural history. From this ancient idea a broad wisdom tradition has grown for millennia that continues to offer a profound resource for understanding workplace well-being. This chapter details select Hebrew, Christian, Rabbinic, Augustinian, Protestant, and modern Catholic texts to show how work is relational and that dignifying work can generate meaning and peace. Workers join a divine dynamic of giving and receiving, flourishing as we commune with God and neighbor. Lessons drawn from key authors across the tradition outline the Judeo-Christian work ethic and describe communicative work that is both instrumentally effective and morally good. A conclusion on the ontology of “gift” rounds out the chronology and summarizes spiritual implications for workplace well-being.

There exists great depth and insight in the resources provided by the wisdom traditions in the Judeo-Christian West, from writings in the books of Psalms and Job in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Greek philosophical work of Plato and Aristotle, and early Christian insights from the Greek monastic traditions, especially Pseudo-Dionysius and Gregory of Nyssa. Very often this spirituality plays with the dichotomy of light and dark, hope and despair, enlightenment and ignorance, leaning toward the former and away from the latter. But also very often within modern workplaces, light is distant and darkness seems all around, whether due to toxic office politics or poor, if not malignant, leadership. How to endure, even to use the experience of darkness to do more than survive but to find ways to thrive in these contexts, is also explored within these traditions, often in surprising and insightful ways.

The role of values in shaping the behavior of individuals and organizations has been widely discussed in literature relating to impact of individual and organizational values in managing organizations and their human resource components. The growing interest on spirituality in the workplace has extended its attention over value systems, addressing a profound and in-depth dimension of human cognition. Representing an important source of tacit knowledge, values associated with indigenous knowledge systems which are embedded in sociocultural contexts provide an interesting background to explore the role of spirituality in utilizing people’s efforts for achieving collective outcomes. Sri Lanka is a South Asian country which still continues to lag behind as a developing country. The country’s public administrative organization is frequently criticized for its ineffectiveness created by poor performances and negative values of the employees hurdling the process of development. Thus, the aim of the present chapter is to explore the values prevailed in ancient public administrative organization of Sri Lanka with special attention on the spirituality of these values. In order to achieve this aim, a qualitative inquiry is carried out in an exploratory approach. Secondary data including archival documents, research publications, books, and journal articles were the main source of data, where these data were gathered on structures and functions of the ancient social organization which completely overlaid the public administrative organization and analyzed by coding and categorizing for deriving the themes. Accordingly, five key values, i.e., collectivism, mindfulness, balance of power, simplicity and cooperativeness, and morality and righteousness, were identified underlying the task, authority, and resource-related management practices of the ancient organization. Finally, the discussion brings some insights of potential strategies which can be revitalized in modern context to ensure optimum utilization of human resource in organizations with the use of indigenous values of managing people and the spirituality of such values.

Work is considered a way to earn money for living and is generally perceived to be a stressful and unhappy experience. This study points out that happiness, in contrast to pleasure, is a property of the Spirit. The Spirit, while remaining within each and every one of us as our ultimate source of life, fills the whole universe and functions as an inseparable single entity. Therefore, at the level of Spirit, we are not separate individuals but are integral parts of the Universe, and our perceived separateness in the material world is an illusion. Evidence suggests that we are designed in such a way that if we align ourselves with the Spirit and live selflessly as integral parts of the whole, we experience happiness. On the other hand, if we perceive ourselves as separate entities and live selfishly, we suffer. Spirituality involves aligning ourselves with oneness of the Spirit. Performing work as a spiritual practice enables employees to align themselves with the Spirit and experience happiness. Spirituality therefore is the missing link between work and happiness. All religions can be considered as different pathways to achieve this goal. This study focusses on Buddhism and points out that the Middle Path, which captures the essence of Buddhism, both provides a practical guide to make work a spiritual activity and experience happiness at work. Vipassana, the mind-training technique proposed by the Buddha, is a technique that can be practiced while working.

Well-being may have been the subject of discussions in developed countries since long; the issue is catching up in developing countries. More companies in India are now looking at physical, emotional, and financial well-being. This chapter deals well-being at the workplace with focus on the role of an individual – as an employee and also as a distinct personality with various positive and negative attributes.This chapter uses the ancient text of Samkhya as the basis for understanding the true nature of an individual and the influence of this true nature on proclivity to gain knowledge, power, wealth, or skills at the workplace. When the true nature is aligned with the basic personality, there is less stress, and there is joy and happiness not only at the workplace but at home and also in various formal and informal relationships. This also enables an individual to better handle the ethical issues and dilemma at workplace making it more efficient and effective.

Workplace Wellness programs offer employees healthy benefits without the need to sacrifice family time. Employers seek lower healthcare costs and improved productivity from healthy employee habits. Most Wellness programs seem to focus on physical health and screenings while not considering the challenges employees face through workplace stress and even project failure. The author provides support for a comprehensive Workplace Wellness program grounded in Redemption. Such a program considers the challenge of talent acquisition; the manager’s moral responsibility for employee development; how limiting employee Wellness programs can cause them to be ineffective; and the need for Wellness programs to be more than attempts at social redemption through physical fitness. A blueprint for Workplace Wellness programs grounded in Redemption is offered at the end of the chapter.

