why happiness at work is a serious business - nic marks speaking at nixonmcinnes, nov '13

Happiness at Work

Nic MarksHappiness Works @happiness_works"

Watt’s Perfect Engine

Watt’s Governor – beautifully simple

We are emotional beings

Barbara Fredrickson’s theory of the evolu7onary role of posi7ve emo7ons

1.  Posi7ve emo7ons BROADEN our thoughts & ac7ons: paying more a,en-on, being more crea-ve & playful, open to rela-onships, and flexible.

2.  Posi7ve emo7ons BUILD psychological resources: resilience, coping, physical abili-es, emo-onal intelligence, social skills and self mastery.

emotions are contagious

emotions are contagious we co-ordinate them

emotions are contagious and communicate with them

emotions are contagious we share them

Photo by Annika Bischof

CONNECTED:"The amazing power of social networks "

and how they shape our lives"

Nicholas Christakis & James Fowler; 2009"

=2,000+

•  Emo7ons help us regulate our behavior

•  They are also highly contagious

•  “Nega7ve” emo7ons help us deal with threats

•  “Posi7ve” emo7ons help us deal with (and create) opportuni7es

3 great pieces of research

about

happiness at work

1 the role of posi7ve emo7ons in

team performance

Role of Emotions at Work"

Fredrickson and Losado: Positive teams at work""Study of 60 Strategic Business Unit teams, each of eight

people, all from within the same organisation.""The SBUs performance categorised in terms of:"

–  Profitability (SBU profit & loss accounts)"–  Customer satisfaction (surveys & interviews)"

Each “utterance” in meeting was coded in terms of:"–  Positivity (support, encouragement, appreciation)"–  Negativity (disapproval, sarcasm, cynicism) "


Fredrickson and Losado: Positive teams at work"

Team Performance

HIGH (15)

MEDIUM (26)

LOW (19)



Team Performance Positivity / Negativity ratio

HIGH (15)

MEDIUM (26)

LOW (19)



Team Performance Positivity / Negativity ratio

HIGH (15) 5.61

MEDIUM (26) 1.86

LOW (19) 0.36

Role of Emo7ons at Work

Fredrickson and Losado: Posi7ve teams at work

Magic Ra7o of Posi%ve : Nega%ve

3 : 1 to 8 : 1

BUT – they do NOT show causality

Happiness at Work

•  So does Happiness come from HIGH performance?

•  Or does Happiness lead to HIGH performance?

•  Or both!

2 the rela7onship between

happiness and performance through 7me

Happiness at Work

Happiness T1 Happiness T2

Performance T1 Performance T2

11 organisa7ons; 2,000+ teams; 140,000+ respondents

Both models fi_ed the data … Source: Causal impact of employee percep7ons on the bo_om line of organisa7ons; James Harter et al; Perspec7ves on psychological science 5(4); 2010

Both models fi_ed the data … but Model 1 was much be_er “these data suggest that the impact of … [happiness at work] on … performance is twice as large as from performance to … [happiness at work]” Source: Causal impact of employee percep7ons on the bo_om line of organisa7ons; James Harter et al; Perspec7ves on psychological science 5(4); 2010

Happiness works! It is a serious business … But somehow it is not being taken seriously

3 the stock market performance of

great places to work

“The management are focused on employees to the detriment of shareholders. Why would I want to buy a stock like that?” Equity analyst quoted in Business Week

“I happen to believe that in order to reward the shareholder in the long term, you have to please your customers and employees.” Jim Sinegal, Costco’s CEO, quoted in the Wall Street Journal

Companies listed in the top 100 “great places to work” have outperformed the market every year between 1985–2011 by 2.3 – 3.8%. Source: “The link between Job Sa7sfac7on and Firm Value” Alex Edmans; Academy of Management Perspec7ves 2012

Source: “The link between Job Sa7sfac7on and Firm Value” Alex Edmans; Academy of Management Perspec7ves 2012

0%

50%

100%

150%

200%

250%

300%

350%

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

CRSP Value weighted index of US stocks

Fortune Magazine's 100 Best Places to Work


2.5x ROI

•  Posi7ve teams are characterized by be_er performance

•  Happiness at work predicts performance (a leading indicator)

•  Happier companies outperform their compe7tors on the stock market

What could it mean for your company?

