Happy, Productive Employees

Happy Employee are Productive Employees

A just-released longitudinal study adding to the growing body of scientific evidence on employee productivity confirms that depression is common in the workplace and detrimental to employee performance. These findings are reported in the May issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry, the monthly scientific journal of the American Psychiatric Association.

The study found that absenteeism due to health problems was twice as high for employees with depressive symptoms compared to those without depressive symptoms. The study also revealed that the likelihood of decreased performance on the job is seven times higher for depressed employees.

The longitudinal study of more than 6,000 employees at three corporations took a close look at the relationship between depression, satisfaction with health care and employee productivity.

The study also found that employees who complained about their health care including problems with access, communications, choice and continuity of care were also