Happiness in the Workplace

Unfortunately, we live in a world where we are faced with a constant comparison to others (through idealistic and unattainable ‘norms’ often portrayed on social media) and outdated societal expectations of: Education + high earning job + marriage + children = fulfilment and happiness

Issues surrounding happiness in the workplace have gained increasing attention since employers started paying more attention to employee engagement and productivity. Nowadays, we want to be happy in work as well as in our free time. It’s more of an expectation than ever before. Generally, productivity and happiness go hand in hand. In fact, research[ii] suggests that happy employees (compared with unhappy employees):

• Work for a company four times longer
• Have 65% more energy
• Dedicate double the amount of time to tasks

We know that income doesn’t necessarily increase happiness (after a certain point of basic need fulfilment)[iii], and no matter how much we achieve or gain, the feelings of happiness and excitement with our new apartment, new clothes, or a promotion only last a little while.[iv]

So, happiness is a fleeting emotion; receiving praise for good work might make you happy for the afternoon, or motivate you for the week, but it is soon forgotten as we move onto the next thing. What we should be focusing on is how to increase our general wellbeing so that our ‘baseline’ is conducive to working well and feeling fulfilled, so we can experience the ups and downs but return to our healthy state in the middle.

The right environment should make us feel comfortable and support us in our activities. With the distractions we face today from technology, it’s no wonder some of us might be finding it difficult to ‘get into the flow’ of things.[i] Turning off your notifications and signalling that you are concentrating, by perhaps putting in headphones, could be a quick fix. However, designing our workplaces to support a range of activities, from quiet work to group meetings, would be a better solution.

Human-centred design standards, such as the WELL Building Standard[ii], focus on physiological and psychological wellbeing by discussing factors such as ‘mind’ and ‘comfort’ to improve our daily experience of the spaces we spend so much of our time.

Connecting with nature has been found to have a range of positive effects on our mood and mental health. In fact, time in nature is now being prescribed by healthcare experts as a treatment for depression and anxiety. Of course, going for a country walk everyday may be unrealistic for most of us, however following Biophilic Design (bringing nature and natural elements into the built environment using design principles) can improve health, overall wellbeing, productivity, and, well, happiness!

The research

Studies have found that 10% of absenteeism can be attributed to offices with no connection to nature.[iii] However, incorporating living elements (such as daylight, greenery, views, water, natural materials, and patterns, textures and colours that mimic nature) into the workplace can:

• Reduce attention fatigue[iv]
• Increase wellbeing by 15%, productivity by 6% and creativity by 15%[v]
• Lower heart rate and blood pressure, reduce stress, and enhance positive emotions, concentration and memory restoration[vi]
• Increase the feeling of comfort[vii]
• Reset our Circadian Rhythms[viii] which, in turn, increases wellbeing and performance.