In Pursuit of Happiness

Making employees happy at work seems to be the latest focus of books and research, which find that happiness has a strong effect on productivity. Too often, employers create unhappiness on the job by adding obstacles to the job, experts say. Whether this latest criteria has staying power as an employee measure is uncertain, however.

By David Shadovitz

Should the "pursuit of happiness," a cornerstone of the Declaration of Independence, also be a bedrock of your personnel manual?

Some experts suggest the answer should be "yes." And some researchers lately have been backing up the assertion that happier workers are more productive.

In a recent book entitled Happiness at Work: Maximizing Your Psychological Capital for Success, Jessica Pryce-Jones writes that happiness is good for both employees and employers.

"Our research found happiness has a very strong effect on productivity," says Pryce-Jones, CEO and founder of iOpener, an HR management consultancy in London. "The happier you are, the more productive you are. It's almost a perfect kind of correlation."

Pryce-Jones' study of 3,000 workers found that those who were happy at work were 50 percent more productive than their least happy colleagues.

In her book, Pryce-Jones identifies five components that translate into being happy at work: contribution, conviction, culture, commitment and confidence. When those are combined with a sense of pride, trust and recognition, she says, employees are able to perform at their highest level.

Pryce-Jones, who is among a growing number of experts studying the connection between happiness and productivity in the workplace, suggests there's a significant difference between happiness and engagement.

"Sure, there is some crossover," she says, "but you can be unhappy at work and still be engaged."

Whereas engagement and job satisfaction don't necessarily translate into greater productivity, however, she adds, happiness does.

In another study conducted at the University of Warwick in Coventry, West Midlands, U.K., researchers found a connection between worker happiness and the efforts they exerted. They also found the happier workers were more productive.

So who's responsible for ensuring employees are happy at their jobs?

Pryce-Jones says it's both the individual's and organization's responsibility. Employees need to make themselves happier at work, while employers need to remove the barriers that prevent employees from being happier there, including the ones they may be responsible for creating.

Employers that micromanage their employees often pay a heavy price for doing so, Pryce-Jones says. "Companies are asking employees for more and more information these days, but what that means is employees are then finding themselves with less time to do their jobs.

"Companies will end up getting much more out of their people if they let them ... take responsibility for what they're doing," she says.

Despite the supposed link between happiness and productivity, some experts point out it's typically not something employers measure.

In the engagement surveys he's been involved in, "there wasn't anything related to happiness," says Richard Marcus, an independent business psychologist based in Narbeth, Pa.

Despite new books and studies on the topic, Marcus says he doesn't see it gaining "much traction" in businesses.

Srikumar Rao, a motivation expert based in Commack, N.Y., and author of a book published earlier this year entitled Happiness at Work: Be Resilient, Motivated and Successful -- No Matter What, agrees that employers have an important role to play.

"Employers can either facilitate [the happiness of their workers] or be an obstacle to it," Rao says.

Companies, he says, frequently operate under the belief that it's the job of managers to motivate employees.

"But that's the wrong approach," he says. "Human beings are inherently motivated. When employees show up on their first day of work, they're ready to light the world on fire. Disgruntlement is something that happens over time."

Rao believes the role of managers should be to find out "what's demotivating employees and get rid of it."

Like Pryce-Jones, Rao believe that companies too often create the obstacles that get in the way of employees being happy. "Many companies are too wedded to their policies and procedures, telling employees this doesn't fit with how we do things around here, instead of listening to the voices of their employees," he says.

Rao adds that HR leaders are well positioned to eliminate those barriers, since they're frequently responsible for creating many of these policies and practices.