Being Happy at Work Matters - HBR

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MOTIVATING PEOPLE Being Happy at Work Matters by Annie McKee NOVEMBER 14, 2014 People used to believe that you didn’t have to be happy at work to succeed. And you didn’t need to like the people you work with, or even share their values. “Work is not personal,” the thinking went. This is bunk. My research with dozens of companies and hundreds of people — as well as the research conducted by the likes of neuroscientists Richard Davidson and V.S. Ramachandran and scholars such as Shawn Achor — increasingly points to a simple fact: Happy people are better workers. Those who are engaged with their jobs and colleagues work harder — and smarter.

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  • MOTIVATING PEOPLE

    Being Happy at Work Mattersby Annie McKee

    NOVEMBER 14, 2014

    People used to believe that you didnt have to be happy at work to succeed. And you didnt

    need to like the people you work with, or even share their values. Work is not personal,

    the thinking went. This is bunk.

    My research with dozens of companies and hundreds of people as well as the research

    conducted by the likes of neuroscientists Richard Davidson and V.S. Ramachandran and

    scholars such as Shawn Achor increasingly points to a simple fact: Happy people are

    better workers. Those who are engaged with their jobs and colleagues work harder and

    smarter.

  • YOU AND YOUR TEAM

    Engaging Employees

    Best practices for keeping your team focusedand motivated.

    And yet, there is an alarmingly high number of people who arent engaged. According to a

    sobering 2013 Gallup report, only 30% of the U.S. workforce is engaged. This echoes what

    Ive seen in my work. Not very many people are truly emotionally and intellectually

    committed to their organizations. Far too many couldnt care less about whats happening

    around them. For them, Wednesday is hump day and theyre just working to get to

    Friday. And then theres the other end of the bell curve the nearly one out of five

    employees is actively disengaged, according to the same Gallup report. These people are

    sabotaging projects, backstabbing colleagues, and generally wreaking havoc in their

    workplaces.

    The Gallup report also noted that employee engagement has remained largely constant

    over the years despite economic ups and downs. Scary: were not engaged with work and

    we havent been for a long time.

    Disengaged, unhappy people arent any fun to work with, dont add much value, and

    impact our organizations (and our economy) in profoundly negative ways. Its even worse

    when leaders are disengaged because they infect others with their attitude. Their emotions

    and mindset impact others moods and performance tremendously. After all, how we feel

    is linked to what and how we think. In other words, thought influences emotion, and

    emotion influences thinking.

    Its time to finally blow up the myth that feelings dont matter at work. Science is on our

    side: there are clear neurological links between feelings, thoughts, and actions. When we

    are in the grip of strong negative emotions, its like having blinders on. We focus mostly

    sometimes only on the source of the pain. We dont process information as well, think

    creatively, or make good decisions. Frustration, anger, and stress cause an important part

    of us to shut down the thinking, engaged part. Disengagement is a natural neurological

    and psychological response to pervasive negative emotions.

    But its not just negative emotions we need

    to watch out for. Extremely strong positive

    emotions have the same effect. Some studies

    shows that too much happiness can make

  • you less creative and prone to engage in

    riskier behaviors (think about how we act like

    fools when we fall in love!). On the work front: Ive seen groups of people worked up into a

    frenzy at sales conferences and corporate pep rallies. Little learning or innovation comes

    out of these meetings. Throw in a lot of alcohol and youve got a whole host of other

    problems.

    If we can agree that our emotional states at work matter, what do we do to increase

    engagement and improve performance?

    Over the past few years, my team at the Teleos Leadership Institute and I have studied

    dozens of organizations and interviewed thousands of people. The early findings about the

    links between peoples feelings and engagement are fascinating. There are clear similarities

    in what people say they want and need, no matter where they are from, whom they work

    for, or what they do. We often assume that there are huge differences across industries and

    around the world but the research challenges that assumption.

    To be fully engaged and happy, virtually everyone tells us they want three things:

    1. A meaningful vision of the future: When people talked with our research team aboutwhat was working or not in their organizations, and what helped or hindered them themost, they talked about vision. People want to be able to see the future and know howthey fit in. And, as we know from our work with Richard Boyatzis on intentional change,people learn and change when they have a personal vision that is linked to anorganizational vision. Sadly, far too many leaders dont paint a very compelling vision ofthe future, they dont try to link it to peoples personal visions, and they dontcommunicate well. And they lose people as a result.

    2. A sense of purpose: People want to feel as if their work matters, and that theircontributions help to achieve something really important. And except for those at thetippy top, shareholder value isnt a meaningful goal that excites and engages them.They want to know that they and their organizations are doing something big thatmatters to other people.

    3. Great relationships: We know that people join an organization and leave a boss. Adissonant relationship with ones boss is downright painful. So too are bad relationships

  • with colleagues. Leaders, managers, and employees have all told us that close, trustingand supportive relationships are hugely important to their state of mind and theirwillingness contribute to a team.

    Added up, brain science and our organizational research are in fact debunking the old

    myths: emotions matter a lot at work. Happiness is important. To be fully engaged, people

    need vision, meaning, purpose, and resonant relationships.

    Its on individuals to find ways to live our values at work and build great relationships. And

    its on leaders to create an environment where people can thrive. Its simple and its

    practical: if you want an engaged workforce, pay attention to how you create a vision, link

    peoples work to your companys larger purpose, and reward people who resonate with

    others.

    Annie McKeeis a senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, director of the PennCLOExecutive Doctoral Program and the founder of the Teleos Leadership Institute. She is the

    author of Primal Leadership with Daniel Goleman and Richard Boyatzis as well as Resonant

    Leadership and Becoming a Resonant Leader.

    Related Topics: MANAGING PEOPLE

    This article is about MOTIVATING PEOPLE

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    Rajeev Menon 3 days ago

    Great article! Mutual trust & respect are important to build great relationships, the basis for any lifelongcommitment.. be it lifelong jobs or marriages.

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