HRM and the Workforce: Wellbeing & Resilience

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to introduce the current debates surrounding mental health at work and look critically at workplace models of wellbeing and resilience. This chapter offers a critique of positive psychology used in wellbeing programmes that focus on promoting optimism through positive thinking and techniques that promote positive behaviours. The chapter gives a summary of the management issues around wellbeing at work programmes and analyses how to make them effective in the context of contemporary workplace settings, such as healthcare, where external factors are likely to have a downward pressure on mental health. The proposal of this chapter is that in addition to specific workplace programmes, wellbeing can be built by using management practices that build relationships and team working.The references and case studies used throughout this chapter aim to give practical guidance on how to manage wellbeing at work.