Creating sustainable workplace well-being (WWB) requires recognizing and addressing the root causes of WWB. This chapter argues that WWB is rooted in organizational spiritual maturity (OSM) and that organizations with greater OSM will naturally have greater WWB and vice versa. Further, it is argued that many inhibitors of WWB cannot be fully addressed without addressing the spiritual roots of problems by increasing OSM. Increasing OSM has the dual effect of increasing the desired positive aspects of WWB and reducing the factors that inhibit WWB. After, clarifying the concepts, the arguments are made in successive claims. This is followed by actions that can be taken to assess and increase OSM.

The aim of this chapter is to examine the spiritual well-being of Business school faculty (within a university) and how workplace spirituality enhances such well-being. Exploring workplace spirituality (WPS), this chapter adopts a philosophical interdisciplinary approach that borrows from the works of prominent thinkers and philosophers. Using grounded theory, 25 business professors are interviewed in two Lebanese universities while assessing the level of spiritual/religious well-being and the connection with personal values, work performance, identification with the mission, and community life. This chapter reveals that religious universities are for workplace spirituality a natural habitat. Faculty members living out their beliefs at work feel more influential and satisfied. On the other hand, when a university shies away from a spiritual/religious mission and does not live the supreme mission of education, faculty members are more likely to feel depressed and unfulfilled. This chapter has practical implications to both universities and the corporate world alike. First, it advises universities to go back to their spiritual/religious roots primarily for the sake of faculty well-being; and second, it gives valuable insights to any organization that neglects the spiritual/religious needs of its employees.

Happiness is a contented state of emotions in life, and the perception of contentment exhibits inner peace among human beings. Contentment has associated with ecstasy, and ancient scholars have elaborated this powerful potential in their works related to the study of human attributes. This virtue has developed through constant practice and meditation and plays a significant role in controlling the senses. It comes from the churning of the self, which is called svāydhyāya, which has a vital aspect in the fields of psychology and self-management. The purpose of this chapter is to present the framework of happiness (Ānanda), which has based on the theoretical aspect of contentment, given in eminent ancient Indian texts such as Vedas, Upanishads, and Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, and described a balanced path to happiness that indicates “contentment” (santosha) as a primary originator of happiness. These texts also advocate the practice of yamas and niyamas for developing and maintaining happiness and well-being at work. Despite plentiful literature available on the concept of happiness, there remains a new prospect of research in the field of happiness along with contentment, and this chapter not only offers insights on realizing integrated well-being, happiness, and contentment ethically but also prolongs a new outlook in the realm of happiness literature, which can enhance and substantiate the “well-being” concepts of modern times.

Employee burnout leads to several ramifications that could be debilitating for the employees affected by it and their organizations. Burnout is marked by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and weakened personal accomplishment (Golembiewski and Munzenrider 1981). The chapter posits that workplace spirituality can act as an antidote to employee burnout. The chapter proposes an indirect linkage between workplace spirituality and burnout in employees by studying organizational trust as an intervening variable; arguing the role of workplace spirituality in fostering trust through strengthening the positive beliefs and attitudes towards the employing organization. Theoretically, the chapter complements the growing literature on workplace spirituality by outlining in detail its effects on burnout. Practically, the chapter provides actionable cues for organizational practitioners to address and counter the syndrome of burnout by integrating spirituality in organizations.

Living and working in such a contemporary society that is characterized by the techno-economic ongoing and fragmentary developments; it is no wonder that individuals living in such a society are struggling with issues that might lead them to experience anxiety and stress in their daily lives including the time they spend at their workplaces. Such a psychological status, might be endangering the harmony at the workplace and might in turn have a direct negative impact on those individuals not only on their workplace behaviour and attitude but on their overall well-being. This chapter endeavors to establish a relationship between the existence of “ethical mindset” in an individual and the overall “well-being” of that individual. Thus, this chapter commences with a presentation of a brief background coupled with a literature review on issues relating to “workplace well-being” and “ethical mindset,” its components, and its dimensions. It is worthwhile to note here that the “ethical mindset” was defined through research conducted deriving from two literatures, namely, “spirituality” and “aesthetics.” This literature review leads to the introduction of a brief “case study” demonstrating the impact of having an “ethical mindset” on the “well-being” of an individual who is featured in this case study. The chapter concludes with pleas and appeals to academics and researchers for further research in this area which might assist in the reduction of mental ill health of employees, which might be a result of stress and anxiety in the workplace, which might face any worker no matter what level of seniority they are in or at which industry they work in or from which background they come from.

