Employees' Stress and Well-Being in Companies' Environmental, Social, and Governance Framework

Dear Colleagues,

The Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN General Assembly in 2015 emphasized the need for policy, institutions, communities, individuals’ engagement, and actions toward a sustainable future, but the existing inequalities, implemented practices and the lack of trust in institutions undermine these efforts. Employers have the potential and the opportunity to act as leaders in building a sustainable society. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) actions and reporting have already been adopted by a growing number of corporations and create value for society, although there is a lack of belief in its impact on efficiency and on genuine motivation. Research shows that ESG actions and transparent and accountable reporting could benefit corporate performance, although there is a need for further research and social dialogue around ECG evaluations. We believe that indicators and drivers of employees’ wellbeing (e.g., occupational stress, work/life balance or conflict, health status, job and life satisfaction, experience on work policies, culture, and ethics) should be incorporated into companies’ ESG core values, taking into consideration standards such as GRI. It is well established that company performance, reputation, and the ability to attract new talent and maintain employees are strongly associated with their wellbeing, the value and care provided by their employer (not only for themselves but also for their families), their engagement, feeling valued and motivated, feeling psychological safety, and by accomplishing high ratings for relative KPIs (including physical, mental, and social wellbeing and judgments, expectations, resilience, and occupational stress); thus, the implementation of ESG actions can help to accomplish sustainable targets and goals. The corporations that will succeed are the ones that put their people first.

The recent international standard on mental health in the workplace (ISO 45003:2021—“Occupational health and safety management—Psychological health and safety at work—Guidelines for managing psychosocial risks”) offers guidance on managing psychosocial risks and promoting wellbeing at work as part of an occupational health and safety (OHS) management system and motivates further insights and advancements. From an OSH perspective, effective management of psychosocial risk is crucial, and physical, mental, and social wellbeing should be addressed in a holistic way. Perhaps, and hopefully, the greater impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on work will be leadership and managers realizing the need to follow human-centered approaches. In the end, how ethical is it to promote ESG strategies without caring for employees’ wellbeing? By giving value to and building trust in employees, companies give great value to the whole of society, contributing to a more sustainable future.

Dr. Evangelos C. Alexopoulos
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• employee’s stress
• employee’s wellbeing
• environmental, social, and governance (ESG)
• psychological health
• mental health
• workplace