Are we happy at the workplace?
As per the recent workplace trends in India, the employees’ emotional health is a distant luxury; the concept of ‘happiness at work’ is just a fantasy and people-culture is a myth.
The concept of happiness is empirically defined by positive psychology with a scientific construct called PERMA (Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment). The happiness model was first developed by Martin Seligman with the main objective of bringing positive change in personal lives and nurturing emotional health among people in general.
According to the survey conducted by Oxford University, Indian employees spent approximately 2,117 hours per annum in their workplace which means they spend 35% of their time in their office (excluding sleep hours at home). The data also compels the organisations to introspect on the quality of life being offered to the employees at the workplace.
The organisations indeed have their budgetary limitations; however, they can work on the mutual benefits wherein they offer happiness to the employees and the employees revert with workplace passion, brand loyalty and many such workplace virtues.
Implementing happiness model
Positive emotions: Positive Emotions mean not the absence of negative emotions, but it may be a process of cultivating emotions like joy, compassion, learnt optimism and hope. These emotions are directed to refine their perceptions about their job role, colleagues, and organisation. An article published in Harvard Business Review in February 2016 infers that a positive emotional culture helps in reducing absenteeism, intensified the value of shared values and increased the business outcome of the organisations. These positive emotions may not be enforced on the employees but infused through the DNA of organisational culture.
Engagement: This can be called Mindful Engagement wherein the employees altruistically engage themselves in their job roles irrespective of the outcome. Let’s recollect the quote of Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, on Twitter, “I take care of my employees and they take care of their customers.” The idea is that employees believe in the organisational processes, and they are assured that they get what they deserve.
Relationship: Human brain is not just biological but a social organ that craves human connection. Humans are hardwired to live together and strive to achieve common goals. However, the prevailing competition and inadequacies in resources have created a rift between the employees while forcing them to embrace enigmatic behaviours. These enigmatic behaviours are the results of distrust and scarcity in beneficial dispensation (awards/rewards). According to Forbes magazine, healthy relationships at the workplace generate the temperaments of a family at the workplace.
Meaning: According to a study conducted by Northwestern University in 2015, the employees who find purpose or meaning in their job roles display extra-role behaviours at the workplace. Besides, a study published in Psychosomatic Medicine in 2016 found that the employees’ who attach strong meaning to their work reported fewer psychological or pathological issues compared to the employees having no meaning in their job roles. The meaning or purpose in one’s work liberates employees from fatigue or boredom and triggers their intrinsic motivation to work.
Accomplishment: A study published in Labour Economics in 2017 says that out of 10 working hours in a day, the employees are productive only for 3.5 to 4.5 hours and the remaining time is squandered on the regrets of yesterday and anxieties for the future. It means that the employees invest their maximum time in recollecting the bad experiences in their office in the past, engaging in trivial talks (grapevine) or worrying about some uncertainties in future. If the employees are intrinsically motivated to set short-term goals and celebrate every pace of accomplishment, they may not have time for insignificant ventures at the workplace.
As we examine various dimensions of cultivating happiness in the workplace, the potential challenge is the strategic framing and implementation of HR policies aligned with the ground realities. Although the employees belong to various cultural backgrounds, and diversified beliefs, values, and sentiments, all aspire for happiness and peace in the workplace. Instead of living with the sentiment of a developing nation or Third World Nation, the organisations may experiment with something mutually beneficial HR practices that promise happiness to every employee.
(The author teaches behaviour science and psychology at a Manipal-based college)