The science of happiness is part of positive psychology and it studies the roots, causes, and implications of our happiness. Nowadays, we think of happiness as a goal to pursue, catch, and guarantee forever. A new car, a beautiful dress, or a vacation are certainly pleasant moments and influence our emotional state. Yet these are expressions of temporary happiness, which researchers call hedonic happiness. They are linked to individual pleasure and typically to temporary positive emotions. Long-term happiness is different: It is linked to the pursuit of a goal that transcends our self-interest and embraces a greater purpose. This kind of happiness, named eudaimonic happiness, is rooted in our true human origin and provides several clinical benefits: stronger immune system, greater resistance to stress, better cardiovascular functions, better sleep quality, less chance of depression, greater longevity. It is studied more and more as the digital world, the strong competition, and the time pressure increase self-esteem, inequality, and loneliness, and distance individuals from their true nature of prosocial, collaborative, and generous human beings.
The new role of the Chief Happiness Officer (CHO) is born with the mandate to ensure employees’ happiness and joy. Happy employees, in fact, are better employees: They have higher levels of creativity, productivity, and collaboration; they are more forward looking and tend to embrace change with optimism. Finally, they are more engaged (less risk of resignation) and demonstrate better brand advocacy. The CHO is called upon to bridge the gap between expectations and reality. A survey conducted in 2018 found that 90% of the 500 workers surveyed expect to feel joy at work but only 37% actually do. The good news, however, is that happiness can be developed. Neuroscientific studies have revealed that:
• 40% of the causes of happiness can be managed.
• The brain is a “muscle”: It can be trained to develop new abilities (including happiness).
What are the factors that make us happy?
The 3 basic sources of happiness are:
• Sport: Physical activity stimulates the production of endorphins and serotonin, known as well-being and happiness hormones, and counteracts stress by reducing the level of cortisol in the blood.
• Sleep: Sleeping 8 hours and having a good quality sleep allow the body to recover the energy to better face a new day. Studies link sleep to better physical and mental well-being and to the reduction of stress, anxiety, and depression. Nowadays, our sleep is strongly impacted by the stress associated with uncertain macroeconomic situations, hyper-competitive work environments, and dissatisfaction with the corporate role.
• Sense: Contributing to a higher and greater goal, which transcends our self-interest, allows us to connect with others, justify our existence in the name of a greater cause, gaining a sense of fulfillment. This need has its roots in our primordial origin as prosocial beings, who found in the community a safe place to live and raise the little ones.
How can scientific findings be concretely translated into business practice? What are the initiatives that leaders can implement to support the happiness of their collaborators?
• Limiting the sources of stress: The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined stress at work as the “health epidemic of the 21st century.” WHO associated stress with poor work organization, poor management, and limited collaboration among colleagues. The increasing pressure to do better, do more, and do faster, coupled with the uncertainty of the future, generates errors, stress, burnout with an estimated business cost of $300 billion in 2001 only in the United States. To limit stress, leaders must:
Ensure engaging and satisfying activities for their employees: WHO has shown that the greatest source of work stress is working on activities that are not aligned with our abilities. Both hyper-simple, monotonous, unimportant activities and those too challenging for the individual’s abilities generate frustration, resentment, and stress. It is up to the leaders to assign engaging and satisfying activities to their collaborators according to their potential and their knowledge. Collaborators should enter into a state of flow, which is the intense, rewarding engagement in an activity that brings to lose the sense of time. The flow requires creativity and mental resources, but it brings fulfillment and gratification. People reach the state of flow when they engage in activities that are interesting and challenging, but still feasible relative to their skills and abilities.
Communicate clearly, transparently, and regularly: Humans do not like uncertainty. It generates doubt, suspicion, fear. They are instinctively driven to seek answers that are not communicated to them, but in doing so they waste energy. Leaders will always have to explain the why behind every decision. Taking these clarifications for granted or assuming that employees simply execute what is decided at the top is a huge mistake and generates disengagement.
