When I say I help people increase happiness in the workplace some people think I’m going to arrive with a yoga mat and incense in hand or drag in some space hoppers and make everyone bounce on them.
Don’t get me wrong I love yoga and totally believe you should be able to have fun and be silly at work but understanding happiness at work is about far more than downward dog and inflatable health and safety hazards.
Happiness is one of the most underused and underrated business tools. If people realised the true power of happiness every company would have a Chief Happiness Officer on their executive team. Some companies are doing just this. Only a few weeks ago Clifford Chance, a magic circle law firm, announced they were on the look out for a Chief Happiness Officer. I spent most of my working life practicing as a solicitor and whilst I can vouch for the fact that lawyers know how to have fun – and be happy – outside of work, law firms, especially city ones, aren’t known for their focus on bringing joy to the workplace (it’s more about billable hours).
As a lawyer I have been trained to look for the evidence. I remember as a law student being told that no one was interested in my opinion on things – unless I could back it up with some case law or a quote from a speech by a law lord then no one would care.
So when I became interested in happiness and its powers, particularly in the business world, I did what I was trained to do – I sought out the evidence.
I was amazed to find study after study – proper studies, carried out by well-respected psychologists – that demonstrated the power of happiness.
When asked to think about the benefits for increasing workplace happiness you might think of the more obvious reasons like reducing staff turnover, sickness and burnout. You might even understand that happiness can make you more productive, help you achieve more sales and deliver better customer service but did you know that it can also make you more creative, more analytical and even more accurate? When we are happier we perform better in so many areas of our lives and this is as true at work as it is outside of work.
People tend to believe that our happiness is determined by external factors, but as Shawn Achor, one of the leaders in the field of happiness at work, reminds us 90% of our long term happiness is determined by internal factors. And the good news? With the right tools and techniques, practised regularly we can increase our own happiness – and in turn make ourselves happier.
Another point worth noting is that lots of the changes we need to make to increase our happiness don’t cost anything. Increasing happiness isn’t about having freezers full of ice cream or scooters for staff to ride around on a la Google. A Friday afternoon ice cream van is a token gesture if it isn’t part of something more profound. Small changes such as teaching your brain to be more optimistic by learning how to scan for positivity will have a far greater impact. Supporting your people to form positive mindset habits so they can overcome and recover from adversity will serve you a thousand times better than a ping pong table in the break room. Don’t get me wrong if your people really want a ping pong table consider getting one, but don’t think you have ticked the ‘happiness at work’ box just by doing that.
Investing in happiness isn’t about expecting everyone to walk around the office grinning like the Cheshire Cat and scoring themselves 10 on the happiness scale every day. Not only would that be virtually impossible, it would also not be healthy. It is crucial we understand and value the full range of emotions a person experiences. What we can do though is try to increase someone’s average happiness score from six to seven, or maybe even eight by teaching them techniques which, practised regularly, form lasting habits which enhance the way we see the world, our relationships with others and the influence we have.
The Happy Business School’s Happiness in the Workplace workshop is a two-hour interactive session delivered in your workplace which will teach you the basics about happiness at work and give you loads of practical tips and tricks to take away and start using (and not a space hopper in sight, I promise!). If you’re looking for a more tailored solution then I’d love to chat.
Connect with me, follow The Happy Business School and if you’d like to talk more about happiness in the workplace send me a message.