The Impact of Employee Well-being on Workplace Productivity: The Mediating Role of Mental Health and the Moderating Effect of Job Demands
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/ajhp.v4i1.6428Keywords:
Employee Well-being, Job Demands, Mental Health Disorders, Pharmaceutical Industry, Workplace ProductivityAbstract
Here, this is intended to investigate the well-being of employees and its association with building an effective, efficient, and sustainable workforce in a highly competitive and regulated pharmaceutical manufacturing sector in Bangladesh. Based on the COR theory and JDR model, this study has constructed a theoretical framework to examine the influence of employee well-being on workplace productivity through the mediation mechanism of mental health and the moderation variables of job demand. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study where 350 professionals working in different pharmaceutical organizations of Bangladesh were surveyed. Because, the results of this study would evidence that well-being at work is possible to boost -even through- directly but even more thorough indirectly by improving mental health as one way to rise job performance. But the relationship is moderated by high job demand, which reduces this effect. Several results of the present paper with respect to what is already known in literature include: conceptually our model collapsed employee well-being and mental ill health, into a single construct along with job demand which adds some theoretical explanation value by representation of that model. In practical terms, these findings highlight the need for managers and companies to invest in employees’ wellbeing through wellness interventions, stress reduction methods and a positive work environment. In addition, controlling a job to some limit is also a necessary precedent for “successful at work without turning off” in ‘overload’ or even “burnout. This result gives support to the theoretical set up and actual translation of employee well-being down level psychological mechanism work place performance particularly in developing nations with high performance aspiration made it difficult for organizations to orient itself to highest level of workplace target throughout enhancing employees’ well-being.
References
Afsar, B., & Umrani, W. A. (2020). Transformational leadership and innovative work behavior: The role of cognitive motivation and task complexity. European Journal of Innovation Management, 23(3), 402–428. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-12-2018-0257
Afsar, B., Badir, Y., & Saeed, B. (2020). Transformational leadership and innovative work behaviour: The role of job crafting and devotional service creativity. Personnel Review, 49(7), 1651–1672. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-07-2019-0400
Ahmed, M., Zehou, S., Raza, S. A., Qureshi, M. A., & Yousufi, S. Q. (2020). The influence of CSR and environmental cues on green behavior at work: The mediating role of employee well-being. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(5), 2225–2239. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1979
Anderson, J. C., & Gerbing, D. W. (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), 411–423. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.103.3.411
Babalola, M. T., Greenbaum, R. L., Amarnani, R. K., Shoss, M. K., Deng, Y., & Garba, O. A. (2019). A business frame analysis of why ethical leadership at the top is important. Journal of Business Ethics, 159(4), 913–930. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3820-4
Bagozzi, R. P., & Yi, Y. (1988). On the evaluation of structural equation models. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 16(1), 74–94. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02723327
Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2007). The Job Demands–Resources model: State of the art. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(3), 309–328. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940710733115
Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2017). Job demands–resources theory: Taking stock and looking forward. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(3), 273–285. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000056
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Prentice Hall.
Brown, M. E., & Treviño, L. K. (2006). Ethical leadership: A review and future directions. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(6), 595–616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.10.004
Byun, G., Kim, J., & Park, H. (2018). Job demand and employee productivity: The moderating role of workplace support. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 33(4), 257–271. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-06-2017-0215
Chen, C. Y., Sharma, S., Edinger, S. K., Shapiro, D. L., & Farh, J. L. (2014). Illuminating the moral dimensions of organizational punishment: A model and research agenda. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 35(5), 603–627. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1923
Chen, Y., & Hou, Y. H. (2016). Ethical leadership, voice behavior, and climates for innovation: A moderated mediation test. The Leadership Quarterly, 27(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.10.007
Cooper, C. L., & Cartwright, S. (1994). Healthy mind; healthy organization: A proactive approach to occupational stress. Human Relations, 47(4), 455–471. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872679404700404
Danna, K., & Griffin, R. W. (1999). Health and well-being in the workplace: A review. Journal of Management, 25(3), 357–384. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639902500305
Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2001). The Job Demands–Resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 499–512. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.86.3.499
Dhar, R. L. (2016). Ethical leadership and service innovative behavior: The role of LMX and job autonomy. Tourism Management, 57, 139–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2016.05.011
Feng, J., Zhang, Y., Liu, X., Zhang, L., & Han, X. (2018). Ethical leadership and creativity: The roles of creativity encouragement and intrinsic motivation. Journal of Business Ethics, 153(3), 645–658. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3311-4
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800104
Fuller, C. M., Simmering, M. J., Atinc, G., Atinc, Y., & Babin, B. J. (2016). Common method variance in business research. Journal of Business Research, 69(8), 3192–3198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.12.008
Furnham, A., Eracleous, A., & Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2021). Personality, motivation, and job satisfaction: Herzberg meets the Big Five. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 34(8), 597–611. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-12-2018-0537
Grawitch, M. J., Gottschalk, M., & Munz, D. C. (2006). Pathways to a healthy workplace. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 58(3), 129–147. https://doi.org/10.1037/1061-4087.58.3.129
Guest, D. E. (2017). Human resource management and employee well-being. Human Resource Management Journal, 27(1), 22–38. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12139
Gupta, V., MacMillan, I. C., & Surie, G. (2004). Entrepreneurial leadership: Measuring a cross-cultural construct. Journal of Business Venturing, 19(2), 241–260. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0883-9026(03)00040-5
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2014). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Pearson Education.