Provide the team with a peaceful working environment: The team must be a “safe harbor,” a calm environment to work, self-express, and trust colleagues. Leaders must ensure the best possible environment for their teams, filtering the stress that weighs on their shoulders and always maintaining a positive, proactive, and empathetic attitude.
Oppose hyper-perfectionism and waste of time: Hyper-perfectionism and waste of time (e.g., never-ending meetings) generate discomfort and stress due to the work that accumulates while individuals are busy with other activities. Let’s take meetings as an example. A recent article in The Economists revealed that 80% of the time of 80% of attendees is wasted. In another analysis, Doodle estimated a cost of $399 billion only in the United States due to unnecessary or poorly organized meetings. Leaders must therefore define clear goals, build and stick to the agenda, prepare and limit participation only to necessary people.
Promote an equal work–life balance: The focus on performance and digitalization pushes to work harder, faster, and under greater pressure. Digitization allows us to be always on, but this wears away the barriers that previously limited the working hours. Work reaches us in the evening, at night, on weekends, and even on vacation. This, of course, creates stress. Leaders must promote a healthy and balanced work style, calibrating the number and sustainability of assignments and avoiding interactions outside working hours. They must also support their collaborators in case of perceived or shared personal complications, possibly leveraging the expert support made available by the company.
• Sponsor activities with greater than individual purpose: The generous nature of human beings and the need to give meaning to their life lead to the search for activities that transcend self-interest and create value for others. To mention a few examples, many companies have volunteer programs, others sponsor internal activities in which employees give back their time to support minorities of gender, race, or religion. Leaders have to promote and support these initiatives because they enhance employee experience and increase their happiness. Furthermore, if the experience is shared with other colleagues, it strengthens their bonds and benefits teamwork.
• Promote intra and extra-team collaboration: Our prosocial nature must be fulfilled inside and outside the team. Leaders must: º Foster disciplined collaboration within their team, with clear and recognized roles for participants and with a safe environment for the authentic expression of opinions.
Inspire collaboration through example. If leaders’ behavior is collaborative, kind, and authentic, this will trigger a virtuous circle which will push the collaborator to emulate it. This is known as the Tit for Tat mechanism, where one’s behavior is always observed and mirrored.
Create new experiences and learning opportunities through cross-team engagements.
• Sponsor the benefits of mindfulness and encourage employees to practice it every day: Mindfulness is the nonjudgmental, moment-by-moment awareness of thoughts, feelings, body sensations, and surrounding environments. The benefits of mindfulness include:
Increased focus and concentration on the present activity. Mindfulness also helps manage our brain habit to wander and think about past or future facts (mind wandering). This consciousness makes us recognize the distractions and allows us to quickly return to the present situation, limiting energy waste and stress.
Greater empathy and ability to manage emotions. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is the mindfulness method with proven clinical benefits, used in the case of burnout to help people recognize, uncouple, and manage emotions.
Greater ability to recognize and appreciate the positive, otherwise little considered micro-moments which give joy and fight stress.
Greater creativity and openness to experimentation because mindfulness interrupts the conditioned responses that prevent the exploration of new ideas and sustain change.
Mindfulness is based on the concept of brain neuroplasticity, which is the possibility of training the brain and developing new habits. The more exercise (mindfulness practice) we do, the more benefits we realize. The employee is always responsible for practicing consistently to obtain the expected benefits.
• Provoke positive emotions: Moments of joy, although temporary, generate positivity toward the future and create a better context in which to work and develop the sense of belonging, gratitude, and happiness. Leaders can provoke positive emotions in various ways:
Public appreciation of collaborators’ achievements or abilities º Authentic interest in collaborators as people
Support to the collaborators’ professional development º Sponsorship of mindfulness as a way to catch and appreciate positive micro-moments
Collaborators’ happiness will imply a sense of belonging toward the leader, the team, and the company, greater positivity and antifragility, and greater creativity. Developing employee happiness is therefore a win–win–win situation: happier employees mean better-supported leaders and more innovative, productive, agile companies which better face the challenges of the new digital age.