The Effect on Happiness

When our journey started several years ago, employees were feeling stressed and we could feel the frustration in the air as we walked around the office. Speaking to coworkers would often bring tales of disappointment and irritation.

Since we were embarking on unchartered territory with self-selection, we knew that we needed to have measurements in place that would tell us if we were heading in the right direction and whether the effects would wear off over time, having provided a temporary spike only.

Measuring happiness is not an exact science, but you can to gather samples and track trends over time. In our case we designed and built a tool that we referred to as the Happiness, Innovation, and Productivity (HIP) survey.

The HIP survey is our take on how to gain information on how healthy our work environment is and how we’re doing in creating a place that fosters happiness, innovation, and productivity. The survey questions build on Daniel Pink’s work on autonomy, mastery, and purpose as described here and the Scandinavian Workplace Happiness movement (arbejdsglæde),^[12] which adds relationships and creativity to the mix.

The checklist that follows shows some of the most important motivational factors we collect information on, as listed in the survey that follows:

Over time we saw the happiness levels trend upward in all of these areas. Like any trend, the development wasn’t perfectly even; we observed peaks and troughs, particularly around the introduction of new squads, difficult projects, or the financial end of year.

The following graphs illustrate the results we observed from the questions in the HIP survey.

Every area of happiness and motivation we measured demonstrated significant improvement over time. Levels of autonomy, mastery, purpose, and creativity increased, and employees found they received more support from those around them. We also measured a reduction in multitasking, which increased our focus and productivity.