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2019). Multivariate data analysis (8th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Harter, J. K., Schmidt, F. L., & Keyes, C. L. M. (2002). Well-being and workplace performance. In C. L. M. Keyes & J. Haidt (Eds.), Flourishing: The positive person and the good life (pp. 205–224). American Psychological Association.
Harvey, S. B., Joyce, S., Tan, L., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., & Modini, M. (2017). Creating mentally healthy workplaces: A review. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 51(1), 4–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004867416679354
Hobfoll, S. E. (2011). Conservation of resources theory. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 84(1), 116–122. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8325.2010.02016.x
Iqbal, A., Latif, F., Marimon, F., & Sahibzada, U. F. (2022). Entrepreneurial leadership and innovative work behavior. European Journal of Innovation Management, 25(3), 856–877. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-09-2020-0362
Javed, B., Rawwas, M. Y., Khandai, S., Shahid, K., & Tayyeb, H. H. (2017). Ethical leadership and creativity. Journal of Management & Organization, 23(3), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2016.66
Judge, T. A., Thoresen, C. J., Bono, J. E., & Patton, G. K. (2001). Job satisfaction–job performance relationship. Psychological Bulletin, 127(3), 376–407. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.127.3.376
Karasek, R. A. (1979). Job demands, decision latitude, and mental strain. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24(2), 285–308. https://doi.org/10.2307/2392498
Kimbu, A. N., de Jong, A., Ayedun, T., & Adeola, O. (2021). Entrepreneurial leadership in sustainable tourism. Tourism Management, 83, 104254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104254
Kock, N. (2017). Common method variance in PLS-SEM. International Journal of e-Collaboration, 13(4), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJeC.2017100101
Koopmans, L., Bernaards, C. M., Hildebrandt, V. H., Schaufeli, W. B., de Vet, H. C. W., & van der Beek, A. J. (2014). Measuring individual work performance. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 63(1), 3–28. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-01-2013-0008
Koopmans, L., Bernaards, C. M., Hildebrandt, V. H., van Buuren, S., van der Beek, A. J., & de Vet, H. C. (2014). Construct validity of the individual work performance questionnaire. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 56(3), 331–337. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000000134
Linge, T. K. (2019). Job rotation and employee motivation. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 32(3), 456–470. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-10-2018-0285
Luu, T. T. (2019). Service-oriented high-performance work systems and service-oriented behaviors in public organizations: The mediating role of work engagement. Public Management Review, 21(9), 1286–1312. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2018.1544271
Masood, M., & Afsar, B. (2017). Transformational leadership and innovative work behaviour among nurses. Nursing Inquiry, 24(4), e12188. https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12188
Miao, Q., Newman, A., Schwarz, G., & Cooper, B. (2018). Leadership and innovative behavior. Public Administration Review, 78(1), 71–81. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12839
Noor, M. N. S., Rahman, Y., Islam, R., Ahamed, R., Joti, A. A., Islam, M. R., & Uddin, M. B. Linking HR Analytics to Organizational Performance: The Mediating Roles of HR Decision Making and Talent Management. The International Journal of Business Management and Technology, 9(12), 16-29.
Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Peccei, R. (2004). Human resource management and the search for the happy worker: Theory, analysis and intervention. Human Relations, 57(4), 379–400. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726704044747
Renko, M., El Tarabishy, A., Carsrud, A. L., & Brännback, M. (2015). Entrepreneurial leadership style. Journal of Small Business Management, 53(1), 54–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsbm.12086
Roy, I., & Islam, R. (2025). Beyond transformational leadership: Servant leadership and knowledge sharing. Journal of Knowledge Management. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-02-2025-0270
Roy, I., Islam, R., & Sarwar, S. (2024). Impacts of Transformational Leadership on Quiet Quitting and Cyberloafing: Exploring the Role of Emotional Stability and Work Stress. International Journal of Latest Research in Engineering and Management, 8(5), 10-24. https://doi.org/10.56581/ijlrem.8.5.10-24
Roy, I., Islam, R., Arefin, M. S., & Rahman, S. (2025). How perceived supervisor and organizational support shape job satisfaction: the intervening role of work-life balance and organizational identification. Open Journal of Business and Management., 13(4), 2782-2809. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojbm.2025.134148
Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and burnout. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25(3), 293–315. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.248
Surie, G., & Ashley, A. (2008). Pragmatism and ethics in entrepreneurial leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 81(1), 235–246. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9491-4
Van De Voorde, K., Paauwe, J., & Van Veldhoven, M. (2012). Employee well-being and HRM–performance relationship. International Journal of Management Reviews, 14(4), 391–407. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2011.00322.x
Warr, P. (2002). Psychology at work (5th ed.). Penguin.
World Health Organization. (2004). Mental health promotion: Concepts, emerging evidence, practice. World Health Organization.
Wright, T. A., & Cropanzano, R. (2000). Psychological well-being and job satisfaction as predictors of performance. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5(1), 84–94. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-8998.5.1.84
Wright, T. A., & Cropanzano, R. (2004). The role of psychological well-being in job performance: A fresh look at an old construct. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25(4), 365–392. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.248
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Sagor Hossain, Md. Rasel Ahamed, Ishita Roy, Md Yeanur Rahman, Md. Iftekhar Tanveer, Md. Shakil Ahmed, Md. Bashir Uddin

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.