A global exploration of workplace well-being in public relations

We explored aspects of workplace well-being from a global Delphi study conducted amongst nearly 300 public relations participants (practitioners, educators and academics) across 24 countries, examining nearly 1500 qualitative responses. Although the study’s panelists were not specifically asked about well-being, they frequently articulated unprompted expressions of purpose, ethical tensions, and professional identity.

Using a deductive coding framework we analyzed sentiments, triggers, and some interpersonal and intrapersonal measures of eudaimonic well-being across the dataset. Statistical analysis revealed that positive sentiment was most strongly predicted by a sense of success at work and ethical autonomy, while negative sentiment was closely associated with disconnection from management and misalignment between personal values and professional roles. These findings lead us to propose 'profession-practice alignment' as a core condition for sustainable, workplace well-being, with implications for leadership, culture, and retention in PR. Furthermore we link such ‘professional-practice alignment’ to a sense of communitarian purpose in eudaimonic work-place wellbeing.

The study contributes to a reframing of well-being in PR, rooted in profession-practice alignment, ethical resilience, and the social dynamics of work, highlighting the need for the profession to apply its own relational expertise inward, to support the emotional and ethical conditions of its practitioners.