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Summary: A shift toward considering a nation's happiness might be better for people and for worker productivity.
Key Take Aways:
- Happiness is not only related to material wealth.
- Happy workers tend to more productive.
Hold on to your hats, because there might be a paradigm shift coming in the workplace in our lifetimes. With economies around the globe experiencing year after year of problems and even recession, the traditional emphasis on GDP might begin to take a back seat to Gross National Happiness.
The view that people are happy when they are only pursuing money is being challenged by various research studies that have indicated otherwise. After a certain income level, there isn't any additional happiness that results from working only for money, says this research.
In Bhutan, a focus on Gross National Happiness first, instead of economic growth only is putting humans first, instead of the giant mechanism of a national economy. After all, what is the point of being materially well off, but chronically unhappy? Authors John Helliwell, Richard Layard and Jeffrey Sachs published the World Happiness Report (PDF, 170 pages) about happiness and society, in which they said strong social networks, an absence of corruption and political freedom are much more important for happiness than wealth.
It turns out that happy workers also tend to be more productive, so there is a mutual benefit when there is a focus on keeping employees happy. To be more specific, a survey found "...companies that effectively appreciate employee value enjoy a return on equity & assets more than triple that experienced by firms that don’t. When looking at Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For stock prices rose an average of 14% per year from 1998-2005, compared to 6% for the overall market." (Source: Forbes)
Happier employees also tend to stay with organizations longer and interact with customers in more satisfying ways. So if societies shift their focus from conventional economic indicators only and begin to place more emphasis on happiness, it may turn out this new approach results in better productivity as well.
Image Credit: Public Domain. U.S. Navy Photo
