Of Brits and Danes and happiness at work
While the English and Danish languages have strong common roots there are of course many words that exist only in one language and not in the other.
Cheerio, elevenses and stiff upper lip are examples of highly British phrases that have no direct Danish equivalent.
But here’s a word that exists only in Danish and not in English: arbejdsglæde.
I know that to most English-speakers this looks like a random jumble of letters you’d get if you tossed a bunch of Scrabble tiles on the floor, but there is meaning behind it.
Arbejde means work and glæde means happiness, so arbejdsglæde is happiness at work. This word also exists in the other Nordic languages (Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Icelandic) but not in any other language on the planet. I’ve checked!
For instance, where we Scandinavians have arbejdsglæde, the Japanese instead have Karoshi. Which means “Death from overwork.”
And this is no coincidence; there is a word for it in Danish because Danish workplaces have a long-standing tradition of wanting to make their employees happy. To most Danes, a job isn’t just a way to get paid – we fully expect to enjoy ourselves at work.
I’ve recently been doing some work for Hewlett-Packard in England, helping them promote their mobile products (laptops and mobile phones). The idea is that mobile technology gives employees flexiblity at work and flexibility makes us happy.
This means I’ve been talk to a lot of Brits and appearing in the British media, and I think I can safely say, that the British approach to work is quite different than the Scandinavian one.
Few people in Britain seem to expect to be happy at work. Their focus seems to be on putting in the hours and getting paid. To most Britons, a job is just a job – and work is not compatible with any notions of enjoyment or happiness.
One BBC radio interviewer even asked me if it wasn’t fine to be miserable, if being miserable makes you happy.
No. No, no, no!
Being miserable at work, or even just being sort of OK but not really at work is no longer enough, for three very specific reasons.
First reason: time. We spend more of our waking hours at work than on anything else. We spend more time at work than with our friends, families and children combined. If you’re unhappy at work, you’ll spend a large part of your life being miserable.
Second reason: health. Hating your job can make you sick. Worst case, it can kill you. Studies show that people who hate theirn jobs run a much higher risk of contracting serious diseases like cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
Third reason: money! Happy companies make more money, because their employees are more creative, productive, service-minded and innovative.
The results of these two different attitudes is clear: While the Danes have the highest levels of happiness at work, Brits are… not happy. Recent studies have shown that up to a third of all Brits actively dislike work, while still more neither like it nor loathe it.
Interestingly, you might think that since Danes like their jobs so much, they’d be working more hours. You’d be wrong. Britons are the workaholics of Europe putting in more hours per worker than even those industrious Germans.
And seeing as Brits work so hard, you’d think they’d get more work done than those annoyingly cheerful Danes. You’d be wrong again. Worker productivity is in fact higher in Denmark and Denmark has the world’s best business climate according to the Economist.
So here’s my challenge to British companies, managers and employees everywhere: Put happiness at work first. Realize once and for all that life’s too short to spend so many hours in jobs that are at best tolerable and at worst hell on earth.
In short – let’s see some more arbejdsglæde in Britain.
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Matt M Said,
May 16, 2008 @ 6:48 pm
You say:
“Happy companies make more money, because their employees are more creative, productive, service-minded and innovative.”
and
“Danish workplaces have a long-standing tradition of wanting to make their employees happy. To most Danes, a job isn’t just a way to get paid – we fully expect to enjoy ourselves at work.”
I suspect that you would also contend that “more creative, productive, service-minded and innovative” companies will strongly tend to be more successful and profitable.
Can I put these together and make the conclusion that Scandinavian businesses are the most profitable, or make the most money, than those in other countries? Is there any objective data to support the proposition that any of the Scandinavian economies are better, more stable, and more flexible in being capable of meeting the demands of changes in customer demands and in the world economies?
I agree with the fundamentals of happiness at work, from the standpoint of personal health and well-being. I’d just like to see the case made from a real economic standpoint, not just cultural analysis and anecdote.
Dr. K Said,
May 16, 2008 @ 9:02 pm
Let’s not stop at Britain! All too often, Americans go to work looking like they work for the Wicked Witch of the West! You look at their faces, and you can practically hear the music and drums, “Oh dee oh, dee oh dum.” I’m eager to see the economic data too, but I have seen it before so I know it exists. And in this case, I also know first hand that when I work happy, I work smart.
I tend to have a lot of projects on my plate almost all the time. Some projects are more innately interesting than others. Some are innately more challenging than others. Some of them bring me in contact with wonderful people - people filled with wonder; and some bring me in contact with people who haven’t got much wonder, and I’m not sure what they are full of. Yet when I work happy, I work smart, my work gets done faster, better and I feel great at the end of it.
