Digital HR Leaders with David Green The Hidden ROI of Workplace Wellbeing (an Interview with Jan-Emmanuel De Neve)
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Jul 29, 2025 Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, a Professor of Economics at Oxford and co-editor of the World Happiness Report, dives deep into the importance of workplace wellbeing. He reveals how employee happiness is crucial for performance, retention, and recruitment, yet often overlooked. With insights from a vast dataset of 25 million workers, he discusses key drivers of workplace satisfaction and how AI can play a role in enhancing job fulfillment. Transforming wellbeing from a perk to a strategy is essential for organizational success.
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Social Capital Drives Job Happiness
- Social connections and sense of belonging are the main drivers of workplace happiness, more than pay or flexibility.
- Workplace well-being parallels general life satisfaction in its dependence on social capital and support.
Wellbeing Varies Within Industries
- Wellbeing scores vary dramatically even within industries, like fast food chains, highlighting the role of organizational factors.
- Large companies gather extensive wellbeing data and can identify large differences even between individual locations or teams.
Wellbeing Boosts Productivity Causally
- Higher workplace well-being causally increases worker productivity, especially in complex social tasks.
- Feeling better at work leads to better performance, with a 12% sales boost for a standard mood improvement.
