The Great Realisation: Is Happiness at Work Really Attainable?
Firstly…
What is happiness at work?
Happiness at Work has been defined in many ways, “doing great work together with great people” as summed up by Alexander Kjerulf, founder of Woohoo Inc., along with the fact that happiness at work is happiness you get FROM your work - where you get positive energy from the work that you are doing. If you map it to Sonja Lyubimirsky’s definition of happiness it becomes
“The experience of joy, contentment or positive well-being [at work], combined with a sense that one’s [work] life is good, meaningful and worthwhile”
Happiness is really what we want for ourselves, our friends and families, and our children. If you ask people what they want for those they love. They want them to be happy.
Or as our colleagues at Happy Office put it “ Do you whistle on your way to work, and on your way home”.
What makes employees happy?
Interestingly we often think that things like success, job titles, promotions, raises and perks, in a word “success” is what makes us happy. But when we ask people around the world about a specific time that made them happy at work - the answers are almost entirely about a time when someone achieved something, made progress or reached a goal in their work, and is often combined with a time when they worked well with their colleagues, felt connected to other people and were having a great time together.
So, is it achievable?
Happiness at Work is very achievable, but it’s not a destination, it’s a practice, like mindfulness, or working out at the gym, Happiness at Work is something you do, over and over, consistently.
If you are asked to think about a time when you were happy at work - you may be able to identify that moment very easily, and so happiness in a work context is achievable in individual moments, but also in an organisational and an individual sense. You can define what it was that helped you in that moment and work to do more of those activities that bring you those happier feelings at work. It is critical to also look at our own happiness first, and then once we are happy ourselves, we can start to create that ripple effect of positivity outwards to our colleagues and teams, and our wider organisation.
Happiness is catching.
What are the key factors that a company needs to have for it to be attainable?
First in an organisation you need to look at having happy leaders. We know that emotions are contagious, negative emotions are more contagious, and a leaders emotions are the most contagious. So that means if you have miserable leaders then their ability to create a happy workplace is impaired, or worst are sabotaging their own or others efforts to create a positive and happy culture. Leaders are responsible for the direction and goal setting in an organisation so they need to get behind initiatives in the organisation, giving people the ability, resources, and time to act upon this vision.
It is also important to look at happiness as a holistic strategic, organisational goal. It isn’t a one-off, but something that you start to talk about, to define at an individual, a team, and an organisational level.
Many people tune out the idea of happiness at work because they believe it is about being positive all the time; so called “toxic positivity”, or they see it as about making people laugh and have a good time and messing around at work.
This isn’t the case, the happiness at work movement is about creating workplaces where people are supported to be their best selves and do their best work on any given day, It’s about creating workplaces that have psychological safety, and space for all emotions, not just positive ones.
Who needs to be involved for it to be attainable?
Ideally happiness at work involves everyone, but it doesn’t have to be organised or driven by senior level management. If the organisation and leadership is aligned on the strategy of happiness at work - they can do as little as assigning budget and time to a group of happiness ambassadors in the organisation, and they will work to create a happier workplace.
Leaders and managers would do well to understand the framework, and also take the time to ensure there is time for people management: taking time to connect, building relationships and caring about their people as human beings.
When does it not work?
If you do not have the foundations of a good work culture namely respect, psychological safety, support, tools and resources then focussing on happiness at work only will have a limited effect.
However you can work on creating the foundations AND putting in place happiness practices to great effect.
Some compelling statistics
87% of employees are unhappy in their work today . They believe their company doesn’t care about them as a human being (Gallup, 2022)
Mental health issues cost the global economy an estimated US$ 1 trillion in the last year. (World Health Organisation, 2021)
Happy Workplaces make more money and are more profitable. (EDHEC Business School, 1984-2020)
Your most engaged employees are at the highest risk of burnout. (HBR)
In short happiness at work is the future of work. It puts the people who work in your organisation firmly at the center of your workplace. The outcomes are thriving organisations who have happy, healthy people and a happy healthy, and commercially successful business.
If you want to talk more about how to create happier leaders, happier teams, or happier organisations get in touch to talk about our inspiration, workshops, or happiness programmes.