What Makes a Happy Workplace? Employee Wellbeing, Engagement and Happiness
What Makes a Happy Workplace?
Contentment Employee Wellbeing Happiness Productivity
What makes a Happy Workplace?
Yet again we hit upon a topic that is searched an infinite number of times world-wide! In fact Google Search throws up about 248,000,000 results! So if it's such a hot topic, why is it so hard to achieve?
Employees in a happy workplace are more satisfied and healthier; as a result they are more present and are more likely to stay in their job.
Research cited by CIC Wellbeing suggests that "Organisations with happy employees outperform the competition by 20%".
This was something I became fascinated by when I undertook my MBA at De Montfort University back in 2012.
I chose employee engagement as the subject of my dissertation, because I wanted to understand what really helped people feel engaged with their work.
I don't have my dissertation to hand as I write this (I'm actually in Spain at the moment) but one thing from all that research has stayed with me...
People wanted to feel empowered.
And they wanted to feel appreciated.
Actually, when you think about it, that makes perfect sense.
If you've been appointed to a job because you have the essential skills and experience needed to do it ...
Of course you need guidance.
You need support.
You need accountability.
Skills development is important, but simply showing someone how to do something does not guarantee they will be able to do it successfully.
Employees need the opportunity to practice.
They need an environment that supports successful performance and allows room for mistakes, but one of the most important factors that is often overlooked is self-efficacy.
What Is Self-Efficacy?
Self-efficacy is our belief in our ability to successfully perform a specific task and influence the outcome (Based on Bandura's concept of self-efficacy.).
Being trusted to use your skills, make decisions, contribute ideas and take ownership of your work can make a huge difference.
After all, the employee had secured their role, primarily because their essential and desirable skills were a close match to the Job Description.
They could therefore be trusted to make that role their own, demonstrate their aptitude and flourish within the workplace.
Yes, there's a need for guidance and accountability but aptitude comes from being given room to flourish. Not from being micro-managed.
So how do we broach the subject at work (without focusing on 'the need to get more for less')?
Perhaps during team-building sessions, residential or employee conference occasions.
Employee Engagement
One great way to get the discussion started is to deflect the discussion slightly, using an 'Ask the Audience' approach and to come at it from a different angle.
There are many resources available to help with this.
Take a look at the Change Direction Site.
Why not get a discussion going at work?
You'll get plenty of discussion around the theme of 'How do we Chill?'
This encourages employees to share how they unwind after a 'full-on' day.
The subject very quickly focuses on what their day was like and how it could be improved for greater productivity.
Give it a go.
You'll be surprised by the results.
So, what comes before happiness?
This is something I've thought about a lot over the years.
Because perhaps we sometimes put the cart before the horse when we focus too heavily on “being happy”.
There are things that can help create the conditions in which happiness is more likely to flourish.
Knowing ourselves.
Understanding other people.
Being able to communicate.
Having meaningful relationships.
Feeling that we have some control over our lives.
Looking after our health.
Having a sense of purpose.
A sense of achievement.
None of which guarantees happiness. Life doesn't work quite that neatly!
But they can all contribute to our sense of wellbeing.
And this is where I think the workplace becomes particularly interesting.
The Quest for Happiness
Contentment Happiness Happy Health Joy Wellness
The quest for happiness ... You lead the way!
Such a hot topic!!
Happiness isn't something you can pluck from a takeaway list of essential and desirable characteristics.
Indeed, if you Google the term 'happiness' it returns millions of results!
It's hardly surprising that happiness is such a popular subject online.
One of the top topics (no surprise here) being 'Health and Happiness'.
They go hand-in-hand, yet there is a clear distinction between.
For example, you can be of poor health and yet still feel a sense of inner peace and contentment.
You may be happy but blissfully unaware of how to reach your optimal health or be unaware of an underlying (ill-health) condition.
There's equally as much written about 'health' and 'wellness' (the term health encompasses the notion of wellness) but 'Wellness' is more than just being free of illness. It is a dynamic process towards living a healthy and fulfilling life.
Furthermore, it might be argued that Wellness isn't purely about being free of illness, as one may be living with an underlying health condition but has reached a plateau in one's wellness journey.
More than simply a positive mood, happiness is a state of well-being that encompasses living a good life, one with a sense of meaning and deep contentment. Psychology Today.
The boundless nature of the quest for happiness
Within the various aspects of human psyche there's a hierarchy (or layer/s of connectivity that influences one's emotional and physical state), that precede and underpin happiness.
Over the years, I've come to think about the relationship between these ideas as a series of interconnected layers (adapted from notes, collected over time, of uncertain origin):
Such as ...
Understanding Self
Understanding Others
Effective Communication
Living in 'Your World'
Maintaining Health
Being Successful
Being Happy
Watch this clip to see how it all fits together:
It is perhaps more realistic to view happiness as an optimal state; a state of complete actual and social well-being but also to acknowledge that it is a process in itself, a moveable feast; not that it is unachievable but it is a transitional, part of life's journey.
People’s perceptions and perspectives are a powerful mechanism for designing new and more effective health and educational interventions.
We take a closer look at this within our courses that we're currently building within the Virtual Wellness Hub.
Rather than try to cover everything here, I'm going to create a cluster of blog topics.
They will relate to this subject, so watch this space!
