Abstract for: Worklife Satisfaction – Subjective Wellbeing in the Workplace

Based on extensive evaluation of the literature on subjective wellbeing generally and the role of the workplace in particular, a model has been developed to investigate the short and longer term implications of company policies on staff wellbeing and company performance. The focus of the research is the hotel business, although the findings can be translated to many other similar businesses. A dynamic hypothesis was developed iteratively by the authors through discussion of the literature in the light of the company’s database of data, surveys and anecdotal experiences. The model seeks to identify the key dynamics linking company performance and worklife satisfaction, i.e. that component of subjective wellbeing that is influenced by the workplace environment. Factors considered include the labour budget and the role of managers in the business, including how their own actions are affected by company performance, and how their actions influence the worklife satisfaction of their staff. As examples of the application of the model, experiments are documented including those associated with changing market conditions, work hours allocation and changes in payrates. Some counter-intuitive behaviour is observed, highlighting the dynamic complexity of the business environment.