How to be happy at work
By Melinda Ham | smh.com.au | 20 April
Emelie Soderlund raves about her new job as a graphic designer. Freshly graduated from college, she landed a position with retail design agency Ideaworks two months ago and looks forward to turning up to work each day. "You can definitely say I'm really happy," the 30-year-old says.
"It's such a creative and innovative environment. They make me feel welcome."
Soderlund may attribute her bright mood to good luck or good career management but happiness researchers would argue that a range of factors has played a role. It's likely that central to her good feelings about work is the fact that she has responsibilities, can operate autonomously, is stimulated and feels she makes a valuable contribution.
Because she's new to her role she also constantly encounters new challenges.
Identifying with an optimistic work culture, receiving constructive praise from your boss and a competitive salary can all help workers feel happy.
Research into the happiness of workers is being driven by several forces. It is believed happier workers are more productive and businesses want to know exactly which factors create this satisfaction. With Australia enjoying 30-year lows in unemployment, employers are also keen to know how best to attract and retain employees. And discontented workers are expensive. The Happiness At Work Index, a survey of 1000 British workers published in September by Chiumento, an international human resources consultancy, found most very unhappy workers eventually just quit. The cost of extra recruitment and training can be very damaging to the bottom line.
Dr Rennie D'Souza, a fellow at the Australian National University, analysed data from a study of 2000 workers in Queanbeyan and ACT. "There's so much focus on the physical risks of [occupational health and safety] but our study showed that stressful work conditions can also create mental health problems for the workforce, resulting in more sick days, more visits to the GP and possibly resulting in reduced productivity," she says.
There are no easy answers to find happiness at work, but psychologist Dr Timothy Sharp, a lecturer at both the University of Sydney and the University of Technology, Sydney, says that there are basic criteria employers and staff should try to fulfil.
With other consultants at the Happiness Institute, which he founded in Sydney five years ago, Sharp conducts in-house corporate coaching sessions to encourage employees and managers to collaborate and develop solutions to improve their work environments. One of the most important issues, Sharp says, is for workers to have "at least one person they can call a friend". Many workers expect a "work-life balance" but this distinction is misleading and artificial.
"'Work-life balance' implies that you have to have a distinct separation between work and life and you are not living when you go to work, that you walk in the door of the office and leave all your personal issues outside. This just isn't true."
If you've had an argument with your partner at home or a bad day at the office, in both spheres of your life you need someone to listen, he says.
The Happiness At Work Index discovered that having "friendly supportive work colleagues" was cited by four out of five employees as the main reason they were very happy.
The index says that employers can encourage social interaction by getting people to work in teams (as graphic designer Soderlund does), promote more face-to-face communication between employees instead of relying on email, develop an open office culture where people can express their feelings and feel supported and appreciated.
Workers also need a certain degree of autonomy and control over their work environment. Job insecurity and lack of control were the major factors making most people unhappy in their workplace in the ANU study.
Employees who have flexible work, decide when they take breaks and have control of when they do certain tasks seemed to be a lot happier, D'Souza says.
Workers also want to have the opportunity for growth and promotion, Sharp says. "One big misconception, though, is that the best workers all want to be promoted, that this will make them happier, but this is not always the case," he says.
"They may be completely content doing their present job. They may not automatically become a great manager where they have different interaction with their colleagues. They may not necessarily be happier."
Most workers also want to receive a healthy amount of realistic but not gratuitous praise. Performance reviews should focus on how workers' skills and strengths can be better used rather than focusing only on how they can improve, Sharp says.
Developing a positive workplace culture is also vital for employee happiness and engagement, says Mike Rafferty, senior researcher at the University of Sydney's Workplace Research Centre. "The old wage earner used to belong to his union and had a sense of belonging. Now, there's been a whole cultural shift," he says. With the decline of unions, many employees look for a work culture from their employer.
Supportive workmates and environment are much more important than pay in the Happiness At Work Index.
Getting a competitive salary ranked last of "the top 10 factors that make us happy at work", although the unhappiest workers said lack of a competitive salary was the second reason why they were discontent.
Happiness at work
Research on job contentment suggests these key strategies can help:
*Get friendly and supportive workmates.
* Be part of a team.
* Have control over your work.
* Enjoy a supportive, open environment.
* Have job security.
* Identify with an optimistic work culture.
* Receive realistic, constructive praise from employers.
* Feel as if you make a difference to the company.
* Earn a competitive salary.
First published by Smh.com.au on April 20 2008
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