How do we create workplaces where people both thrive and perform over time?

In many organizations, there’s still a persistent belief that employee well-being and performance are two separate tracks. Research shows the opposite.  

When we co-hosted a lunch seminar with Benifex featuring Magnus Sverke, Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology at Stockholm University, one thing became clear: sustainable performance is not a trade-off. It’s the result of how work is designed, led, and organized.

Sustainability is not about perks

Workplace sustainability is about the whole picture. It’s about ensuring that people both can and want to perform over time.

This includes:

• Motivation

• Job satisfaction

• Engagement

• Meaning at work

• Good health

• Low absenteeism

• Pride in one’s work

For HR, this creates a clear responsibility: to understand the connection between work environment and performance — and to communicate that connection across the organization, especially to leadership and decision-makers. Workplace conditions and business outcomes cannot be treated as separate issues.

Two perspectives must be held at the same time

Workplace research has traditionally moved in two directions.  

One focuses on risks, stress, and ill health. The other focuses on leadership, structure, and the factors that drive engagement and performance.  

The challenge arises when organizations focus on only one. Reducing risk is necessary, but it does not automatically create engagement. Talking about performance without addressing workload and strain does not create sustainability either.  

What truly matters is the balance between demands and resources.

Three needs that always matter

Magnus emphasized three psychological needs that are essential for sustainable motivation: autonomy, competence, and relatedness.  

• ‍Autonomy means having influence over your work and understanding the level of freedom you actually have.  ‍
• Competence means being able to use and develop your skills — and receiving feedback that provides direction.  ‍
• Relatedness means feeling part of a meaningful community where you matter.  

When these needs are met, intrinsic motivation increases. And intrinsic motivation is what makes performance stable over time, not temporary.  

For HR, this highlights an important point: culture, structure, and job design are closely connected. Engagement cannot be addressed in isolation from how work is actually organized.

How everyday conditions shape performance

Sustainable work is not defined by low demands, but by the right conditions.  

Research shows that people perform better when they experience variation in their tasks, understand their role, and see the impact of what they do. Autonomy and continuous feedback are critical.  

It’s easy to talk about engagement at a high level. It’s harder to examine daily reality: Are priorities clear? Is the balance between demands and resources reasonable? Do employees have room to influence their work?  

The Job Demands–Resources model captures this well. High demands are not inherently negative. In fact, they can be motivating. Problems arise when demands are not matched with sufficient resources, support, and clarity. That imbalance is what leads to strain over time.

Work is part of identity

Work serves a broader purpose than income. It provides structure, social connection, identity, and status. It also gives people the opportunity to feel capable and needed.  

This makes the work environment a truly strategic issue — not only organizationally, but humanly. HR’s role therefore goes beyond policies and processes. It involves shaping how work is experienced in everyday practice.

When workplace conditions become a leadership priority

The overall message is clear: the work environment is not a side topic. It directly influences how organizations perform.  

When the conditions for motivation, clarity, and sustainable workload are in place, organizations build stability and long-term capacity. When they are missing, friction appears — and eventually impacts results.  

That is why workplace conditions must be treated as a leadership issue. Not solely an HR responsibility, but part of how goals are set, priorities are made, and decisions are taken.  

To take that responsibility, insight is essential. Continuously understanding how employees experience their work and translating that understanding into clear priorities is critical. This is where structured and ongoing feedback becomes a strategic tool, not just a pulse check.

A practical first step

A simple but powerful starting point is to ask:

‍Where does imbalance currently exist between demands and resources — and is leadership aware of it?

Creating a shared understanding of the current situation, based on how employees actually experience their work, is often the starting point. Only when that understanding reaches the leadership team can workplace conditions become what they need to be: a strategic issue with clear priorities and follow-up.