Benefits of Happiness at Work Gallup data

Modest es%mate

Benefit

Absenteesim

Staff Turnover

Produc7vity

Customer Sa7sfac7on


Modest es%mate

Benefit

Absenteesim -‐38%

Staff Turnover down 25-‐65%

Produc7vity up 21%

Customer Sa7sfac7on

up10%


Modest es%mate

Benefit

Absenteesim -‐38% -‐10%


-‐10%

Produc7vity up 21% +5%

Customer Sa7sfac7on

up10% +10%


Modest es%mate Benefit

Absenteesim down 38%

-‐10%


-‐10%

Produc7vity up 21%

+5%

Customer Sa7sfac7on

up 10%

+10%

TOTAL




-‐10% £16,667


-‐10%

Produc7vity up 21%

+5%

Customer Sa7sfac7on

up 10%

+10%

TOTAL




-‐10% £16,667


-‐10% £15,680

Produc7vity up 21%

+5%

Customer Sa7sfac7on

up 10%

+10%

TOTAL




-‐10% £16,667


-‐10% £15,680

Produc7vity up 21%

+5% £122,500

Customer Sa7sfac7on

up 10%

+10%

TOTAL




-‐10% £16,667


-‐10% £15,680

Produc7vity up 21%

+5% £122,500

Customer Sa7sfac7on

up 10%

+10% ?? (lower cost of sales)

TOTAL




-‐10% £16,667


-‐10% £15,680

Produc7vity up 21%

+5% £122,500

Customer Sa7sfac7on

up 10%

+10% ?? (lower cost of sales)

TOTAL £154,847

Happiness works"•  More innovation"•  Higher performance"•  Shareholder value"plus … lower absenteeism, less staff turnover, better customer service and increased word of mouth recommendations"

"

But “happiness at work” is not mainstream … yet!"

Taking happiness mainstream

Taking happiness mainstream

Enthusiasts"

Pragmatists" Conservatives"

Skeptics"

Innovators" Source: “Crossing the Chasm” Geoffrey Moore; 1999"

Mind the gap …

Pragmatists" Conservatives"

Skeptics"Enthusiasts"

Innovators"Source: “Crossing the Chasm” Geoffrey Moore; 1999"

Understanding the gap …

Innovators & Enthusiasts"

The GAP" Pragmatists"

Creating the future" Dealing with the present"Enjoys being the first" Values experience"

Likes new ideas" Likes what works "Inspired by the vision" Interested in details"

“State of the art”" “Industry standard”"

Happiness works …

Innovators & Enthusiasts"

The GAP" Pragmatists"

Creating the future" Dealing with the present"Enjoys being the first" Values experience"

Likes new ideas" Likes what works "Inspired by the vision" Interested in details"

“State of the art”" “Industry standard”"

✔✔ ✔✔

✔✔

www.happinessatworksurvey.com

a sta7s7cian’s strategy for bridging the gap

a strategy for bridging the gap

• 50% of people have done one in last 3 years"

• 80% of them think it made no difference to their working lives"

• Why?"

what’s wrong with staff surveys?

•  Wrong questions"•  Bad user experiences"•  No feedback to individuals

and teams"•  6 weeks till a report"•  Statistics too complicated"•  Not enough consistent

follow up and through from the organization"

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•  Happiness is more than engagement"•  Instant results"•  Team level results"•  Easy to use "•  Results easy to understand"•  Accurate reflection of the organisation"•  Encourages conversations and insights"•  Helps turn insights into actions"•  Measures changes over time"•  Based on state of the art measurement

techniques"•  More cost effective"

Business Case:"10 reasons why a happiness survey is better than engagement surveys"

“If you look at the modern workplace, I would say it's one of the most feedback-‐deprived places in American civiliza7on.” “feedback comes in the form of a once-‐a-‐year, awkward, 45-‐minute conversa7on with your boss. It's a feedback desert.” Washington Post, 9th January 2011

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www.happinessatworksurvey.com"

75

Mirrors and Windows"

The happiness at work tool helps organizations and leaders to “lean” towards the future rather than just looking back at last years performance""It acts like a mirror – helping the system become more aware of itself""It also acts like a window – showing the possibility of a better way""Leaning = Learning and Leading "

“the finger that points

to the moon is not the

moon”

77

The BIGGEST conversation"

The tool points to happiness at work but it is NOT happiness at work! It will only be useful if it provokes conversa7ons and insights within the organiza7on And those conversa7ons and insights need to be turned into posi7ve ac7ons

Only if insights are generated

and acted on will change happen

Happiness Insight Engines?

www.happinessworks.com