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Finding the keys to happiness at work

To optimise employee happiness, a company must elucidate its purpose and inspire its staff. This will help them see the larger picture and how they are creating a better world

With the echoes of 'happy new year still ringing in our ears, I had an interesting conversation about happy employees. Post-Covid, there have been several changes in the way we complete office tasks, like working from home. Off days are often a blur and timings at work are not adhered to (punctuality appears to be a virtue from another era). Therefore, to find work-life balance, it's important that both 'life' and 'work' do not suffer.

Here I feel companies are succumbing easily to employees' demands in a bid to make them happy, yet some staff are disgruntled and take things for granted. In such a scenario, I see some firms laying emphasis on becoming ‘great places to work’. In their attempt to remain appealing to their employees, stakeholders and the public, these companies are putting stress on the 'great' and less on 'work'. For me, work has to be done, like it or not. So, the quest to enhance happiness has led certain organisations to assign ‘chief happiness officers’. Google was the first to embark on this path.

Now let’s explore what true happiness means in organisations. Happiness has several connotations here as people come from various backgrounds; they have unique personalities,and expectations. What makes one person happy may not work with others. Managers may have both millennials and employees nearing retirement whose needs, ambitions and expectations are often very different.

Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard said: "Happiness is a deep sense of flourishing that arises from an exceptionally healthy mind … not a mere pleasurable feeling, a fleeting emotion, or a mood, but an optimal state of being." Employee happiness can be influenced by two factors: the organizational ecosystem and employees’ mindset.

Let's explore the organisational ecosystem first. To optimise employee happiness, a company must have a purpose to inspire its staff. This will help them see the larger picture and how they are creating a better world. But purpose alone is not enough. A company also needs conscious leaders who can create the conditions necessary for teams to succeed while having collaborative and inclusive environments where personal autonomy, psychological safety and transparency are strong.

Leaders must also focus on employee well-being and growth. All of these elements define conscious, progressive organisations that change the world while bringing more happiness to their employees.

Second, it's the employees’ state of mind. Research has indicated that 50% of our happiness is genetically predetermined, while 40 per cent is the result of our attitude, and just 10% is based on the circumstances of our lives. Therefore, happiness depends a lot on how we react to situations, and that's something we all have the ability to control.

As a result, an employee in a fantastic office with a bad attitude will possibly remain sad at work. In a firm that does everything to make its employees happy (short of laying out the red carpet), you will still see some grouchy sulking faces.

Another factor that affects happiness is well-being. Our finances, relationships, health and place in society all contribute to how we view work and how happy we are in a company. Companies that stand out in the future will be those that help people optimally integrate all these dimensions into their lives. Employees will then do everything to ensure the success of their organisations with a smile.

I would like to end this debatable topic with a quote, “Don’t leave the keys to your happiness in someone else’s pocket”. On that note, let me wish all readers a very happy, healthy, and blessed new year.

- Shilpa Bhasin Mehra is a legal consultant based in Dubai.

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