After a long day at work, employees seek opportunities to unwind and recover from the stressors they have encountered. While a variety of strategies can support this recovery process, relatively little research has examined how different environments influence the effectiveness of those efforts, or whether some settings, like natural environments, offer unique restorative benefits. Addressing this gap, researchers (Hilbert et al., 2025) explored the role of nature in employee recovery, investigating how both passive exposure to natural surroundings and active nature-savoring practices affect well-being.
THE ROLE OF NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS
In the first study, employees completed real-time surveys over the course of a weekend, reporting on their leisure activities, emotional states, recovery experiences, and perceptions of their environment. The second study extended this approach by introducing a five-day nature-savoring intervention, in which participants engaged in structured exercises designed to heighten sensory awareness and appreciation of the natural world.
The findings were clear: natural environments were associated with increased positive activation, which is described as feeling energetic or strong. Further, they contributed indirectly to greater feelings of relaxation, detachment, serenity, and reduced fatigue, effects driven in part by the beautiful surroundings. Further, participants who engaged in the nature-savoring exercises experienced significantly greater improvements in psychological recovery compared to those in the control group.
Taken together, these results suggest that both passive exposure to nature and intentional engagement with it can meaningfully enhance employees’ ability to recover from work, promoting emotional well-being in the process.
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
Based on these findings, organizations should consider the following strategies to help foster a healthier, more restorative work environment:
- Encourage employees to spend time in attractive, natural, or esthetically pleasing environments, such as parks, gardens, or thoughtfully designed indoor spaces. This will promote recovery and well-being.
- Train employees to actively focus on aesthetic elements in their surroundings. This will help them intentionally savor the beauty that surrounds them, maximizing its restorative benefits.
- Consider offering nature-savoring interventions or similar well-being programs. These have been shown to increase relaxation, detachment from work, and positive emotional states.
- Invest in creating natural and aesthetically appealing spaces in the workplace to facilitate restorative breaks during the workday. This may include green spaces, indoor gardens, or offices designed with natural materials.
Hilbert, M., Finke, M., Küpper, K., Binnewies, C., Berkemeyer, L., & Maunz, L. A. (2025). Look how beautiful! The role of natural environments for employees’ recovery and affective well-being. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 30(1), 47–61.
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