The Role of Employee Voice on Mental Health and Wellbeing: The Case of Poland

Mental health is recognised as an important workplace issue that can contribute to a wide range of individual and organisational outcomes (Arnold et al., Work psychology: Understanding human behaviour in the workplace. Pearson, 2020; Cooper & Dewe, Wellbeing—Absenteeism, presenteeism, costs and challenges. Occupational Medicine, 58(8), 522–524, 2008; Wright, Much more than meets the eye: The role of psychological wellbeing in job performance, employee retention and cardiovascular health. Organizational Dynamics, 39(1), 13–23, 2010). There is a growing understanding of factors affecting employee wellbeing and the role that organisations can play in preventing work-related stress and promoting mental health and wellbeing at work. Many of the factors that impact on mental health in the workplace are beyond the control of individual employees and are related to structural factors such as job content, management styles and wider organisational practices (Sivris & Leka, Examples of holistic good practices in promoting and protecting mental health in the workplace: Current and future challenges. Safety and Health at Work, 6(4), 295–304, 2015; Richardson, Managing employee stress and wellness in the new millennium. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(3), 423–428, 2017; Zwetsloot & Leka, Corporate culture, health, and wellbeing. In L. Stavroula & J. Houdmont (Eds.), Occupational health psychology (pp. 157–193). Wiley-Blackwell, 2010). Employee mental health and wellbeing is a responsibility of every organisation, but in practice most organisations do not capitalise fully on the role of structural factors as a means to promote wellbeing. This chapter will explore the role employee voice can play in addressing one of the most important issues in contemporary workplaces, that of mental health.