Työyhteisön kehittämisen yhteys työhyvinvointiin ja työkykyyn teknologiateollisuudessa

Health challenges of employees, smaller age groups and early retirements cause a great need for maintaining ability to work and to improve wellbeing. The goal of this research was to investigate the effects of participatory wellbeing development projects on employees’ wellbeing and ability to work. The research focussed on companies in the Finnish technology industries. The research built on existing literature about wellbeing at work, and examined the impacts of implemented development projects in selected companies through asking the following questions: 1) How did employees’ wellbeing at work improve during the follow-up period of one to two years?, 2) What aspects and actions improved the personnel’s subjectively experienced wellbeing at work?, 3) What aspects affected the success or failure of the development projects?
This research was conducted in co-operation with the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries, and utilized the ‘Personal radar’ –survey data collected in the ‘Good work – Longer career’ -programme. From on this statistical survey, the data of 18 companies was selected as background data for this licentiate’s thesis. The background data consisted of employee surveys done in 2011 (n= 2970), and in 2012–13 (n= 2512). Based on the statistical data from the 18 companies, the researcher selected 10 companies for her qualitative research: five companies well advanced in wellbeing at work, three somewhat advanced, and two that had regressed. The researcher collected the qualitative data from these companies between 2013 and 2014 via semi-structured interviews of altogether 43 key persons.
In the thesis, the ‘House of Work Ability’-model of the ‘Good work – Longer career’ -programme was applied as a theoretical framework. The researched companies used the ‘Company Radar’ as a participatory development method.
The research produces new knowledge about the enablers of wellbeing and ability to work, and introduces a model of leading and developing of wellbeing at work. The results propose that the development of the work community has a positive impact on personnel wellbeing and ability to work. Management commitment to the development of wellbeing at work and its goals is an important prerequisite for the improvement of wellbeing, and for the success of the individual development projects in organizations.