New stress figures among public employees unfortunately once again point towards the regular stress epidemic that will hit Denmark if we do not start listening and adapting much more to well-being, motivation, and stress research.

Back in December, Megafon conducted a survey among 2,851 public employees, revealing that 40 percent of respondents had been sleepless due to work-related stress in the past six months. Yes, you read that correctly: 40 percent.

The alarming figures clearly indicate that we have now reached a point where the prevailing growth paradigm is beginning to manifest in well-being measurements. In other words, we see how efficiency measures, cost-cutting exercises, and the pursuit of target management are starting to impact individual employees both mentally and physically. And my guess is that we have only seen the tip of the iceberg.

We need to listen more to research
Fortunately, there is another, much more well-being-promoting path that can help us break the stress curve. But it requires us to make an effort to take advantage of the knowledge we already have from well-being, motivation, and stress research.

Instead of looking for the next place to cut, we can advantageously start using research to figure out how to create increased well-being. Research in the field tells us, among other things, that we create well-being by thinking in terms of meaning, coherence, by allowing for influence and creating space for autonomy, reducing control and surveillance – and not solely by optimizing and putting out fires in the short term.

In line with this, the survey also shows that a whopping 87 percent of public employees who have experienced stress symptoms miss having influence in connection with changes at work.

Everyone wins when it makes sense to go to work
It may be that we save some money in the short term by continuing to optimize and follow the growth paradigm's dogma of constant profit maximization and restricting the expertise that has direct contact with kindergarten children, students in schools, our university students, the caring hands in nursing homes, doctors, nurses in hospitals, just to name a few professional groups. But, in return, we lose the meaningfulness, professional pride, intrinsic motivation, and a large part of job satisfaction, straight on the floor.

Perhaps it was a good idea to replace the question of how we can save even more with the question: How do we create better well-being?

And, most importantly, involve and ask employees how their work could become more meaningful for both themselves and the citizens for whom, with their expertise, they have a strong desire to be available. They have a grip on their core task and possess treasure troves of knowledge. Unfortunately, their substantial knowledge is far too rarely invited to sit at the decision-makers' table.

What if we tackled it, right here, right now?