In writing a piece on the psychology of workplace happiness, it’s useful to think about what happiness means. Research shows that many think of happiness as an outcome of effort – it is something to be achieved. In this sense, it’s an emotional payoff. But this is dangerous because this sort of happiness is not something that can be reasonably maintained. Rather, individuals who find satisfaction in the simple day-to-day see more benefits of the condition. Individuals who can see that mild satisfaction as a success rather than a failure tend to be more motivated, optimistic and have a more positive view of the future. This mades sense, of course, but how does that translate into more quantifiable terms? Well check this out: Happy people tend to live longer, are healthier, are more likely to marry and stay married, then to have more close and casual friends, and tend to make more money. They also tend to be less likely to feel badly about themselves as a result of negative comparisons with peers, and are more likely to minimize the impact of daily annoyances in favor of enjoying little successes.
Why should employers care if their employees are happy? Here’s your business case: Happy employees tend to be more productive, get better performance evaluations, are more creative, get along with their bosses more, and engage in more organizational citizenship behaviors. That all means that happy employees tend to contribute more to the bottom line in very quantifiable ways.
There is no reason to go through life with a negative attitude. Stay tuned to this site as we investigate the factors that impact happiness in the workplace, detract from it, and investigate what employees and employers alike can do about it.
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