There are typically two camps within conversations about workplace satisfaction: those who work to live, and those who live to work. The people who work to live are often disengaged from actual jobs and focused on life outside of the office. Conversely, those who live to work are fulfilled within their jobs due to a combination of relatively predictable factors. The older school of thought is the former: people don’t need to be happy to perform at work because it’s just a job. However, the newer school of thought that happiness coincides with productivity is quickly taking over the stage.
Happy People Work Better
Thirty percent of the United States workforce is engaged at work, which means seventy percent of individuals are merely working for a paycheck. Without a sense of fulfillment, employees lack connection to the work, to colleagues, and to superiors. Shockingly, these rates stay consistent over time and regardless of economic climate.
Science Matters
Science corroborates that there are physical connections between feeling, thought, and action. Emotions like frustration, anger, and stress affect the brain chemically and cause other parts of the brain that dictate cerebral thinking to shut down. Similarly, being “too” happy can have the same effect. Content satisfaction is a happy medium that appears to be essential for fulfilled employees to function at their fullest capacity.
Three Keys to Happiness at Work
Vision, purpose, and relationships are the major keys to fulfillment in the workplace. Being able to fathom how you’ll fit into a company in ten years and being satisfied with that goal is essential to today’s motivation. If you have nothing to work toward… why should you work? Purpose means being tied to an organization’s mission. Finding some sort of gratification in the company’s big-picture societal role is essential. Finally, relationships between coworkers and superiors determine the quality of a person’s work experience. Trust between employees means a team mentality and the ability to get more work done happily. Considering that happy people work better, the cycle needs to perpetuate in a positive manner.
The people you work with matter. Being able to cultivate a sense of happiness, fulfillment, and trust at work means the opportunity for the most productivity possible. Efficiency comes with contented joy. Accepting the link between emotion and drive in the workplace will make it easier for employers to cultivate the most effective workplaces possible.