Thanks for another great post! Have an awesome weekend!
Rick
Jarkko Laine Said,
May 16, 2008 @ 9:36 pm
@Matt I don’t have any scientific evidence but I’ll shoot off the hip and say that the number of success stories per capita is exceptionally high in Scandinavia (Nokia, Volvo, Ikea, etc). Don’t know if that has anything to do with the happiness, though. But in general I think that there should be enough evidence of the fact that companies with happy people are more successful than the ones where people work in misery.
Re “the industruous Germans”. Actually Germany has traditionally had really strong labour unions and as a consequence the standard work weeks have in some fields gone as low as 32hrs/week. The trend has changed during the last decade but I think Germans still have fairly compact work weeks.
Phil Said,
May 17, 2008 @ 1:09 am
And that is one of the big reasons I got out of England and moved to Spain, less money but the job is far more enjoyable and has a lot more meaning…..siestas and far less travel to get to and from work help as well.
They need to grasp the fact that working 10 hours a day is not getting 10 hours work done…..it is more productive doing 8 hours a day of concentrated effort than a 10 hour slog.
It is ok to love your job and to be excited about it……but in England “Tell Me Why I Don’t Like Mondays” (Boomtown Rats) is an anthem…..says it all really.
Matthew Said,
May 17, 2008 @ 1:23 am
I agree with Dr. K - this isn’t just a British thing.
Australia is the exact same. It has a real “overwork” philosophy in the workplace… where lots of overtime is almost expected. The sole purpose of having a job here is to get money, and not enjoying yourself while at it is almost the norm.
I suspect this is the case in more countries other than just Britain, America and Australia.
Also, on the point about words for happiness at work - I remember reading somewhere that many old African tribes used the same word for “work” and “play”. Funny how nowadays they many people don’t even associate the two with each other.
(BTW, this is my first comment on your blog. Just wanted to say, honestly, this is one of the best blogs/sites on the internet. Awesome job.)
Anders S. Vaerge Said,
May 17, 2008 @ 5:13 am
@Matt M.:
I think we may be over-simplifying things, if we say that the companies where the employees are happier make the most money. In fact, Alexander said “more money” and not “most money” - which I believe is right. There are a bunch of other factors involved. Or better put; I think there are other /values/ involved. I’m sure that a lot of slave owners had very profitable companies, but I doubt that there was much happiness at work (the great question is, if the companies of the slave owners hadn’t been much more successful if they had released the potential and strains of the people there - I sure think so).
But… - a bit of data; three Scandinavian countries take three of the top six slots on the World Economic Forum’s competitiveness ranking - that’s not bad!
Akemi - Yes to Me Said,
May 17, 2008 @ 6:06 am
As a Japanese living in the US and was once married to half Swede, I can’t miss articles like this. Japanese certainly make work miserable. And Americans are not much better really. I have never been to Europe and didn’t realize the difference between Danes and Brits — although I worked with both at my previous job (in Tennessee, USA).
I am very curious why European economy is doing so much better than the US. Again, excuse me for thinking Europe as a whole, because that is the stats I have seen — that Europeans work less hours and are more productive than Americans. What is the secret? I have asked this question to some Europeans (mostly Swiss) and they could not answer — I guess they just work the way they know how to work and don’t analyze.
I’d be very interested to read your take on this. . .
David Said,
May 17, 2008 @ 9:48 am
Hi Alex,
first of all thanks for all your magnificent posts, which are very inspiring. Working for a government organization usually described usually described as “not a happy bunch”, I have seen so much improvement around me after reading some of your advice (and your book).
I would just like to correct you on the statement: “This word also exists in the other Nordic languages (Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Icelandic) but not in any other language on the planet. I’ve checked!”
In fact, in Dutch (and Flemish) the word exists as well… “Arbeidsvreugde”.
Maybe not a coincidence, as the Dutch also very often rank high in “Happiness” rankings.
Keep up the happy work !
Ciao,
David
Bay Said,
May 17, 2008 @ 10:51 am
Alex,
A great post, as evidenced by the comments already received.
It is interesting that the first of these called for greater empirical evidence to support your argument. The sad fact is that you do have quite a hard sell pushing the concept, because the first reaction of any businessman is, “How will making my people happy improve my bottom-line?” The evidence is there, but it does often tend to be seen as “too soft.” Yet, this may be partly because the issues are so pervasive and actually run so much deeper. Thus the implications are more than just commercial.
