Australians and New Zealanders have the highest level of wellness in the workplace, according to a new global study from The Myers-Briggs Company. But what exactly influences well-being at work?

Of the six factors identified by researchers, a person’s ability to cultivate professional relationships emerged as the most influential.

Having “supportive, meaningful relationships” at work is something organisations need to foster between employees, the researchers said.

Defined as “mutual feelings of caring, support and satisfaction,” the ‘relationship factor’ scored 7.85 on the study’s 10-point scale. This was followed by:

Meaning – having a sense of purpose or direction (7.69)

Accomplishments – the pursuit of success or ‘mastery for its own sake’ (7.66)

Engagement – deep psychological connection and absorption in an activity or cause (7.43)

Positive emotion – frequent feelings of happiness, contentment and pleasure (7.19)

Negative emotion – low levels of anxiety, pessimism and depression (3.79)

Achieving higher levels of workplace wellness purportedly leads to higher levels of satisfaction and commitment among employees.

“These findings indicate there are benefits from improving workplace wellbeing for both individual employees and the performance of organisations,” the researchers noted.

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