How to be Happy: A Better Life at Work

Source: By SARAH TRELEAVEN

Posted: 06/27/08 10:29AM

Filed Under: Health

How to be happy. That's really what it all comes down to, isn't it? Even if life has been chugging along at a fairly joyous pace, most of us would admit a little more happy couldn't hurt. Often all that requires is a gentle reminder of how good we already have it or a simple tweaking of our glass-half-empty perspectives in order to turn the tide. This column will do that just that. Each week, Sarah Treleaven will seek out someone who has gained wisdom and insight into how to live a happier, more fulfilling existence and she will get their best advice.

Last week: Were you born happy or do you default to melancholy? It doesn't really matter because happiness is in your control.

This week: Alexander Kjerulf, the self-described "Chief Happiness Officer," is a Copenhagen-based speaker, consultant and author of the book Happy Hour is 9 to 5. Here, he discusses the importance of being happy at work, and why every company should put make employee happiness a key part of their agenda.

Q: Why is it important to be happy at work?

A: There are three major reasons:

1. Time. You will spend most of your waking hours at work. In fact, you'll spend more time at work than you will on your friends, family and hobbies combined. And who wants to waste so much time on something that doesn't make them happy.

2. Life. It turns out, that being happy at work makes you happy in life. Happiness research shows, that good and meaningful work makes you happy in life.

3. Success. When you like your job, you do it much better. Happy people are more motivated, productive, creative and thus have better careers.

Q: Is being happy at work about having the right attitude or finding the right job?

A: It's 10% about the job and 90% about you. That's why some people seem to have everything at work and are still not happy. It's less about the job and more about how you approach it. I have met happy nurses, bus drivers, teachers and managers. I've also met unhappy nurses, bus drivers, teachers and managers. If you want to be happy at work you can be - as long as you find work that uses your abilities and skills. On the other hand, if you don't care about being happy at work, no one can help you. That's where a lot of people are at - they don't seem to care about enjoying work, and they focus more on their title and the paycheck.

Q: What makes people happy at work?

A: There are two things that make us happy at work:

1. Results. Knowing that you do good work. Making a difference. Contributing value. Going home from work saying "I kicked butt today!"

2. Relationships. Liking the people you work with and especially having a good relationship with your boss. When people have results and relationships, they're happy at work!

Conversely, if you go to work and you can't do good work and you dislike the people you work with, we feel awful! Some of the major things that make us unhappy at work are busyness, stress and bullying - each of which harm both results and relationships.

Q: Is it in the best interests of a company to have happy employees?

A: Many studies have confirmed that happy companies make more money because happy employees are more productive, they give better customer service, they are more creative, they are sick less often, and they stay in the company longer.

Q: Do you have a happiness role model related to work?

A: Southwest Airlines and their ex-CEO Herb Kelleher really inspired me and changed my thinking around happiness at work. To see it done so well in such a huge company is fantastic. They have huge staff parties to celebrate how well they're doing. They encourage people to have fun at work with co-workers and their customers. They also treat their employees right and give them a decent salary. And one really cool thing they do is they tend to hire happy people. Their motto is "Hire for attitude, train for skill" because it's easy to teach people with a good attitude the skills they need. On the other hand, it's almost impossible to teach people with a bad attitude anything. In fact, if you're a jerk, there's no way you're getting a job at Southwest.

Q: Have you ever had a job that made you really unhappy?

A: I was terribly unhappy for about a year in my previous career in IT. For a long time I did enjoy [it], but after a while I felt stuck in a rut. I was doing the same work for the same customers in the same way and I was bored out of my skull. It was awful! I became tired, depressed, negative and pessimistic. I've promised myself never to stand for that again.

Q: Now that you're found work that you love, how has it changed your life?

A: It has made my whole life better. I'm happier, healthier, more optimistic, have more fun at work and in life AND I'm a lot more fun to be around.

Q: When you go into a workplace, how do you assess the situation and how do you make it better?

A: I measure happiness at work using a simple survey I've developed. And my main message to people is that we're all responsible for our own happiness at work. You can't sit on your butt and wait for your manager or your co-workers to make you happy. You have to do something yourself. And you really have two choices: You can either work to become happy in the job you already have, or, if this seems too hard, you can move on to another job where you can be happy. You're doing no one a favour by staying in a job you hate. Not your co-workers, not the company, not yourself. If you're unhappy in your current job, and there's little chance that things will improve you need to get out of [it].

I also teach companies that any workplace can be a happy workplace - if everyone does a little something every day. I teach people to both appreciate what's good at work and how to constructively identify and fix the things that make them unhappy at work. I teach managers to always have time for their employees and to take an active interest in how they're doing. I teach them to seek out feedback from their employees on how they can be better leaders. I know how banal this sounds, but I can prove that it works and have done it time and again in many workplaces, big or small, public or private.

Q: What are your top tips for being happy at work?

A: It's not rocket science - it's the little things that count, the small stuff that each of us can do every day. Happiness at work comes from the little things you and I do here and now. Remember to praise people who do good work, and take a little time to get to know each other. Remember to say a warm, cheerful "good morning" to all of your co-workers. Create a fun mood at work. We must each take responsibility for our own happiness at work and do something every single day. If everyone in the workplace does that, it becomes very happy very quickly indeed.

How to be Happier Archives

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Gretchen Rubin spent a year testing every happiness-enforcing principle she could find; get her top tips for a fulfilling life.

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