Strategies for implementing the agenda of employee wellbeing in workspace need to avoid manipulation of social behavior that puts pressure on an employee’s capabilities of agency and freedom of choice. The world wisdom traditions offer solutions which reassign the locus of control over wellbeing to the individual and suggest methods of modifying experience directly, not via modifications of one’s environment. Such intentional self-constitution produces a variety of internal experiences, all of which are characterized by wellbeing. Phenomenological analysis of these experiences shows the zones of internal architecture of experience in which ordinary experience changes into experience of wellbeing. Such “locations” include the sphere of intersubjectivity and the stratum of the so-called passive synthesis responsible for the constitution of emotions. Critical analysis of traditional practices shows that the practice of mindfulness leads to wellbeing via modifications of intersubjectivity – that is, relationships with others – and that the embodied practice of Kundalini Yoga transforms emotions and feelings so that they become more wholesome. These intentional wisdom practices enable one’s control over the experience of wellbeing beyond the scope of wellbeing’s dependence on the condition of workspace. Not all practices can be compatible with workspace: for example, practices that produce dissociate experience of wellbeing (e.g., so-called nonduality) are not compatible with participation in the workflow. Developing personal strategies to directly accentuate the positive aspects of subjective experience so that it turns into an experience of wellbeing has its limits but can greatly enhance wellbeing in the workspace.

Toxic leaders and toxic leadership practices cause many problems for organizations and individuals. It has become apparent that such leaders consistently lead organizations to failure in the long run and hurt personal and health well-being of individuals. Within this context toxic leadership practices may also cause increase in workplace bullying behaviors among followers, and they play an important role on this relationship. They would be witness of the process, and they either vaguely accept or try to stop the process. However, if it does not stop, one of the possible solutions for victims may come from in the form of coping strategies. It is the argument that coping strategies may not be able stop abusive behavior of bullies but it helps victims to alleviate stress-related mental and health issues in the short and long term. This chapter looks for answers to the question that how under toxic leadership workplace bullying victims struggle and engage into coping strategies in order to reduce stress-related health and mental problems and what is the role of followers in this process if there is any.

Work is fundamental to human flourishing. A toxic work environment can lead to work alienation and disengagement, adverse to human flourishing. Toxic leadership, including sexual harassment by managers, a form of bullying, creates a toxic work environment. Workers value transparency and fairness. The typical way that sexual harassment complaints are resolved in work organizations involves mandatory arbitration and nondisclosure agreements. Not only are these processes non-transparent, but they also enable the continuation of the toxic behavior. The #MeToo movement led to whistleblowing about sexual harassment at the Weinstein Company, Fox News, CBS, NBC, and Uber. Investigations conducted at Uber, following a complaint by a female engineer posted on a public blog, resulted in the resignation of the founder of Uber as CEO and widespread change in corporate procedures, including performance management and compensation systems. New York, New Jersey, and California all have prohibited secret nondisclosure agreements settling sexual harassment complaints. High-tech companies including Uber, Microsoft, Facebook, and Google have voluntarily abandoned mandatory arbitration of sexual harassment claims. Significant culture change is required to eradicate sexual harassment in the workplace, so that the sex roles of female workers are not defined as salient, but rather female workers are judged in terms of the effectiveness of their job performance. Performance management and compensation systems for executives are required to create real culture change in work organizations. The focus on improving organizational transparency and fairness would appropriately be expanded including race harassment and gender identity issues in the workplace.

This chapter will highlight the detrimental effects of workplace bullying which includes the range of problems like absenteeism, loss of productivity, stress, mental health issues, and suicides. Over the years, workplace bullying, incivility, teasing, mistreating, and harassment have become widespread and need to be addressed. Bullying can range from being harmless to impolite demeanor and abusive conduct to other more damaging forms of torment where one weak person humiliates, threatens, or intimidates another person by keeping him or her on tenterhooks. Workplace bullying exists in organizations between the boss or a person with authority and his subordinate or between the co-workers. It manifests in many forms leading to mental stress, unproductivity, loss of talented resources, and harming the self-esteem of the targeted individual. Many organizations have policies to curb bullies but find it hard to detect bullying as the bullies smartly carry on within the lines of the organization. This chapter will explore and understand the concept of workplace bullying and the reasons that basically lead to this behavior. It is quite essential for workplaces to nip workplace bullies at the budding stage to ultimately promote a healthy workplace environment. The chapter will further discuss the policies regarding workplace bullying across the world. On the whole, this chapter will deliver an encompassing outlook over the concept of workplace bullying and its impact on employees’ mental health and self-worth.

The vast majority of change initiatives fail to meet their objectives, and most decimate their organization’s levels of engagement in the process. The effect of plummeting employee engagement during turbulent times creates a downward spiral that can result in permanent damage to the organizational culture and capabilities. This phenomenon has led some to believe that change can only be achieved at the cost of employee engagement and that engagement can only be improved during periods of stability. Our work suggests that this is a false dichotomy. Through careful planning and active management, some organizations utilize these times of change to deploy strengths-based, positive approaches to successfully deliver their change agenda while simultaneously cultivating greater work meaningfulness and engagement. In this chapter, we examine a case study that demonstrates, through the use of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as one such approach, how taking on aggressive change initiatives in this manner can be leveraged as an opportunity for widescale reinvention of the organization, enabling greater work meaningfulness, engagement, and flourishing.

