Happiness at work
I am a little wary of the lists that periodically announce the best places to work. It creates the illusion in the minds of many that if only they could wrangle a job offer with one of those employers they would be happy. The pictures of smiling employees sliding down multi-colored slides in the office and chomping free food can be a great draw. Does getting a job in such a place guarantee happiness? Why then do deliriously employees still leave such companies for greener pastures?
What makes us happy?
Are happy workers more productive? Yes. Research shows that a workplace that is bubbling with happy workers is more productive. Do happy employees still quit? Yes, they do. Every organization has to face employee turnover – no matter how happy they seemed just the other day.What makes people happy? Autonomy to make decisions at work. The opportunity to learn and achieve mastery of one’s craft and working for a purpose that connects us to other humans.Look at your organization’s attrition analysis. The pattern is predictable – if only we had paid people more and promoted the person early enough, we could have retained them, say the manager when asked why the stars left. Research throws a spanner in that argument.“Researchers who surveyed 6,200 lawyers about their jobs and health found that the factors most frequently associated with success in the legal field, such as high income or a partner-track job at a prestigious firm, had almost zero correlation with happiness and well-being. However, lawyers in public-service jobs who made the least money, like public defenders or Legal Aid attorneys, were most likely to report being happy.”Am I supposed to give him a medal every day to keep him happy, asks a frustrated leader of a startup. Wouldn’t you be happy if you won a medal, say at the Olympics? Not necessarily. You would be really happy if you won the gold medal or even the bronze. But you would be miserable if you won the silver. So even a big achievement does not guarantee happiness.
Who is responsible for happiness in the workplace?
I would say it is primarily the responsibility of the employee. Self-awareness helps us choose a profession and an employer that makes us buzz.
Fit with the profession: Doctors, firemen, police personnel and several others have to be on call round the clock. Call center employees and factory personnel have to work in shifts. Pilots and cabin crew in transcontinental flights have to deal with jet lag and sleeping at odd hours. Those who sail cargo vessels often spend months being away from the family. Every job has its price and pay-offs. Before choosing a profession the individual must know the working conditions and then decide if the profession feels right. Being aware of one’s likes and dislikes can help. So many people feel unhappy with their careers despite being successful. They hate the profession they have to spend their lifetime in.
Fit with the culture: During a job interview much of the focus is on evaluating whether the candidate can do the job. What is often missed out is to understand if the person will be happy doing that job. The answer to that lies in evaluating for fit with the culture. These are often the informal norms that are often glossed over during the interview. The same behavior can be viewed as “quiet confidence and self-assurance” in one company and as “brash and overstated” in another. These labels speak more about the culture of the company that acts as a yardstick against which the new hire will be scrutinized by the rest of the organization. The employer and employee must spend time hiring for culture fit.
Happiness at work really then largely depends on the individual. The best company is the one where the employer and the employee are both happy with each other. Competence to do the job well makes the employer happy. The fit with the culture makes the employer and the employee happy.Choose wisely. Happiness at work is largely up to you.------------
Published by Economic Times dated 20th Oct 2015 <click here>
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Photo of the smiling man courtesy Kishore Bhargava on Flickr