A WORLD WHERE PEOPLE GO TO WORK HAPPY, AND GO HOME HAPPIER
The science of happiness, and why it matters in the workplace.`
What does it even mean to be happy, though?
Unlike fear, anger or sadness, happiness is a more difficult emotional state to define. It’s a subjective feeling that can occur fleetingly; a moment of joy or satisfaction sparked by a particular event. However, happiness over a longer duration is slightly different.
Ongoing happiness doesn’t rely on continual spikes of pleasure. It comes from a meeting of expectations; when what we anticipate or hope will happen — happens. In this way, it’s actually closer to contentment than joy.
This explains why some of the happiest people you’ll meet have relatively little. They’re simply satisfied with what they have. Conversely, others may appear to have everything — money, fame, talent and possessions — yet are bitterly unhappy due to always wanting more.
It’s also why the pursuit of happiness as a goal is futile, because it relies on setting expectations and conditions for it to occur. This tends to lead to disappointment, either through unrealistic expectations which are never realised, or because we achieve our goal, and after a brief moment of satisfaction, start dreaming about our next aspiration.
Happiness is also experiential — more about what we’re doing than what we think. Asking yourself whether you feel happy is harder to answer than asking yourself whether what you’re doing is making you happy. Similarly, willing yourself to be happier is harder and less effective than simply doing something that makes you happy.
But why does any of this matter? Why should we be concerned about people’s happiness at work? After all, in the words of Don Draper: “that’s what the money’s for!”
Yeah, not quite.
We spend roughly a third of our life working and another third sleeping, leaving us with only a third to enjoy everything else. Being unhappy at work equates to being unhappy for a sizable chunk of our life.
As one of the most significant experiences in our lives, happiness at work is a crucial component of health and wellbeing, which in turn is directly linked to performance and engagement at work.
More specifically, researcher Shawn Achor found that the people’s mindset when they’re happy results in 23 per cent more energy during times of stress, 31 per cent higher productivity and 37 percent higher levels of sales. It also improves creativity and problem-solving abilities. Happiness is more than just altruism — it’s a significant competitive advantage.
This is particularly relevant for the generations entering the workforce. Plenty has been said about Millennials' expectations of work. They expect more from humanity, their work and the organisations they work for, including social, environmental and overall positive impact.
Why would anyone fault them for wanting a better world? Yet therein lies the rub. These high expectations can easily lead to unhappiness, disappointment, dissatisfaction and disengagement.
So, in understanding the importance of happiness and how it manifests, how do we apply it to designing better employee experiences?
Here are three considerations.
Congruent
From what we’ve learned about happiness, our primary consideration should be to ensure people’s experience or work matches their expectations.
This begins with providing an accurate portrayal of what it’s like to work at the organisation in question. This is the domain of branding, the employer brand, the employee value proposition (EVP), talent acquisition and recruiting.
There’s a temptation to hype up the brand or oversell the role. This may seem like a good way to attract talented people, yet it’s the antithesis of what’s needed to ensure they’re happy and productive in their new position — and remain with the organisation for the long term.
Managing expectations, particularly during the high-anticipation period preceding starting a new position is crucial. This is one of the reasons an effective onboarding experience begins immediately after the job offer has been accepted. Using this time to cognitively frame people for what to expect from their work and the organisation not only gets them up to speed, it also reduces the likelihood of disappointment once they begin.
Secondly and just as importantly, we need to deliver on the promises of the employer brand and EVP. This begins with the onboarding experience, but extends through every aspect of the employee experience, from career pathways to learning and development.
If any aspect of the employee experience fails to meet expectations, we can expect negative repercussions.
Customised
Because expectations are contextual to the individual, we need to understand what people expect from their work, then manage their expectations and their experience accordingly.
This is a little more involved than the typical one-size-fits-all approach, but not as intensive as it sounds. Most onboarding platforms offer a high degree of automation which takes care of burdensome administrative tasks, triggers in-person conversations or questions, and tailor content to the recipient based on rules or filters.
By using human-centred design, including persona activities and journey mapping, we can design experiences that cater to different expectations, leaving people happier as a result.
Memorable
There are subtle differences between the way people experience happiness in the moment versus the way they remember the experience afterwards.
Both are important.
Fortunately, the same approach can be used to create an experience that sparks happiness in the moment, as well as being recalled as a happy memory afterwards.
Logical would suggest that a happy memory would be one in which the number of positive moments outweighed the negatives, yet it’s actually far simpler. Our recollection of an experience is based solely on the average of the peak and end moments (peak-end theory).
This means that as long as the majority of touchpoints meet people’s expectations, a single high point and a great conclusion is enough to be remembered as positive.
There are so many benefits to happiness in the workplace — from health and wellbeing, to performance and engagement, to the positive impact it has on society as a whole. This is why at Everyday Massive, our vision is a world where people go to work happy, and go home happier.
And don’t forget International Asteroid Day on June 30.