This chapter reports on 21 in-depth interviews in the UK and USA with corporate employees who were currently working or had previously worked with a toxic leader in the form of a corporate psychopath. This is thus a chapter that is concerned with the impact on well-being of working with a corporate psychopath. Corporate psychopathy was defined using a measure of psychopathy involving prototypical characteristics such as lying, cheating, egocentricity, emotional unresponsiveness, and grandiosity. A contribution of the chapter is that it answers the call for research which links the destructive leadership literature with employee well-being. Research participants in both countries reported that their well-being was affected by psychopathic leadership, with reports of stress-related illnesses and depression, including suicidal thoughts. The chapter concludes that corporate psychopaths, in both the UK and USA, appear to have a similar protocol for achieving their objectives and achieve similar results. This protocol involves using loud, regular, public bullying combined with threats of violence to create a fearful, cowed, and compliant workforce who can the more easily be manipulated and controlled by the abusive corporate psychopath. Research participants in both the USA and UK suffered from severely reduced well-being because of this common experience.

For decades, women in leadership have been trying to “reimagine the future of workplace well-being” in order to instigate human flourishing. In 2009, a research team formed at Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology to better understand the issues that women in leadership face regarding work-life balance. This group formed a qualitative research study to investigate the phenomenon of women leaders who are juggling the demands of multiple roles at work and at home. The research team, led by Dr. Margaret J. Weber, is now in its tenth year and has grown to be more than 25 researchers working with a dataset representing over 600 women in various age groups, ethnicities, geographic regions, global perspectives, cultural thoughts, and professional expertise. The team has evolved and produced a series of books, articles, conference presentations, and friendships. As a result of this research project, women are reimagining ways to integrate work and family in order to reach human flourishing. The results from the study are shared in this chapter.

The pursuit for finding purpose, meaning, fulfilment, and joy at work has proved to be an important consideration for the employees, the organization, and the society at large. Certain theories have focused on how people experience a calling or spiritual endeavor through a journey of self-transcendence. Various predictors of meaning at work arise from factors including the self, work orientation, task significance, and job crafting. Other predictors may be found in the development of interpersonal relations, while these relationships may have a profound effect on people’s impact at work and their personal well-being. Furthermore, meaning at work may be derived via the organization itself through factors such as its culture, values, purpose, and leadership. Purpose, meaningfulness, joy, and fulfilment at work come high on the agenda of both employers and employees. Overall, employees may be longing to fulfil a purpose concerned with reaching the ultimate level of happiness in a virtuous manner. The emphasis may also extend to the organization in terms of the value that the organization is offering to the society. Employees could then evaluate whether their personal lifelong purpose aligns to that of the organization and whether efforts portrayed in their work contribute toward their wider goals.

This chapter explores well-being as understood by the field of psychology and organizational studies and argues that employees and organizations could benefit from adopting an understanding of well-being grounded in Aristotle’s notion of eudaimonia. The implications for management practice are discussed. The first section will outline the hedonic and eudaimonic approaches to well-being adopted by psychology scholars and highlight some associated issues. The second section will explain how the approaches in psychology are reflected in organizational scholarship. Both hedonic and eudaimonic approaches have been adapted to account for the psychological aspect of employee well-being through the constructs of job satisfaction on the one hand and meaning and engagement on the other (De Simone, Int J Bus Soc Sci 5(12):118, 2014; Grant et al., Acad Manag Perspect 21(3):51–63, 2007). In the third section, the authors argue that eudaimonist psychology scholars in particular have misinterpreted Aristotle’s understanding of eudaimonia by divorcing it from its philosophical foundations (Sison and Ferrero, Bus Ethics 24:S78–S98, 2015). The authors propose a more comprehensive notion of well-being which acknowledges its dependence on philosophical roots. The implications for the practice of managing employees are discussed in the fourth section based on the work of Melé (J Bus Ethics 120(4):457–471, 2014). Domènec Melé places human persons and their flourishing at the center of managing in organizations, but his notion of well-being differs from eudaimonic psychologist and organizational scholars because of his understanding of the human person. In the final section of the chapter, the authors demonstrate how the adoption of a truly neo-Aristotelian understanding of eudaimonia would be more beneficial to employees and organizations in the long run.

Well-being is a multifaceted concept in the context of welfare for human enterprise. The Eastern spiritual traditions take a holistic approach to well-being that places human beings in an ecological/natural context. Maharishi Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras are an ancient scripture that provides a comprehensive, multilevel toolkit of principles and practices leading up to union with pure consciousness, or kaivalya. This chapter will describe the eight limbs of Yoga Sutras that provide well-being at the level of the individual as well as the society. It will then describe some famous case studies of yogis creating collective well-being using parts of the Yoga Sutras in unique entrepreneurial ways to achieve success for whole societies. Mahatma Gandhi raised the moral well-being of the Indian population through the practice of yamas and niyamas. Swami Ramdev is helping improve mental and physical well-being of millions of people using asanas and pranayama. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi helped relieve the stress and anxieties of millions of people, especially in the Western world, and gave them a taste of blissful living through the practices of dhyana and samadhi. We will explore how existing and new tools based on the Yoga Sutras can help unite humanity and address the complex challenges in the service of universal flourishing.