Is there any correlation between “arbeidsvreude” (Afrikaans for Happiness at Work - although that is cheating because Afrikaans is originally derived from Flemish more even than Dutch) and the social bottom line? You cite health, and have previously said that Denmark features at or near the top of the quality of life charts, but I would turn that around and say where does it feature on some of the more nagative measures? e.g. What are you binge drinking figures vs the rest of the world? Or your per capita prison demographics? How much of a problem is hooliganism? etc.etc. I would hypothesise that all these are secondary consequences of what could perhaps, for want of any other way of describing it, be said to be “an exaggerated capitalist approach.”
Only last night I was listening to a respected reporter/analyst/author say that despite the highest level of personal economic well-being of any generation in history, ours is the most pessimistic and dissatisfied. (this was talking about Britain, but as your other writers have indicated it is far more widespread than that.) Is this connected to a lack of self-worth derived from not being happy at work? Undoubtedly, I would say, although - as watching any “reality” show will tell you, I think the problem is exacerbated by unrealistic aspirations.
These are all issues that you and I are trying to address, but I think that sometimes the issues are so complex that people resist because they are just too daunting.
Bay
A
Karl Staib - Your Work Happiness Matters Said,
May 17, 2008 @ 7:49 pm
I’ve never worked in Britain, but I can sure tell you that we need some arbejdsglæde in America. I recently has a co-worker tell me that her job was offered to another co-worker. She found out through the other co-worker. Management didn’t think it important enough to open a dialog with her.
She was anger and was ready to quit. It’s these situations that make me made. A company has to be a little more honest with it’s workers. They need to help make the work environment open and happy. The best way to do that is communicate. Make sure that the employees understand what is going on and how to do a better job.
Great post Alex! Always at the top of your game.
Onno Hamburger Said,
May 17, 2008 @ 9:32 pm
Hi Alex,
Great post! I completely agree with the three reasons you mentioned! I want to suggest a fourth one which I think is very important! ! It’s all about the changed needs of the next generation of employees. Let me elaborate on this.
In the Netherlands (just like a lot of other western countries) there is a war on talent going on. There are just not enough good people around to fill the gabs the baby boomers are leaving behind. Also the new generation (Y), fresh out of university, has different needs than those before them. Generation Y is less interested in money and status and are looking much more for fulfillment and meaning at work. I experience this every day while training and coaching these young professionals.
I think for companies to make happiness@work one of their priorities will be of great value to them to keep people inspired and connected to the company. The strange thing is that current senior management is much more into Anglo Saxon, MBA thinking and don’t have a clue what is going on and why they are losing all those talented people.
I think the real change in thinking should come from this group or they (as companies) will face extinction in the years to come.
We still have a lot of good work to do!
Have a great weekend and lots of success in the UK!
Onno Hamburger
Happiness coach blogging on the Dutch website on happiness@work http://www.gelukkigwerken.nl
Jo Said,
May 18, 2008 @ 6:57 pm
The basic reason for organizing a happy workplace is basic psychology. When we are stressed, we focus on the threat and we shut down everything else. We also want to warn everyone else of the threat so we put a lot of energy into spreading our misery.
When we are happy, we think laterally and generate ideas (and pass on our happiness!).
Why are English-speaking countries so miserable at work? Misery loves company! We need to cheer up our managers!!
If you are interested in a British-American view that is not entirely miserable, check out corporate poet David Whyte. There is not a lot of his work on the internet. You can find some on my blog but it is generally best to go to Amazon and spend a few quid. If you aren’t used to poetry, try his prose and his CD’s (good for the car or train). He has a collected anthology of poetry as well.
He isn’t all good cheer - he talks of meaningfulness which looks at the good and the bad. A life that nourishes the spirit.
Cecile Said,
May 19, 2008 @ 9:04 am
I agree with David: arbeidsvreugde is a Dutch word. But I have another Dutch word to add: werkplezier (werk = work, plezier = pleasure). So now the Dutch even have two words for happiness at work!
daen Said,
May 21, 2008 @ 1:14 am
“Happy companies make more money, because their employees are more creative, productive, service-minded and innovative.”
Well, as a Brit living in Copenhagen, I wouldn’t take issue with the creativity or innovation, but service-minded and productive? If productivity is on the increase, it is beginning to reverse a long-term downward trend, according to Nationalbanken’s 2007Q4 report.
And I have rarely had the service in Denmark you would expect from US and, yes, even UK companies.
