Exploring workplace well-being strategies in Iranian public organizations: a mixed methods study

• Date: 09 October 2024
• Pages: 913-934
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-02-2024-0031
• Published date: 09 October 2024
• Subject Matter: Public policy & environmental management,Politics,Public adminstration & management
• Author: Raziyeh Ghanbary Vanani,Hassan Danaee Fard,Seyed Hossein Kazemi,Jalil Delkhah

Exploring workplace well-being

strategies in Iranian public

organizations: a mixed

methods study

Raziyeh Ghanbary Vanani

Faculty of Management and Economics, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Hassan Danaee Fard and Seyed Hossein Kazemi

Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management and Economics,

Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran, and

Jalil Delkhah

Department of Management and Planning,

Management Studies and Technology Development Center,

Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Purpose –To ensure effective national governance, it is essential to enhance employees’ well-being in the

workplace. Employees with good mental and physical health are more likely to demonstrate a high level of

commitment and engagement in advancing public policy objectives, which serve as instruments of public

will. A comprehensive understanding of the various effective strategies to improve workplace well-being is

indispensable to formulating human resource management policies within the public sector. Therefore,

this study aims to uncover and prioritize the key strategies, programs and actions that contribute to

enhancing the workplace well-being of public employees in Iran, drawing from their perspectives and

experiences.

Design/methodology/approach –We conducted a mixed-method study incorporating both qualitative and

quantitative phases to recognize and measure these strategies. In the first phase, a qualitative content analysis

was carried out based on the perspectives of Iranian public sector employees. In the subsequent phase, a

questionnaire derived from the qualitative findings was randomly distributed to 374 employees from 14 public

organizations.

Findings –Workplace well-being strategies can be summarized according to the level of their importance as

follows: employees’ well-being through “inter-personal relationship,” “systems,” “technologies,” “structure,”

“culture” and “environment” within the organization.These strategies as six themes divided into13 categories

and 60 subcategories of programs and actions to promote employee well-being in the work setting.

Originality/value –The importance of considering employees’ perspectives on workplace well-being is

highlighted as a crucial aspect, rather than depending exclusively on managerial viewpoints for the

implementation of well-being initiatives. Adopting an integrated and holistic approach to workplace well-

being through strategies, programs and actions is another significant contribution of this study.

Keywords Workplace well-being, Human resource well-being strategies, Mixed method,

Qualitative content analysis, Public sector

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

Workplace well-being is a critical factor in determining an organization’s long-term

effectiveness (Setyoko and Kurniasih, 2022) and a crucial aspect of employee satisfaction,

productivity, and overall organizational success (Putra et al., 2024;Johar et al., 2022). The

more progressive organizations are recognizing the need to take the well-being of their

workers seriously. In this regard, many organizations prioritize employee well-being at work

by establishing a human resource management strategy that focuses on achieving the

International

Journal of Public

Sector

Management

913

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/0951-3558.htm

Received 5 February 2024

Revised 17 April 2024

22 June 2024

Accepted 23 August 2024

International Journal of Public

Sector Management

Vol. 37 No. 7, 2024

pp. 913-934

© Emerald Publishing Limited

0951-3558

DOI 10.1108/IJPSM-02-2024-0031

highest level of organizational performance under the mutual benefit approach (Ho and

Kuvaas, 2020;Li et al., 2024). Research in human resource functions highlights that the key

factor connecting all high-performance, high-commitment, and high-involvement work

systems is the focus on employee well-being (Cooper et al., 2019). Perhaps this is why

employee well-being was given the highest priority in organizational human resources in the

year 2020 (Wijngaards et al., 2021).

Based on this, it’s noteworthy that 80% of global organizations have acknowledged the

significance of employee well-being, deeming it either important or very important for the

success of their operations (Juchnowicz and Kinowska, 2021). According to Spence (2015), the

financial return on investment has further demonstrated that the anticipated cost savings of

$3 to $4 for every dollar invested in employee well-being programs are not far from

realization. In addition, based on a report from the Health and Safety Director of England for

2018–2019, 12.8 million working days were lost due to workplace stress, anxiety, and worry,

which could have been prevented by implementing employee well-being programs (Ravalier

et al., 2021).

Given the potential as mentioned earlier of well-being to improve organizational

outcomes and benefits, several research studies have explored the relationship between

employee well-being and productivity (Kowalski and Loretto, 2017;Johari et al., 2019).

The promising idea of these studies was the happy-productive worker thesis (HPWT).

HPWT suggests that “happy” workers perform better than “less happy” ones (Page and

Vella-Brodrick, 2009;Warr and Nielsen, 2018;Isham et al., 2021). However, some studies

have pointed out a major limitation in this thesis, which is the failure to address the

antecedents and contexts that enhance employee well-being within organizations

(Nielsen et al., 2017;Salas-Vallina et al., 2020). Thus, it appears that designing strategies

aimed at enhancing employees’ well-being in the workplace partially alleviates

limitations on improving productivity and individuals’ happiness. Furthermore, the

perceptions and preferences of employees significantly influence human resource

practices, including workplace well-being strategies (Zheng et al., 2015;Ogbonnaya and

Messersmith, 2019). Nonetheless, the abounding literature of employees’ well-being

suffers from the paucity of studies adopting an employee-centered perspective, as

evidenced by the studies below.

While numerous studies have examined the correlations between various variables and

employee well-being within the workplace (Khairunisa and Muafi, 2022;Al Kahtani and MM,

2022), as well as its antecedents and consequences (Na’imah et al., 2021;Putra et al., 2024),

barriers and facilitators (Quirk et al., 2018;Spence, 2015), conceptualizing and modeling well-

being at work (De Simone, 2014;Ip, 2009), or even regarding it as one facet among various

organizational variables such as the quality of work life, job satisfaction, and job burnout

(Gorgenyi-Hegyes et al., 2021;Meyers et al., 2019), there has been a notable oversight in

examining the strategies, program, and actions that promote employee well-being at work

and delving into it from the viewpoint of employees themselves.

Accordingly, to create effective organizational well-being initiatives in the Iranian public

sector, it’s essential to adopt a comprehensive and employee-centric approach to enhance

workplace well-being. Therefore, this study aims to uncover and prioritize the key strategies,

programs, and actions that contribute to enhancing the workplace well-being of public

employees in Iran, drawing from their perspectives and experiences. The two main questions

of the current study are: “What are the key strategies, programs, and actions to improve

workplace well-being for employees, as perceived by them?” and “which strategies are given

priority for employees?”. In order to answering these questions, we conducted a mixed-

methods research. Initially, the focus was on exploring strategies, programs, and actions

promoting well-being, with insights gathered from employees in Iran’s public organizations.

Subsequently, these strategies were assessed and ranked based on their significance and

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