This chapter gives an overview of the research on toxic leadership with regard to its definitions and the different ways in which toxic leadership has been dimensioned and measured. The chapter describes predictors of toxic leadership, poisonous effects of toxic leadership on employees, and organizational outcomes as well as a toxic leadership process. The author describes possible ways employees, HR personnel, and organizations may cope with and manage toxic leaders as well as the bright sides of toxic leadership with regard to its positive effects for individuals and organizations. Lastly, this chapter proposes future directions for researchers and practitioners.

Employee engagement can be considered one of the essential keys to organizational success because it is inextricably linked with other factors, such as employee retention, morale, and productivity. When employees are not engaged in their work, organizations lose a lot of money on absenteeism, lost productivity, and turnover. The act of engaging employees lies directly on the employee’s manager. In order for managers to be able to engage employees, managers must be engaged in their work themselves. Thus, organizations’ learning how to effectively engage managers is the first step toward being successful in engaging employees. This chapter will explore the factors that are predictors of employee engagement.

People can discover joy and fulfillment as a by-product of finding the meaning of life; these personal discoveries emerge when people at work at their vocations make conscious choices that become transformative. Purpose is an outgrowth of meaning in concrete situations. God designed people to work as co-workers, but through the Fall in Genesis 3, alienation entered every sphere of human existence, including human work. At the same time, work is to be celebrated in a balanced rhythm with other aspects of life, e.g., re-creation. Jesus ushers in the fulfilled kingdom of God, and yet the very kingdom still looks to the consummation at the end of the age. Jesus offers a new way of looking at creation, the human person, and responsible work in between the ages. His person, words, and works, including his redemptive death and God’s vindication through the resurrection and ascension, provide the new lens through which people can view themselves, their families, community, co-workers, workplace, vocation, and future. When work alienates, a job dehumanizes people. Conversely, to the extent that a job is viewed as a “new creation,” work humanizes persons. Purpose, joy, and fulfillment are crowded out by numerous forms of egoism, yet the biblical writers offer antidotes to combat the various faces of alienation. God is a God of great joy who wills joy for the people of God; they are designed to flourish – not simply survive. Jesus himself embodies the very heart of God and God’s ultimate plan for the world for beauty, justice, peace, and joy.

This chapter offers a fresh look at the practice of corporate mindfulness, including practical tips from theoretical, philosophical, and practical viewpoints. Its objective is to present particular interest to corporate leaders, HR managers, independent business owners, stakeholders, government entities, nongovernmental organizations, and employees – at any rank – who hope to improve the health and well-being of individuals, companies, and societies throughout the world. Mindfulness has come a long way in the West; it has truly become a buzzword, and mindfulness training is booming. From its origins from Far Eastern wisdom traditions, especially Buddhism, it has found its way in secular form to the world of medicine through the groundbreaking work of Jon Kabat-Zinn (Full catastrophe living: how to cope with stress, pain and illness using mindfulness meditation. Piatkus, London, 2013). Mindfulness is an integrative, mind-body-based approach that, with practice, can help people learn to stay in the present moment. By giving them choices to respond – rather than hastily react – mindfulness can alter the way individuals experience stressful moments in life. Given the increasing pressure already felt by many managers and employees worldwide, it should not come as a surprise that mindfulness is presently and will continue to make significant strides in the workplace.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all member states of the United Nations in 2015, aspires to develop global peace and prosperity for current and future generations. At the core of this plan are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that require countries and stakeholders to work in collaborative partnerships to achieve this transformational vision ( https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/ ). This plan of action fundamentally challenges our existing ideas of growth and development that, while offering many benefits, have also generated negative side effects that increasingly challenge individual quality of life and societal level sustainability. In order for us to make authentic progress toward social and environmental sustainability, our prevailing mind-set and understanding of prosperity requires a shift to accommodate critical measures such as well-being and happiness (Eisler 2007). Increasingly, global issues, including the “wicked problems” of sustainability (Brown, Harris, Russell 2010), are imposing pressure on the human mind, leading to abrupt, fragmented, and often mindless actions impacting the quality of human interactions and, in turn, hindering the solutions to these problems. Mindfulness practice, where mindfulness is defined as the act of focusing on the present moment without judgment, without reaction, and with an open heart (Kabat-Zinn 2015), has implications for both individual and societal flourishing (O’Brien 2012). This chapter provides an overview of a decade of literature that has explored linkages between mindfulness practice, subjective well-being, decision-making, integrative thinking, sustainability, and sustainable happiness from the individual to the societal level. Recommendations are made for future research that will help us to better understand the impact that mindfulness practice can have on sustainable happiness and global well-being.