Example 1: I recently ordered some PC components from PC-Huset. I credited the money on the day of the order, and went on holiday for a few days. I checked the order status while on holiday, saw it was still “Afventer” (waiting payment), emailed to ask what the hold-up was, and got an email back saying that the money hadn’t been received. I waited for another couple of days, checked again, and was shocked to find that they’d cancelled the order. I emailed to complain again, and got a rather perfunctory email back saying, sorry for the delay, they’d lost the order. Nothing else, other than that there would be some additional (unspecified) “merchandise” being included. No offer of a courier or discount. I still don’t have the order, and nearly 4 weeks have gone by. Guess who I’m never ordering from again?
Which leads me to example 2: Post Danmark. They lost a package delivered from the UK. I know they had it, as I have the little postcard that they deliver when you are out. But in spite of the fact that there is a tracking number, and the value of the goods was over 500 DKK, I still have no resolution or offer of compensation 2 months after they lost it. Fortunately, we ordered from Mute Records, who have credited us with the value of the order, almost without question. That’s service. If I ever get compensation from Post Danmark, it goes straight back to Mute to reward.them for their helpfulness. And guess who I *will* be ordering from again?
So I don’t feel particularly impressed with the service-mindedness of Danish companies right now.
robbecker.com » Blog Archive » Office Vocabulary Said,
May 23, 2008 @ 4:33 pm
[...] — which translates to death from overwork. Just thought this was interesting… (via Chief Happiness Officer) « Older [...]
cheerfulmonk.com » What We Can Learn From the Danes Said,
May 26, 2008 @ 6:11 am
[...] Kjerulf, Chief Happiness Officer, recently wrote a post entitled Of Brits and Danes and Happiness at Work. Alex tells us the Nordic languages, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Icelandic, have a word [...]
psychaiki.com » Blog Archive » What We Can Learn From the Danes Said,
May 28, 2008 @ 7:29 am
[...] Kjerulf, Chief Happiness Officer, recently wrote a post entitled Of Brits and Danes and Happiness at Work. Alex tells us the Nordic languages, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Icelandic, have a word [...]
Paula Said,
May 28, 2008 @ 10:56 am
I’m quite recent graduate and can well assimilate to the generation Y referred to above. I have worked a few jobs already, in let’s say both happy and unhappy places. It is very true what was commented above, money is of less relevance and feeling wholesome and important is taking over. But, why wouldn’t it. I mean like Andreas says, people spend most of their waking hours at work, so why the hell would they not want to enjoy themselves?
I see a clear pattern. People of my generation have had it pretty well, we are more social, used to informal and larger quantity of interaction and like to keep it that way in all our relationships. What else is the work environment supposed to be than a bunch of relationships that we want to deal with like any other one? People don’t stay friends/together/married/etc. if they don’t feel content.
I’ve done two quite similar routine jobs in the past. In the other we were like a big family of like minded (gen Y) people often gathering together for all sorts of after work fun.People liked spending time at the office, since it was equipped with games and refreshments free of use (none of this compromised the productivity or results, which were extremely good).In the other I was miserable as hell. People came in, did their jobs and went home. Not much interaction other than work related. This place had a really high attrition rate.
What We Can Learn From the Danes - Creativity and Joy Said,
May 28, 2008 @ 7:50 pm
[...] Kjerulf, Chief Happiness Officer, recently wrote a post entitled Of Brits and Danes and Happiness at Work. Alex tells us the Nordic languages, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Icelandic, have a word [...]
Dana Zurbuchen Said,
June 11, 2008 @ 9:54 pm
Right on! Americans need this as well! I believe that happy companies make more money, but more importantly they are more successful. This success may come in the form of money (and likely in some way does). However, what about looking at the health of employees, customer feedback and increased productivity as success? When there is a strong foundation, the money will come.
The strongest foundation? A happy business owner. I’m hosting a free teleseminar outlining five easy ways for small business owners to renew their relationship with their business. For a sneak preview and registration details, visit http://www.danazurbuchen.com/blog.
mirc Said,
June 13, 2008 @ 2:08 am
Kjerulf, Chief Happiness Officer, recently wrote a post entitled Of Brits and Danes and Happiness at Work. Alex tells us the Nordic languages, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Icelandic, have a word
Recent interviews with me Said,
July 24, 2008 @ 9:02 am
[...] One of the most gratifying things about my work, is to see how it is spreading across the world. I’m based in Denmark where the idea of happiness at work is so ingrained and commonplace, that there is even a word for it in the dictionary: Arbejdsglæde. [...]