Abstract
The happy-productive worker thesis (HPWT) assumes that happy employees perform better. Given the relevance of teams and work-units in organizations, our aim is to analyze the state of the art on happy-productive work-units (HPWU) through a systematic review and integrate existing research on different collective well-being constructs and collective performance. Research on HPWU (30 studies, 2001–2018) has developed through different constructs of well-being (hedonic: team satisfaction, group affect; and eudaimonic: team engagement) and diverse operationalizations of performance (self-rated team performance, leader-rated team performance, customers’ satisfaction, and objective indicators), thus creating a disintegrated body of knowledge about HPWU. The theoretical frameworks to explain the HPWU relationship are attitude–behavior models, broaden-and-build theory, and the job-demands-resources model. Research models include a variety of antecedents, mediators, and moderating third variables. Most studies are cross-sectional, all propose a causal happy–productive relationship (not the reverse), and generally find positive significant relationships. Scarce but interesting time-lagged evidence supports a causal chain in which collective well-being leads to team performance (organizational citizenship behavior or team creativity), which then leads to objective work-unit performance. To conclude, we identify common issues and challenges across the studies on HPWU, and set out an agenda for future research.
Highlights
The happy-productive worker thesis (HPWT) has a long tradition in work and organizational psychology since the human relations movement (Hawthorne studies in the 1930s)
We review the literature on happy-productive work-units (HPWU) by placing the focus on answering three research questions: (1) Which are the main features of the conceptualization and measurement of collective well-being? (2) Which theoretical frameworks are used to explain the collective HPWU relationship and which third variables are included in HPWU research models? (3) What is the evidence for causal or reciprocal relationships between collective wellbeing and collective performance?
Literature on collective well-being has contributed to understanding the relevant role of affective processes happening in teams and work groups, which have largely been ignored compared to cognitive processes
Summary
The happy-productive worker thesis (HPWT) has a long tradition in work and organizational psychology since the human relations movement (Hawthorne studies in the 1930s). This movement showed the importance of groups in affecting the behavior of individuals at work and strongly contributed to the generalized belief that a happy worker is more productive. An influential review expanded the widespread belief that the relationship between satisfaction and job performance was just an ‘illusory correlation’ (r = 0.17) [1]. Re-calculations of those results [2] and more recent meta-analyses highlighted the job attitudes–job performance relationship as a relevant topic worth further research and applied interest (r = 0.30) [3,4]. Public Health 2020, 17, 69; doi:10.3390/ijerph17010069 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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