Mindfulness has become quite popular. Both in scientific research and within regular media, the attention for the beneficial effects of mindfulness has increased. In the business world, claims on the effectiveness of mindfulness for well-being, focus, and performance are thrown around rather carelessly. In recent years, organizations are also providing more mindfulness courses for their employees. In the academic world, research on mindfulness in general, as well as on the effect of mindfulness in organizations, is on the rise. As a reaction to the increased “hype,” some scientists are concerned about overstatements on the effectiveness of “McMindfulness,” and the lack of ethical framework surrounding the application of mindfulness in both treatment settings and organizations. Therefore, it is important to remain critical and to develop a nuanced view on the effectiveness and use of mindfulness for both leaders and their employees in organizations. In this review chapter, we provide an overview on the research on leader mindfulness and the possible working mechanisms, after which we formulate some critical remarks and give practical evidence-based advice on the application of mindfulness in organizations. Although mindfulness seems to have beneficial effects on leader and employee well-being, our goal is to provide a nuanced view of the up-to-date research on leader mindfulness, to support future research, theory building, and practical applications in the work place.

Wakefulness is reviewed in this chapter as a critical characteristic for leaders. It is described as the way of an awakened leader and an effective way to secure flourishing workplaces. Wakefulness is subdivided into three dimensions: internal, external, and integrated. Each of these dimensions is briefly reviewed. In a review of ways for wakeful leaders to create flourishing workplaces, the chapter discusses two critical strategic foundations: (1) the macro-to-micro approach, in which leaders first consider the macro needs and then formulate ways to fulfill those needs, and (2) ecumenical learning, in which the well-being of all stakeholders is considered. In the macro-to-micro approach, profits are reformatted from a starting point to a rewarding consequence of need-fulfilling actions, and gratification of all stakeholders at all levels is guaranteed. Five considerations are thereby provided, which leaders could use as a guide toward implementing the macro-to-micro approach. In the discussion of ecumenical learning, a comprehensive and revolutionary style of organizational learning, the chapter presents a number of factors to be considered, from the moment a deviation surfaces or an insight for a change in the status quo appears to the evaluation of the ramifications of this application to stakeholders inside and outside the direct organizational or even industrial environment.

Emotions and their expression are controlled and managed in organizations by a wide range of formal and informal means that may have functional or dysfunctional consequences for the well-being.The aim of this study was to explore, whether, and in what ways, business academics are emotionally labored. The methodology adopted was based upon Charmaz’ constructivist grounded theory (CGT). Thirty-eight business school academics from three Australian universities, with varied experience and employment status, participated in the study. Data were collected and analyzed through interviews and open-ended questionnaires to explore the enactment and management of emotions in their work.The study revealed that business academics emotionally labor as a way of navigating commercialization, work intensification, massification, managerialism, and an audit culture in their university environments. Strategic behaviors involving emotional labor gave rise to some positive outcomes, but running through the data were themes of negative consequences raising concern about the well-being of academics. To satisfy student (“customer”) satisfaction, and profit margins expected by management, academics reported both the suppression of negative genuine emotions and, in other cases, the expression and accentuation of positive emotions not felt. Emotional labor was associated with stress, frustration, feelings of disempowerment, loss of autonomy, and other behavior damaging to personal well-being. The authors conclude that universities need to do more to address academic emotional labor and consequent well-being issues, not simply by adopting strategies to assist academics to cope but by taking responsibility for the negative outcomes of commercialization, managerialism, intense competition, and work intensification.

Leading management scholars have long questioned the premises of management theory and practice (Gladwin et al. 1995; Hart 2005). Several societal and religious leaders like Pope Francis and his predecessors have given voice to many citizens around the globe who have been losing trust in the current economic and political systems as the number of societal challenges is increasing (Adams 2012; Edelman 2011). The leading academic institution of business school professors, the Academy of Management (AOM), claims to “foster [] a philosophy of management” that serves “the public’s interests” (AMJ Editors 1958). Yet, many scholars suggest that management scholarship has largely failed to contribute to the common good (Walsh et al. 2003). Already 20 years ago, AOM’s then president, Donald Hambrick, remarked about the lack of relevance of AOM’s work to society (Hambrick 1994). This tendency has been bemoaned with increasing frequency since (Aguinis and Pierce 2008; Hambrick 1994; Walsh et al. 2003), because very few contributions discuss profound and alternative managerial solutions to environmental degradation, the dangers of climate change, or increasing social inequities (Hahn et al. 2010; Hambrick 1994). This contribution is exploring reasons for why current management thought and practice is not in line with what many citizens expect and suggest. It also outlines a paradigmatic alternative to organizing and management: a humanistic paradigm that protects dignity and promotes well-being.

