Don’t worry, be happy (at work)

Happiness is the key to productivity and learning is the key to happiness.

Happiness is a well-documented and scientifically measureable condition that we should all be interested in; as governments, as businesses and as individuals in Singapore.

Some interesting facts from recent research tells us that happiness is not so much about major events (getting married, job promotion, financial win) but about many much smaller events and activities and on an ongoing basis.

What is good to know is that we can understand and do something about being happier, more often.

This can be achieved by spending more time doing things which make us happy or finding ways to improve how we approach those activities which tend to make us less happy.

In the work environment – which for many people is the biggest single activity by time spent each day – happiness is becoming a central point of focus. If as individuals we can be happy as we tackle various activities at work, it is beyond question that we will feel more positive, fulfilled, rewarded and appreciated.

These statements offer a clue to the meaning and demonstration of happiness at work. Being happy at work doesn’t necessarily mean having a happy state of mind.

Influencers for happiness in a work related situation are more likely to be explained as enjoying your work, appreciating co-workers, collaborating in a team, achieving goals, contributing to results and being acknowledged.

In HR-speak the collective term for this is engagement.
Generally an engaged employee feels part of the company, joining in effort for the company and understanding how the individual fits into the company.

Engaged employees are more productive, more loyal and (guess what?) happier. This offers immense value to companies, to increase productivity, reduce staff turnover, make savings in recruitment and have less days lost to absenteeism.

Gretchen Spreitzer ⁽ⁱ⁾ and Christine Porath ⁽ⁱⁱ⁾ captured these points succinctly in a recent article titled “Creating Sustainable Performance”.

They state that happiness is not about contentment and they go on to say that engaged employees can be better described as thriving.

 “…research from neuroscience, psychology and economics makes the link between a thriving workforce and better business performance absolutely clear. We’d be stupid not to use that knowledge.”

Spreitzer and Porath studies, over a period of 7-years and across multiple business segments and companies, present compelling results. _{⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾}
Performance was 16% better for thriving companies
Thriving employees were 32% more committed to the organisation
Thriving employees were 46% more satisfied with their jobs

Thriving, happy or engaged, there are two traits which are evident when we enjoy our working life and they are enthusiasm and learning. There are many ways to generate enthusiasm in the human capital of any business, but on its own this will probably fade as people burn out and tire of effort without some deeper reward. Learning is the key to reinforce and sustain enthusiasm, as when people are developing and improving they expand into new domains, which refreshes their interest.

Happiness is now a measured science and happiness at work has been proven by research to have a positive influence on productivity. Happiness in the workplace is not intangible – on the contrary it is easily attained by giving the individual a sense that what they do is valued and to provide an environment for growth through learning and development. Investment in happiness can be justified, benchmarked and tracked to demonstrate returns on investment.

Learning and development (L&D) has percolated to a higher level of importance in business, as it is core to productivity and growth. The question should not be whether to invest in L&D but more about how to maximize investment. Businesses devoting sensible resources to L&D then simply have to make choices about the most appropriate implementation, blended from resources within the corporation and from third-party service providers. A culture of commitment to L&D should run from top to bottom though the entire company.

In Singapore the issue of L&D has been very visible in Government policies and business forums. This is backed by training initiatives, subsidies and tax relief benefits. Looking at the incentives, it would appear that there is every encouragement for increased investment in people development. Yet – I am sad to say – current global uncertainty is causing some corporations to lack confidence and worry to the extent of cutting discretionary spending. What is shocking is that many corporations consider training and development to be discretionary costs which can be easily cut to make savings. This is counter-intuitive to the proof that people who are learning and growing are more productive and more loyal, with inherent improvements to the P&L.
My advice to companies aiming to reduce spending on people development is; don’t worry, be happy!

Notes
^i. Gretchen Spreitzer is a professor of management & organizations at University of Michigan Ross School of Business
^ii. Christine Porath is an assistant professor at Georgetown University McDonough School of Business
^iii. Source: Harvard Business Review – Jan/Feb 2012

Ron Graham is Managing Director at Media On The Go and Senior Consultant at Wentworth People.