Dorota Weziak-Bialowolska1,2, Piotr Bialowolski3,4,5. 1. Sustainability and Health Initiative (SHINE), Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. doweziak@hsph.harvard.edu. 2. Human Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University, 129 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA. doweziak@hsph.harvard.edu. 3. Sustainability and Health Initiative (SHINE), Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. 4. Human Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University, 129 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA. 5. Department of Economics, Kozminski University, Jagiellońska 57, 03-301, Warsaw, Poland.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Recognition for work-an act of conveying non-financial appreciation for an outstanding accomplishment or performance-is the top motivator of employee performance and important contributor to psychologically healthy work. Employee recognition programs are offered by many companies and have been shown to retain top talent, increase job satisfaction, and performance. Yet, evidence on the role of received employee recognition for health and quality of life remains limited. This study examined whether receiving recognition for work was prospectively associated with six indicators of health, quality of life, and loneliness. METHODS: Data were retrieved from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a biennial cross-national panel database of people aged > 50 years. Our sample included 5,048 middle-aged and older working adults. RESULTS: The results indicated that employees receiving recognition for work reported higher quality of life ([Formula: see text]=0.065, 95% CI = 0.047, 0.082), had lower risks of hypertension (RR = 0.932; 95% CI = 0.899, 0.966) and high blood cholesterol (RR = 0.922; 95% CI = 0.879, 0.967). These associations were independent of demographics, socioeconomic status, personality, prior history of diseases, depression, lifestyle, and work conditions. The set of sensitivity analyses provided substantial evidence for the robustness of the associations between recognition for work and quality of life as well as hypertension but not necessarily with high blood cholesterol. CONCLUSIONS: Promotion of employee recognition might emerge as a valuable business resource and health policy tool helping middle-aged and older adults maintain health and good quality of life. It may also help willing older adults to remain on the labour market until older age.
PURPOSE: Recognition for work-an act of conveying non-financial appreciation for an outstanding accomplishment or performance-is the top motivator of employee performance and important contributor to psychologically healthy work. Employee recognition programs are offered by many companies and have been shown to retain top talent, increase job satisfaction, and performance. Yet, evidence on the role of received employee recognition for health and quality of life remains limited. This study examined whether receiving recognition for work was prospectively associated with six indicators of health, quality of life, and loneliness. METHODS: Data were retrieved from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a biennial cross-national panel database of people aged > 50 years. Our sample included 5,048 middle-aged and older working adults. RESULTS: The results indicated that employees receiving recognition for work reported higher quality of life ([Formula: see text]=0.065, 95% CI = 0.047, 0.082), had lower risks of hypertension (RR = 0.932; 95% CI = 0.899, 0.966) and high blood cholesterol (RR = 0.922; 95% CI = 0.879, 0.967). These associations were independent of demographics, socioeconomic status, personality, prior history of diseases, depression, lifestyle, and work conditions. The set of sensitivity analyses provided substantial evidence for the robustness of the associations between recognition for work and quality of life as well as hypertension but not necessarily with high blood cholesterol. CONCLUSIONS: Promotion of employee recognition might emerge as a valuable business resource and health policy tool helping middle-aged and older adults maintain health and good quality of life. It may also help willing older adults to remain on the labour market until older age.