The topic of well-being and flourishing is a dual-sided story that often communicates benefits enjoyed by one group without sharing the associated costs levied on others. Such costs are rarely revealed by those who have no voice, opportunity, or desire to communicate details describing their experiences on the other side of the well-being equation. As such, this work invites a conversation around well-being and human flourishing that communicates a personal, inner language using stories of people viewed as objects within the mainstream society. Object theory has been used to explain how physical objects can inform us of a past reality, whether the existence of a societal condition or an historical event. In a broader description, object relations theory has been applied extensively in psychoanalytic psychology to explain both the process of developing a psyche in relation to others and, by adding psychodynamic and shadow self theories, better understand how people relate to others and situations in their lives as shaped by perceptions and past experiences. In this study, we use stories, the extant literature, and real-life experiences captured using Photovoice as a research approach to personify object theory and apply it to people today who represent objects in institutions and societies. The topic is of interest in management as an adverse organizational condition that can erode authenticity and create structural bias in business settings which can inadvertently extend to business practices and decisions. We use this concept to explain a central shortcoming in management that hinders the productivity of organizations when leaders subjugate people as objects for the good of the organization. We offer an alternative view of the spiritual relationships that can exist between people in community that serves to develop healthy business environments and improve organizational outcomes.

Yoga and Ayurveda are two ancient traditions originating from India that emphasize multidimensional and holistic well-being of all. Workplace well-being holds a significant place for people considering the centrality of work in their lives and the sheer amount of time and effort expended. Discussing well-being from the perspectives of Yoga and Ayurveda, the chapter has three main objectives. The first objective is to elucidate the contemporary view of health, well-being, and flourishing while highlighting the prominence of workplace well-being. The second objective is to explain the common philosophy and the fundamental concepts of gunas, doshas and their vital essences, and the panchakosha that lie at the core of the two traditions to present an integrated view of well-being. And the third objective is to discuss the implications of the philosophy, view of well-being, and the underlying practices of Yoga and Ayurveda with respect to workplace and the domain of management.

This chapter aims to uncover the role of psychological safety on the relationship between interactional injustice and innovative work behavior. Psychological safety as one of the indicators of psychological well-being can yield positive individual- and organizational-level outcomes. Although a number of studies focused on the antecedents of innovative work behavior, studies that address innovative work behavior through an integrative approach remain scarce. The results of this study show that the interactional injustice perceptions of employees hinder their innovative behavior by diminishing their psychological safety. Thus, this current study denotes the detrimental role of interactional injustice in the psychological safety and discretionary behaviors of individuals.

Discussions about the self and self-leadership give knowledge of various perspectives. Many leadership theories focus on the psychological and intellectual motors of positive change in human activity which are internal to the agent. Self-leadership focuses on the capacity to direct one’s choices and actions through internal convictions and intrinsic motivation. The process of directing oneself to achieve certain goals takes for granted that the individual is capable of performing normal intellectual activity. However, there are some neurological prerequisites that ensure the normal healthy functioning. These biological requirements are often the object of exploration in neuroscience as the field of study seeks to enrich the knowledge and contribute to a holistic understanding of human beings. This chapter explores the neuroscientific dimensions that underlie elements of self-leadership. It sheds light on the role of normal biology for attaining fulfillment in all human activity, including those carried out in the workplace, given that a large chunk of the human being’s wakeful and productive hours of the day are spent at work. One can thus see that the theoretical dimensions of self-leadership, often observable in their behavioral manifestations, are connected to the empirical biological dynamics in the human body as described with neuroscientific research.

The concept of wellbeing is certainly not new. Both employers and employees continue to find ways and strategies for improving and sustaining wellbeing at the individual and organizational levels. The chapter attempts to address the issues and challenges in developing institutional strategies. Employees are motivated to enhance and sustain improved levels of wellbeing to be able to contribute to work as well as their satisfaction with life in general. The personal level emphasis for the employee is important and also a focus of the chapter. In order to address institutional and personal level approaches to wellbeing, a primary goal of the chapter is to review recent literature on wellbeing, identify key constructs or dimensions that constitute wellbeing, develop a conceptual model, and present implications for practice. The review of literature on wellbeing offers a way to conceptualize a model and a typology for understanding the different dimensions that constitute wellbeing as well as present an emergent model. The new model offers implications for managers as they harness the full potential and value of their employees by developing and deploying practical strategies for workplace wellbeing.

The importance of gratefulness and acknowledgment has been described in the ancient literary writings of Vedas, Upanishads, and other scriptures as effective tools for motivation. Even various scholars have articulated these terminologies through folktales and explicated their use and effect in people’s lives. Employees should be respected for their humanity as a virtue, and not that just as a targeted workforce by the organization. Thankfulness, gratitude, and acknowledgment are related expression of gratefulness which have been found useful for the leaders in enhancing the efficiency of a team or group because respecting people at work means regarding the divinity in them and giving value to their efforts. While recognizing the humanity and morality in the workplace, this chapter also emphasizes to observe and protect the employee’s human rights as a moral obligation of an organization. This study has included the relevant lessons and practices from various works of literature to identify the implication of “respect and recognition” as the most crucial principle of any organization to maintain well-being at the workplace. This work based on abiding human values will prove to be beneficial, and enriching, and provides an alternative perspective of learning modern management approaches.

