The Happy Worker Part 1

It is true, and new: happiness is a term that can and should be used in the workplace. Since 2003, the psychological research on happiness has grown. Typically, the good news learned from the research is not that widely available. But the researchers in the field of positive psychology (the study of subjective well-being) has been very cautious about publishing their results in the more open, public media, because there are so many fads and half truths, as well as truths about what it takes to be happy and the effect of being happy. They wanted to be sure of their facts. This series of articles will share some of these findings with you, and its relevance to your work and personal life.

The best worker to have is a happy worker. Why, you might wonder? The answer is that they are a manager’s dream. They smile while they work hard; they enjoy doing a good job; they are reliable; they get along with (most) of their co-workers; they are self-motivated, etc. To have happy workers is a manager’s dream come true.

Happy workers in themselves are happy to be happy! Happy, in technical terms, is the degree of subjective well-being in a particular context. It is how happy you assess yourself to be. I suspect we all know about those days when you are feeling good, and you attack your work and nothing seems to phase you out. The sad news is that our experience is that these days are the exceptions to the rule. In our “off” days work is hard, and tough, and takes huge amounts of energy and concentration, and focus.

The question now arises: who or what will make me happy in the work. Here is one important misconception that needs to be addressed, namely it is not the employers exclusive responsibility to make you feel happy at work. From a popular view of labour law and labour rights it is easy to jump to the conclusion that if I am not happy at work, somebody in management is to blame and should be brought to task for my unhappiness. There are clear cases where that is true, even to the point where employers contribute to all the effects of unwell-being, like stress, burn-out, depressive reactions, etc.

However, it is equally true that individuals also have a good share of responsibility for their own happiness at work. The series of articles will be about what you can do to contribute to your own subjective well-being at work.

Here is the opening secret: the recipe for happiness at work starts with an awareness and actioning of the truth of interdependence.

With the current shortage of work, it is easy to be fooled by the fact that one is not needed in the workplace. As much as the workers need the company, so does the company need the skills and excellence of people in the workplace. Employers do not need sloppy workers, trouble-making workers. They need happy workers to be smart, efficient, and quick and willing to go the extra mile. Individuals might prefer a place in which they can use their talents, be appreciated, experience respect for their outputs.

This interdependence makes provision for the “no asshole rule” (from the title of a book by Jeffrey Sutton). Tough, demanding managers can be respectful and appreciate the mutual dependence for being successful. It is when tough and demanding comes with a price tag of non-respect, non-caring, non-sensitivity that it blows up, contrary to what some of the folk-lore or “old management” used to do.

In a bulk moving company that I consult in, one of their operations have just achieved 2.5 million lost-time-free hours. This achievement spans 5 years! I have been fortunate to study them and interview members of that business unit. The management team is tough and demanding on doing the job right, because doing it right is good safe business. What stands out though is the mutual respect between management and workers. The respect and interdependence appear to be the glue that binds them together and creates this impressive success.

Is success the same as happiness?