Let’s begin our journey of discovery by defining what we
mean by Happiness at Work.
Happiness is defined as “a mental or emotional state of well-being
characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to
intense joy.” So Happiness at work is simply experiencing positive emotions in
relation to work. As this definition
highlights there is a spectrum of emotions that we experience and even
happiness can be seen in degrees.
But so what? Why does
it matter if we’re happy at work or not. And who cares (apart from the CHO?!)
Well, the cynics among us would say that employers want us
to be happy so they can work us harder.
And the altruists among us would say that employers want us to be happy
for our own physical and mental well-being.
And the rest of us accept that it is probably a little of both.
There are endless research papers around these days citing
evidence demonstrating that happier or more engaged employees are more
productive. In fact the evidence is so
compelling that in 2011 the government set up a “task force” called Engage for
Success to work with private and public sector organisations as a way of
helping the UK economy back to health by releasing “more of the capability and potential of people at work enabling
personal growth, organisational growth and ultimately growth for Britain”. Plus we know ourselves that when we’re stimulated
with our work, respect our boss and feel appreciated by our team, our
productivity levels soar.
There is also the added consideration from an employer’s
point of view that a company’s brand is its people. With websites like glassdoor.com becoming
more prevalent, the last thing any organisation wants is negative employee press
putting off potential talent from applying.
So now the cynics are appeased, what about the
altruists? Well, I’ve been unhappy at
work and it is not an experience I would ever choose to repeat or would wish on
anyone else. Not only was I frustrated
that I wasn’t fulfilling my potential and sad that I didn’t have any friends at
work (!) but it genuinely impacted my mental and physical well-being. I wasn’t nice to my friends and family. I didn’t exercise or eat well. And these reactions to sustained unhappiness
are absolutely common. We spend so much
of our lives at work that if we are unhappy for this proportion of the day, it
is very hard to find happiness in the little part of the day that remains.
So yes, if we are happy at work we will be more creative,
more collaborative and more productive, which is good for our employers. But we will also have more energy, more
serotonin in our system and happiness is contagious, so we’ll be infecting our
colleagues with it too in a self-sustaining network of happiness!
And here’s the kicker - happy
people are more successful; we need to flip around presumption that if we
are successful it will bring us happiness and recognise that being happy will
bring us success for all the reasons listed above.
So what’s happiness got to do with it?
Just about everything!
Interested in this
topic? Here’s some more you can read
about it:
http://www.positivelypositive.com/2014/03/19/what-successful-people-and-happy-people-have-in-common/
No comments:
Post a Comment