Happy and engaged employees will:
Stay longer, have happier customers and produce higher quality work.
Which leads to higher productivity and profitability.
Background
In early 1980 Gunilla Andermo started to work with "happiness at work" projects. Together with a network of consultants they did projects throughout Sweden with the sole purpose of increasing happiness at work. They worked with companies, government organizations and hospitals.
Increasing happiness among colleagues proved to have many positive effects. For example lower turnover, better productivity and more creative solutions to challenges. The projects were initiated from the top, for example by HR, head of a department or the CEO. However, the implementation included employees on all levels. This meant the people working closest to the customers could come with ideas on how to improve. The result? Everyone felt involved which increased happiness and engagement. Gunilla has written two books about this.
Research on happiness
In the late 90s, Professor Seligman started to use the term "positive psychology". This meant that instead of only studying people with mental illness they started to study the opposite. People that were happy. What did they do and what can we learn from this? Seligman's studies confirm that optimist lives longer and have better lives. Regardless if they are right or wrong... We have incorporated his framework and interventions as powerful ways to increase engagement, happiness and wellbeing in workplaces.What about now?
2016 Oskar Andermo, Gunilla son, read a rapport from Gallup research showing that only 13 % of the global workforce was engaged at work. He decided to continue Gunillas "happiness at work" projects. People are still the same as in the 80s, however, thanks to technology and rapid change people seem to be more stressed than ever. The original methodology still works and is a powerful way to increase engagement and happiness at work.
