McKinsey's The overlooked essentials of employee well-being focuses on how companies can improve the well-being of their employees.
But it also explains why the self-employed - and especially those that work in coworking spaces - report higher levels of wellness and work satisfaction than traditional employees do.
It covers two critical factors - job control and social support - that foster physical and mental well-being. Key quote on job control:
"Studies going back decades have shown that job control—the amount of discretion employees have to determine what they do and how they do it—has a major impact on their physical health. Recent research also indicates that limited job control has ill effects that extend beyond the physical, imposing a burden on employees’ mental health, too."
As we've often pointed out, job control is one of the key reasons the independent workers (the self-employed, freelancers, independent contractors, etc.) become and like being independent.
It's also one of the reasons independent workers report being happier and healthier because they're independent.
But a drawback of independent work is loneliness. As the McKinsey article points out, a lack of social support is not good. Key quote:
Research going back to the 1970s consistently demonstrates a connection between social support and health ... The evidence shows that social support—family and friends you can count on, as well as close relationships—can have a direct effect on health and buffers the effects of various psychosocial stresses, including workplace stress, that can compromise health.
This is where coworking comes in.
As we said in our article Coworking Is Not About Workspace — It’s About Feeling Less Lonely, coworking spaces provide social support.
The McKinsey article nicely sums this topic up by saying:
Giving people more control over their work life and providing them with social support fosters higher levels of physical and mental health.
This is exactly what the combination of independent work and coworking provide.
Having said all that, we are well aware that not all independent workers have control over their work. We also are fully aware of the downsides and negatives that come with being self-employed.
But for those who do have control, the combination of independent work and coworking can lead to a healthier life.
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