From Resources to Inclusion: A Conceptual Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Social Inclusion

Abstract

Workplace mental health and social inclusion are increasingly recognised as interdependent organisational outcomes, yet the mechanisms by which everyday organisational practices translate into genuine inclusion at work remain under-theorised. This conceptual paper proposes an integrative framework termed the Resources, Engagement, Wellbeing, Inclusion (REWI) model that explains how organisational, relational, and dispositional resources combine to shape employees' psychological well-being, sustained workplace mental health, and, in turn, their social inclusion at work.  Drawing on Job Demands-Resources theory, Conservation of Resources theory, Self-Determination Theory, and Social Exchange Theory, the paper synthesises workplace constructs- organisational support and work environment, meaningful work and psychological well-being, employee conscientiousness and work discipline, compensation, career growth and safety, work centrality, interpersonal trust and support, ethical leadership and recognition culture, work-life integration, and employee engagement and organisational commitment into a single conceptual cascade, and introduces Workplace Mental Health as an explicit construct that mediates between psychological well-being and social inclusion. The paper further identifies work centrality as a "double-edged" boundary condition, whereby moderate work centrality reinforces well-being while excessive centrality, unaccompanied by work-life integration, is theorised to erode it. Being conceptual in nature, the paper does not report primary data; rather, it draws on and synthesises prior empirical and theoretical literature to justify the proposed relationships. The paper concludes with theoretical, mental health, practical, and social implications, along with directions for future empirical validation.