This chapter explores the subjective health concepts in family therapy trainees (FTTs) in a systemic family therapy (SFT) organizational training setting in which individuals study to become certified family therapists (FTs) within a 3-year training period. Subjective health concepts and their development within organizational contexts are studied. The aim of the chapter is to contribute to a discourse on the development of subjective, personal health concepts and their impact on the development of a broader organizational culture of health and well-being. The chapter is based on a longitudinal hermeneutical case study design. The sample consisted of 65 FTTs, enrolled for a 3-year training course in SFT to become future FTs. Questionnaires were used to collect data with three measurements, one measurement per year of the FTTs. The data was analyzed through content analysis. The findings show that subjective health concepts of FTTs changed over the 3-year training period with regard to perceptions on aspects that support health and how professional health is conceptualized within the organizational training context. The development of subjective health concepts has implications for the FTTs’ work and their perceptions, attitude, and behavior in therapeutical work contexts. The findings provide further insights on how subjective health concepts develop in professional FTTs, who work within social and therapeutical organizations, and how this impacts on the broader organizational well-being. The conclusions indicate how subjective health concepts and organizational well-being relate and recommendations for future theory and practice regarding the development of FTTs’ health concepts on a personal and organizational level are given.

Hiring and advancing individuals based upon talent, credentials, proven performance, and level of determination is often obscured by exclusionary employment practices and discriminatory – whether latent and patent – mindsets. While ethical workplace decisions are generally predicated upon a fundamental understanding of fairness and a commitment to making the right decisions for all workers, oftentimes employers fail to exercise uniform and equitable judgment until there is mandatory direction. Thus, ethics in the workplace often starts with the law, its comprehensive understanding, and the unwavering compliance with all relevant legislative enactments. In recent years, judicial interpretation of anti-gender discrimination laws in the USA has embraced a more liberal definition and application, arguably fostering a more inclusive atmosphere in the workplace.

A decades-long decline in job satisfaction in the United States has inspired researchers and practitioners to seek out changes that might explain the trend and suggest solutions. The numbers remain dismally low, with half of American workers still declaring they are dissatisfied with their jobs. One prognosis that has been offered for this long-term trend is increasing role conflict. There is evidence that demographic, cultural, and even political shifts resulted in an increase in role conflict issues for American workers. Many organizations have made an effort to address the issue, adding perquisites such as company-provided daycare, flextime, family-leave plans, and even concierge services. Meanwhile, these same organizations, ironically often as part of their diversity initiatives, have implemented policies which segregate workers from their deeply held values. Religious role conflict has been virtually ignored by both scholars and industry. This chapter will examine the issue of religious role conflict in modern organizations and suggest actions which emancipate worker values as a potentially effective treatment.

Stoicism is a school of ancient Greco-Roman philosophy whose influence has persisted to the present day. This exploratory chapter presents the ethical philosophy of Stoicism as a guide to personal and professional flourishing and well-being. A philosophical system founded around 301 BC in Athens by Zeno of Citium (c. 334–262 BC), Stoicism was later developed by its three best known Roman practitioners: Seneca (c. 4 BC–65 AD), Epictetus (c. 55–135 AD), and Marcus Aurelius (121–180 AD). It lays great emphasis on resilience and mental freedom gained from living a life of moral virtue in accordance with nature, thereby gaining a state of “imperturbable tranquility.” As a robust philosophy and way of life, through the ages, Stoicism has inspired a wide range of writers, thinkers, and practitioners such as Shakespeare, Montaigne, Goethe, Kant, Alexander Pope, Nietzsche, Pascal, Descartes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, John Steinbeck, Victor Frankl, Michel Foucault, Pierre Hadot, Tom Wolfe, JK Rowling, and Admiral James Stockdale. Stoicism is especially an excellent philosophy for those in positions of power and leadership and for those in high-stress jobs. Additionally, Stoicism has inspired many modern approaches to personal development (such as “Self-Help” movement), influenced logotherapy and psychotherapy (in particular, cognitive behavioral therapy and its precursor, rational emotive behavior therapy). It is also popular with the US military and the National Health Services (NHS) in the UK.After briefly reviewing the history, development, and key tenets of Stoicism, this chapter will focus on the writings of Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius to distill perspectives and strategies that can serve as pathways to living a life that is eudaimôn, the term the ancient Greek philosophers used for a life “well-lived” marked by “happiness,” “fulfillment,” or “flourishing.” As a case in point, the chapter will illustrate Stoicism as a source of resilient leadership through the life example of Admiral James Stockdale, who endured 7 1/2 years of extreme torture as naval POW in Hanoi Hilton, Vietnam, sustained by the teachings of Stoicism as his unassailable “inner citadel” and main survival kit. Stoicism seems ideally suited for leadership development and the pursuit of well-being since it has its core as character, self-mastery, and purposeful action – the hallmarks of effective leadership and flourishing. Of all the Western philosophies, Stoicism seems perhaps the most immediately relevant and useful for our turbulent times. The practice of stoic philosophy will benefit medical doctors, psychotherapists, nurses, military service men and women, entrepreneurs, politicians, attorneys, social workers, and law and order personnel, to name a few.