Thriving from Work: Conceptualization and Measurement

Abstract

Work is a major contributor to our health and well-being. Workers’ thriving is directly influenced by their job design, work environment and organization. The purpose of this report is to describe the qualitative methods used to develop the candidate items for a novel measure of Thriving from Work through a multi-step iterative process including: a literature review, workshop, interviews with experts, and cognitive testing of the candidate items. Through this process, we defined Thriving from Work as the state of positive mental, physical, and social functioning in which workers’ experiences of their work and working conditions enable them to thrive in their overall lives, contributing to their ability to achieve their full potential in their work, home, and community. Thriving from Work was conceptualized into 37 attributes across seven dimensions: psychological, emotional, social, work–life integration, basic needs, experience of work, and health. We ultimately identified, developed and/or modified 87 candidate questionnaire items mapped to these attributes that performed well in cognitive testing in demographically and occupationally diverse workers. The Thriving from Work Questionnaire will be subjected to psychometric testing and item reduction in future studies. Individual items demonstrated face validity and good cognitive response properties and may be used independently from the questionnaire.

Promising Occupational Safety, Health, and Well-Being Approaches to Explore the Future of Work in the USA: An Editorial

“…Peters et al [29] share outcomes from a literature review, workshop, interviews with experts, and cognitive testing conducted to develop a measure that assesses "thriving" at work. The measure is defined as "the state of positive mental, physical, and social functioning in which workers' experiences of their work and working conditions enable them to thrive in their overall lives, contributing to their ability to achieve their full potential in their work, home, and community".…”

Expanding the Focus of Occupational Safety and Health: Lessons from a Series of Linked Scientific Meetings

“…Thriving in a work environment has been described as “a state of positive mental, physical and social functioning in which workers’ experiences of their work and working conditions enable them to thrive in their overall lives, contributing to their ability to achieve the full potential in their work hours and community” [ 172 ]. The Thriving Framework Questionnaire is a validated 87-item survey that has both a long and short form.…”

“…The Thriving Framework Questionnaire is a validated 87-item survey that has both a long and short form. It is intended for use across working populations or organizations; in periodic surveillance across a worker population or within an organization; or as an organizational diagnostic tool to identify priority areas for interventions to improve worker well-being [ 172 ]. Currently the investigators are examining thriving across various multiple work settings.…”

“…Currently the investigators are examining thriving across various multiple work settings. One ongoing study, for example, is using the tool to identify relationships of working conditions (such as supervisor support, safety climate, or scheduling) and workplace policies and practices with workers’ thriving from work [ 172 ].…”

“…The literature is rich on psychosocial hazards and the risks related to future changes in work [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 14 , 16 , 18 , 78 , 80 , 90 , 99 , 113 , 117 , 129 , 170 , 171 , 172 , 173 , 174 , 175 ]. Evidence of the increasing prevalence and incidence of adverse mental health effects and their costs to workers and organizations is also growing [ 5 , 11 , 113 , 176 , 177 , 178 ].…”