There are hundreds of books written about happiness: what it is, how to achieve it, why it is so important, and why happiness at work is crucial for performance. HBR (2023) highlight research which shows being happy can increase productivity by 13%, whilst being unhappy costs the global economy $8.8 trillion in terms of lost productivity. So if I asked you now, on a scale of 0-10 how happy are you at work? What would you say?
With 16 points to play for in Scrabble, making happiness has clear advantages. But what really is happiness? And can we be happy at work?
What is happiness?
Remember the last time you felt truly happy, have you ever felt truly happy? Have you ever felt truly content? When you think about it, defining happiness or when, where, if you were happy can be difficult. Many people don’t realise they are happy until they are not.
So here are the definitions:
Happiness: the state of being happy
Happy: feeling or showing pleasure or contentment
Which I will be honest, don’t really help. What is contentment or pleasure for one person, may not be for someone else. Plus is happiness a trait? Like ‘Bob is a happy person’, or it is a state ‘Bob looked happy this morning’, or is it a feeling ‘I felt happy this morning’. How often have you felt happy, because for example you got a good score or did something kind, only to feel less happy when someone else ‘out does’ your happiness. Comparisons can be so important when it comes to happiness.
Derren Brown wrote an amazing book called ‘Happy: why more or less everything is absolutely fine’ in which he outlines the history of happiness, defining happiness as a social and historical construct developed since Plato & Socrates (Brown, 2016). But by the end of the book, Derren has the reader questioning whether it is happiness that people should really seek. Afterall, if it is so difficult to define, or understand, how can we aspire to achieve it? Especially within the confines of work.
Happiness is an emotional state, characterised by positive feelings such joy, contentment, satisfaction and fulfilment, as well as life satisfaction.
How Do You Measure Happiness?
Currently, the World Happiness Report claims to measure happiness, after being established in 2012. Led by leading scientists, researchers and experts the 2024 report shows that USA happiness levels have dropped out of the top 20 for the first time since its inception. In reality, this measure focuses on a number of metrics – including health and wellbeing, wealth and perceptions as well as emotions linked to happiness. Yet this is not a viable option for people at work to utilise. So how can we measure happiness at work? Or should we?
No matter which definition used, happiness is positive when, or if, it is achieved. So having people who are happy at work is a definite bonus, imagine if everyone was unhappy at work? In fact, 19% of people across the globe report being unhappy at work (measured by low job satisfaction) according to Gallup (2022). So maybe it is not so difficult to imagine.
Why Does Perception Matter?
Happiness, or being happy, is linked to our personal perceptions. A perception is a belief or opinion based on how things seem. It can be held by an individual, or a group of people. Perception is the quality of being aware of things through your senses, it is how we understand the world around us. Our brains filter and select information, picking up on information we deem important. So perceptions can vary, because it is our brain which decided what we pay attention to. Which is vital for happiness, because in many ways happiness is what we perceive.
Think about focusing on all the good things you have. Spend time on this. Really think about it. Your brain will naturally feel slightly happier than it was because of this positive focus. So in some ways, you can move up the happiness scale – just be reading this article!
Controlling Happiness At Work
In reality, the only thing we can control is our thoughts and our actions. So often, especially at work, we focus on things we cannot control. What others think, how others behave, how rude people are, how much people listen to us, the list is endless. Whilst we may be able to influence some of these aspects, especially as a leader, focusing on what we can’t control is a one way ticket to unhappiness. So how do we increase our happiness at work?
1. Focus On What You Can Control in Your Role
Find aspects of your job which you can influence, focus your time and effort on these, as opposed to elements you can’t control. Deciding how you deliver tasks, how you develop your role is an opportunity to improve your happiness at work. No business, or leader, will be worried if you over deliver your role or job. Think about what the metrics of success are for your job, then work out, how you can increase these, do them faster or to a higher quality, or in a way which save resources. Focusing on what you can control will help improve your own happiness, as well as your effectiveness and efficiency. This will make your boss happy too.
2. Find Opportunities For Growth
This builds on point 1. Look at how you can improve, become more skilled, get better at delivering your role and learn new things. It might be trying different ways to deliver the same thing, or working out how to be more efficient. Find areas which interest you and can help improve your performance. With the advent of the internet learning has become more accessible than ever before. Look at how others have developed or progressed in similar jobs, keep stretching your mind and developing skills to improve your satisfaction and happiness levels. Humans were built to grow, this delivers contentment and creates positive emotions.
3. Look After Yourself
Being happy comes from being present, in whatever form that looks like for you. Having a good night’s sleep, eating healthy and focusing on your own wellbeing is crucial to this. It can be difficult to be happy and have positive emotions when you are in pain, tired or exhausted. But it is possible, many people overcome untold challenges and because they look after themselves manage to be content, satisfied or happy. Undertaking any physical exercise has been proven to raise ‘happiness’ hormone levels, but don’t be hard on yourself. Be kind to yourself. Do what you can.
4. Build Positive Relationships
Having meaningful conversations, connecting with your colleagues and working with others can all have a positive impact on how we feel at work. The degree to which individuals need this connection varies widely, so listen to others as well. The focus is building positive relationships at work. Connecting with people. Have people who support you, whilst you support others, helps promote a culture of positivity. Just smiling at another person has shown to lift how people feel, having a positive impact.
5. Work With Your Values
For many this is really difficult, as often we have jobs just to survive. But generally, it can be possible to work with your values. For example, different organisations have different cultures and produce different products. The key to working with your values, is that you focus on living your values every day at work. Offering to do projects, or help others, in the workplace which align to our values can really increase our perception, or feeling, of how happy and content we are at work. The small things, quickly add up to bigger things so go back to number 1 and focus on what you can control. How can you increase your role to become more fulfilling, especially if you are trained and experienced in your role, talking to your manager is always the first step.
And finally….
So, when we ask the question of whether anyone can be happy at work, think about what this really means, to you and to others. Having positive emotions, positive experience and focusing on what you can control is the start of achieving happiness, which will always ebb and flow throughout our life and experiences.
