Up to one in five Australians are “languishing” and dissatisfied with their work, which is having a potentially billion-dollar impact on productivity, according to a new five-year study.
Australian organisational wellbeing company Be Well Co spent the last five years studying 16,000 Australians’ mental health, and the impact of this on the wider workforce.
The research found that just under 20 per cent of participants -- about 3,200 people – were “languishing”, something the study defined as a “mental state where people have low levels of mental health, or mental wellbeing” and a “feeling of being dissatisfied with our life, who we are and where our life is headed”.
“Languishing is not only a significant risk factor for future mental illness, it is a form of suffering in the now,” Be Well Co CEO Dr Joep van Agteren said.
“It significantly impacts how we behave in day-to-day life, the way we interact with the people we love, and how well we feel and perform at work.”
If the Be Well Co research is extrapolated, that means that up to 5 million Australians could be languishing.
Low wellbeing in an employee can cost about $3,770 per year, meaning languishing could be costing more than $43 billion annually in lost productivity.
Languishing involves an individual feeling “joyless or stuck”, and means they are more likely to experience a mental or physical illness in the future.
“Languishing is a sense of stagnation and emptiness,” organisational psychologist Professor Adam Grant said in the report.
“It feels as if you’re muddling through your days, looking at your life through a foggy windshield.”
Languishing’s impact on workplaces
The report found that languishing is significantly impacting Australian workplaces.
“Workplaces need to pay attention to languishing because our data suggests that people who languish struggle with work engagement, are less productive and experience burnout more often,” the Be Well Co report said.
“This ultimately leads to decreased productivity, lower engagement and less innovation. “Languishing employees feel stagnant, which can lead to lower morale, increase staff turnover and it creates a negative work environment for all.
“Languishing affects not only individual performance and team dynamics, it inhibits overall organisational health and stifles growth.”
The study found that of those who were experiencing languishing, more than one in five never or rarely felt like they were filled with energy when they were at work, while 13 per cent never or rarely felt enthusiasm for the work they were doing.
Five per cent of the workers who were languishing felt unsatisfied with their work relationships and unsatisfied with their job in general, and were twice as likely to experience burnout than those who were flourishing in their personal lives.
“It is the difference between whether someone is enthusiastic about the work they are doing, have the energy and focus to do their job well, and be successful,” the report said.
An unhealthy workforce
A number of recent reports have found that Australian workers are struggling with their mental and physical health, which is being compounded by cost-of-living pressures and difficulties in finding a new job.
A report from earlier this year found that more than three in five Australians may look for a new job this year, driven by dissatisfaction with their current role.
The report found this was largely based around anger at their current salary and led workers to feel under-valued in their current role.
One tactic that could be implemented by Australian workplaces to address the significant issue of worker wellbeing is a four-day working week, with numerous studies finding this can have hugely beneficial impacts for individuals and in terms of productivity.
