“People were already unhappy, but the recession years have made things much worse,” says John Gibbons, formerly of the Conference Board and now Vice President of Research and Development at the Institute For Corporate Productivity. “Whether we realize it or not, workers have been under constant duress. Because of scarce resources, few opportunities for development and promotions–not to mention the fact that people often have been required to do the work of more than one person–a lot of our workforce is burnt out. Employees across the country feel overworked, under-rewarded and greatly unappreciated.” Read more a the sharp drop off in worker happiness or contact us via email about the EnjoyWork Survey…
Building Better Businesses By Closing The Happiness Gap
As work becomes our lives, it becomes more and more important for us to be happy at work. But few of us are. A revolution in workplace happiness would make us healthier and more productive. How can we get there? Read more about making work happier and more productive…
How to Be Happy at Work
If you’re unhappy at work–or anywhere else, for that matter–it’s because you’ve made yourself unhappy. There’s an easy way to change that. Read more about how to be happy at work…
The Impact of Bad Bosses
New research has found that bad bosses affect how your whole family relates to one another; your physical health, raising your risk for heart disease; and your morale while in the office. The psychological climate in which you work has a lot to do with your health and happiness. Recent research has found, perhaps not surprisingly, that bad bosses can affect how your whole family relates to one another. They can also affect your physical health, raising your risk for heart disease.
Read more about the impact of bad bosses at theatlantic.com…
Happiness Is The Ultimate Economic Indicator
Increased economic growth doesn’t necessarily lead to more fulfillment. So why do we consider GDP to be the most important factor? In an excerpt from The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality, Richard Heinberg argues it’s time to start paying more attention to national happiness instead. Read more about using happiness as the ultimate economic indicator…
Create a Meaningful Life Through Meaningful Work
Being human is never easy. But that’s the point. Perhaps as an unintended consequence of our relentless quest for more, bigger, faster, cheaper, now, we’ve comfortably acceded to something akin to a minor-league contempt for the richness and grandeur of life unquenchably meaningfully well lived. Hence, call this post my tiny statement of rebellion. Hex me with all the bland management jargon in the world, zap me with all the perfect theories and models you like, but I’ll never, ever accept the idea that triviality, mediocrity, and futility are appropriate goals for any human being, much less our grand, splintering systems of human organisation. Read more about creating a meaningful life through meaningful work…
The 1-page Team Enjoyment Plan
Managers, write a 1-page plan for increasing enjoyment in your team &/or company. You’ll see quick, tangible, high value, low cost results.
5 things to remember:
- Enjoyment at work is as important to your brand as using happiness to sell stuff. Employees should have an experience they want to talk about.
- A meaningful experience at work (e.g acquiring a new skill) often makes people happier than moments of pure pleasure (e.g eating ice cream).
- Being treated with respect is the no. 1 contributor to commitment & motivation. Quality of co-workers is 4th. Pay comes in at 7.
- Creating the sense that individuals are part of something bigger enables self-engagement & aligns employees to strategy.
- Think small. Small x Many = BIG.
