The smile at work

Is there happiness at work? I think that for the majority of people this is more of a utopia than a “possible reality”. But companies will have to start to worry about the people working under their roof, not just them but also their happiness—unless they want to lose their talented employees, or if they don’t intend to capture new talent. Why? What makes a potential employee choose us over the competition? The answer to this increasingly has to do with the “good working environment” we are offering.

Well, that’s what came out of the event “How to enjoy work and evolve” (“Como disfrutar y evolucionar en el trabajo”) held by Unique and AEDIPE (The Spanish Association for Personnel Development and Management) with the purpose of studying and personal satisfaction on the job and boosting it to the maximum.

The first step towards achieving this happiness at the workplace, as Juan Hunt, Director General of the International Labour Organization said, “To have a dignified job that allows us to work under safe conditions with protected rights, health, and the right training. Having none of that is indeed far from happiness.”

Although this seems obvious, it reminds me more of the first steps of the Maslow pyramid, where the basic needs are satisfied and not those that lead to motivation and happiness in the work environment.

Javier Ayuso, Managing Director of Unique, comes closer to the reasons why we do not attain this happiness. Or better said why companies don’t get it right when offering their employees conditions that will make them happy. Just as he stated, “It is really important HR policies take into account the most common human behaviours and attitudes. Often a part of the slip ups or dissatisfactions at work emerge from not tackling a situation as called for or even misinterpreting and exaggerating inane one-off comments.”

From my angle, I think that achieving this “smile at work”, although it can be boosted by the company, depends on each person in the majority of cases. As Carlos Hernández, an expert in training and development pointed out, “the people must decide where they are going, what their future will be, build their destiny.” This is something that often triggers our professional dissatisfaction.

Most people don’t face this challenge out of fear of change. It’s logical up to a point. Facing our future is not always easy, and as Hernández indicated, “We don’t like change, it scares us.” But it offers us many advantages, “it stimulates, it favours innovation, it allows us to advance, it’s positive and generates opportunities. The key is within ourselves, we have to be capable of creating our own opportunities.”

Or as mentioned by Marcos Urarte, a consultant who likes to believe that happiness at the workplace exists even if it be temporary, “There comes a time when the individual himself may have changed his values, interests… In that case it is better to look for another job.”

Urate claims that it’s possible to favour an environment compatible with “smiling on the job”. Not only is it doable, but it’s also a must because if we don’t do it some of our employees fall prey to emotional absenteeism. “There will come a day when they disengage, lose drive and the impetus they had to merely limit themselves to turning up at the company, doing a grey job and returning home each day with the satisfaction that this month they can pay the mortgage. And this happens to the best of them, because it doesn’t to mediocre workers or lazy ones who never had such dreams or expectations while performing their tasks. Companies cannot lose all this talent.”

If it is so crucial, how come companies are so disoriented in this respect? According to Urarte, “At times financial resources are wasted to provide employees certain services or goods which they couldn’t care less about. With far less effort, they can be given what they really want or need. What is the point of having a gym or parking space if what they want is some freedom with working hours? Or even offering more salary if they want more time?

What should we do then? According to Joan Elias, author of Lovework (Empresa Activa), the employee must leave home motivated. “A company cannot motivate their employees, but it can create a motivating environment where each one can find his path. Companies do not have soul and happiness is something each one has to pursue himself.” Let’s not forget that, “To be happy at work, people want to feel useful and unique, be masters of their time and have fun.”

How can companies take first steps towards this new policy for happiness at work? Easy, we can start with the “AEDIPE Decalogue for implementing a labour happiness strategy” (In Spanish, “Decálogo de AEDIPE para implantar una estrategia de felicidad laboral”):

1. Listen to the diversity within each employee.
2. Encourage each person to evaluate his own potential.
3. Empower personal and professional talent.
4. Offer autonomy and responsibility in professional performance.
5. Ensure tolerance and collaboration in all professional teams.
6. Settle individual and collective flexibility.
7. Promote dignified work and social protection.
8. Link productivity to measurable objectives that add competitiveness.
9. Compensate management committed to happiness on the job.
10. In short, create happiness on the job to increase productivity.