Gallup Study: Unhappy Workers Are Unhealthy Too

New York, January 13, 2005 -- The extent to which employees are engaged at work has a dramatic impact on their physical health and psychological well-being, according to a recent Gallup Organization study.

Among engaged employees, a clear majority -- 62% -- feel their work lives positively affect their physical health. That number plummets to 39% among "not-engaged" employees and 22% among the "actively disengaged." (For definitions, see sidebar "The Three Types of Employees.") More alarming is the fact that a majority of actively disengaged employees -- 54% -- say they think their work lives are having a negative effect on their physical health. Thirty percent of not-engaged employees and just 12% of engaged employees say the same.

Gallup's latest Employee Engagement Index appears this month in the Gallup Management Journal (GMJ). Looking at the overall numbers: 43% of employees feel their work lives affect their physical health positively, 29% say negatively, and 27% say not at all.

Isolating job categories that are more likely to be physically demanding -- such as service workers, skilled tradesmen, semi-skilled workers, and laborers -- yields little difference: 43% of such workers say their day-to-day jobs affect their physical health positively, as did 43% of those more likely to have desk jobs. Thirty-one percent of those in jobs more likely to involve physical work feel their jobs are harmful to their physical health; 28% of those in less physical jobs say the same.

Psychological well-being

The numbers are slightly better when it comes to mental health. Overall, 52% of employees say their work lives positively affect their psychological well-being, 21% feel the effect is negative, and 27% say there is no effect.

But the differences by engagement level are even more dramatic: 78% of engaged workers feel their work lives benefit them psychologically. Just under half (48%) of not-engaged employees and a meager 15% of actively disengaged employees say the same. Conversely, just over half (51%) of actively disengaged employees feel their work lives are having a negative effect on their psychological well-being, compared to 20% of not-engaged workers and just 6% of engaged workers.

The survey also asks employees whether they had three or more days in the past month when work stress caused them to behave poorly with their family or friends. Overall, almost a third (32%) say yes. But again, the differences by engagement level are striking: Just over half (51%) of actively disengaged employees say yes, compared to 35% of not-engaged employees and 18% of engaged employees.

The work-health connection

All of this leads to obvious questions: What's the connection? How can engagement with one's job have any bearing on healthfulness?

"First, as any good researcher will tell you, correlation doesn't imply causality," says Steve Crabtree, the GMJ writer who reports the findings in his article "Engagement Keeps the Doctor Away." "In this case, it may be that those who say their jobs positively affect their health are simply more optimistic overall and therefore are more likely to be engaged in their work."

But, Crabtree adds, for managers and hiring professionals, that doesn't change the implication: "Engaged employees are more likely than others to view their jobs as healthy."

Results of this survey are based on nationally representative samples of about 1,000 employed adults aged 18 and older. Interviews were conducted by telephone October 2000-October 2004 by The Gallup Organization. For results based on samples of this size, one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling and other random effects could be plus or minus three percentage points. For findings based on subgroups, the sampling error would be greater.

The Gallup Management Journal is an online journal published monthly by The Gallup Organization. For more information, go to http://gmj.gallup.com.

The Gallup Organization has studied human nature and behavior for more than 70 years. Gallup employs many of the world's leading scientists in management, economics, psychology, and sociology. Gallup performance management systems help organizations increase customer engagement and maximize employee productivity through measurement tools, coursework, and strategic advisory services. Gallup's 2,000 professionals deliver services at client organizations, through the Web, at Gallup University's campuses, and in 40 offices around the world.