Productivity and Well-being – Two Sides of the Same Coin (Part 2)

Building on our premise from Part 1, productivity and employee well-being are closely linked, and it was suggested that actions aimed at leveraging peers to achieve sustainable productivity and high performance can also help reduce stress and anxiety at work. Although I did not anticipate this outcome initially, there is something about this “happy accident” that emphasizes its validity as described in the text below. Here’s what we learned when we provided Google’s NotebookLM with a copy of Peernovation (Second Edition), the research material found in the three links provided, and the following prompt:

Peernovation’s models and frameworks, created initially to maximize the ROI for CEO forums, have also proven transformative when applied to organizational teams. We are now asking: Does the evidence support the assertion that a peer-driven culture, focused on intentional collaboration and growth, and boosting performance, is also capable of reducing workplace stress and enhancing psychological health and safety?   

Here was the response: “Utilizing Peernovation’s integrated models, principles, and practices appears to be a highly effective and well-aligned approach for significantly improving psychological safety and health in the workplace, as framed by the “Mind the Workplace (MTW) 2024 Report,” the “2024 Work in America Survey,” and “The Evolution of Workplace Mental Health in Canada.” It directly addresses many of the critical challenges, gaps, and recommendations highlighted across these three research sources.”

Directly Addresses Psychological Safety as a Foundation  

• All three reports underscore the critical importance of psychological safety. The 2024 Work in America Survey defines it using Dr. Amy Edmondson’s work, emphasizing comfortable self-expression and interpersonal risk-taking without fear of embarrassment or retribution. It directly links higher psychological safety to increased job satisfaction, better relationships with coworkers and managers, higher self-rated performance and productivity, a stronger sense of belonging, and reduced stress.
• Peernovation places psychological safety as one of its core Five Factors, explicitly referencing Edmondson’s definition and highlighting its vitality for effective teams, learning, creativity, and problem-solving. It states that psychological safety requires mutual respect, familiarity, a learning (not judging) mindset, and modeling sharing and listening behaviors.
• The MTW Report notes that Generation Z employees feel less psychologically safe, with 63% reporting a lack of confidence in expressing opinions. Peernovation’s framework directly targets this by creating an environment that encourages and values speaking up.

Enhances Leadership and Management Practices 

• The MTW Report highlights transparent communication and supportive people management as crucial for trust, appreciation, and psychological safety, a reality for less than half of employees. It also notes the strong correlation between developing fair and supportive people managers and overall work health scores. The Evolution of Workplace Mental Health in Canada identifies leadership gaps, including a lack of training and emotional intelligence, as key challenges.
• Peernovation’s Servant Leadership Triad positions leaders as “stewards” of psychological safety, productivity, and accountability. Leaders are part of the team, fostering intentionality, empowering members, acting with empathy, and not wielding accountability as a sword. This directly aligns with the need for supportive managers and addresses the MTW Report’s finding that management training and mentorship are among the least commonly offered programs despite their high impact.

Fosters Trust, Open Communication, and a Sense of Belonging  

• The MTW Report strongly associates transparent communication with trust, appreciation, and psychological safety. The 2024 Work in America Survey links higher psychological safety to positive relationships among coworkers and managers, and a strong sense of belonging.
• Peernovation directly addresses trust, stating it is at the core of psychological safety. It promotes honest conversations at every level and highlights the importance of Craig Weber’s concept of conversational capacity (balancing candor and curiosity). The framework also fosters a sense of belonging through familiarity and mutual support within peer groups.

Promotes a Systems-Level Approach and Organizational Culture Shift  

1. The Evolution of Workplace Mental Health in Canada advocates for a shift from individual mental illness to psychological health and safety as an organizational responsibility within occupational health and safety.
2. Peernovation’s Systems Thinking approach views each organization as a complex system, where, as Russell Ackoff stated, “A system is never the sum of its parts; it’s the product of their interaction.” This helps identify interdependencies and prevent unintended consequences of policy changes. A holistic perspective supports the systemic cultural shift necessary for overall psychological health and safety. The framework also emphasizes “cultivating an alternative mindset” that reframes failure as an opportunity for growth.

Addresses Work Stress, Burnout, and Productivity  

• The MTW Report found that 76% of employees report work stress affecting their sleep, and 65% their relationships, with higher rates in unhealthy workplaces. The 2024 Work in America Survey links lower psychological safety to burnout symptoms and negative feelings, including emotional exhaustion.
•  By fostering a psychologically safe, supportive, and collaborative environment, Peernovation indirectly reduces many stressors. It directly connects productivity to psychological safety, as employees feel more comfortable raising pressing issues in a safe and supportive environment. The Learning-Achieving Cycle, with its “Celebrating” stage, can also help sustain team energy and focus, preventing burnout. Leaders are also encouraged to address burnout and isolation among remote workers by encouraging breaks and social gatherings.

Supports Continuous Improvement and Feedback Mechanisms:  

• The Canadian Standard explicitly calls for measurement and review systems to ensure the sustainability of psychological health and safety initiatives. The 2024 Work in America Survey highlights that opportunities for both giving and receiving feedback are associated with higher psychological safety.
•  Peernovation’s “Learning-Achieving Cycle” is built on continuous learning and feedback.

The Peernovation Scorecard provides a tool for teams to self-assess and monitor their progress on the Five Factors, supporting evidence-based improvement.

Why Workplace Wellness Deserves Even More Attention Now

In Kate Christie’s recent article for CEOWORLD Magazine, “The Never-Ending Workday Is Killing Us – How Do We Respond?,” she started it this way: “Karoshi is a Japanese term meaning ‘death from work’ – fatalities resulting from a heart attack, stroke, or suicide due to extreme overtime and chronic work-related stress. In 2023, 883 Japanese people were officially recognized as having died from Karoshi – the highest rate on record. But this is no longer just a Japanese phenomenon – a 2024 World Health Organisation report citing data from 2016 estimates approximately 745,000 global deaths that year as a result of long work hours: an almost 30% increase since 2000. The WHO report also states that working 55+ hours a week equates to a 35% higher risk of a stroke and a 17% higher risk of dying from heart disease (compared to working 35-40 hours a week).

If the human toll isn’t tragic enough, there are other costs. Kate followed by sharing, “and then there are the productivity costs of overwork – globally an estimated 12 billion working days are lost annually to stress-related illnesses such as depression and anxiety at a cost of US$1 trillion a year.”

Summary  

As you can see, I’m just one of many voices sounding an alarm and shedding light on the fact that highly productive organizations and employee wellness are not mutually exclusive. Additionally, to be clear, this two-part article was not written to promote Peernovation. It’s one among many ways to harness the power of peers so that your teams become happier and more productive. Its integrated focus on leadership, psychological safety, collaboration, and continuous improvement provides a clear roadmap for organizations committed to achieving greater productivity while also enhancing employee mental health. Its success will depend on organizational readiness, dedicated leadership, and consistent application of its principles – and not waiting another minute to take action.