Work does not have to suck. There are proven ways to transform your career from crappy to happy and get a work life that you can actually enjoy.
In this free online course the world’s leading expert on happiness at work takes you through the research that shows exactly what it takes to be happy at work (it’s NOT what most people think) and gives you the practical resources and simple tools you need to get there.
Your happiness at work is your responsibility and if you take that responsibility seriously, you can completely transform your work life and become less stressed, healthier, happier AND more successful.
It’s taught by Alexander Kjerulf, the world’s leading expert on happiness at work with over 20 years of experience speaking on the topic all over the world.
It’s 100% evidence-based. Everything is supported by science and research.
It’s practical and hands-on. It gives you effective, simple actions you can take and assemble into a plan that’s specific to your needs and circumstances.
It’s fun and entertaining. No dry boring theoretical lectures – it’s snappy, to the point and has lots of laughs.
And of course: IT’S FREE!
Still not convinced? Here are some of the (many) things you’ll learn in the course:
The two things that really make you happy at work and why most people get it wrong.
What are the main things that make us unhappy at work and what to do about them.
Why being happy at work is great for your health, your private life and your career goals.
The harmful effects of being miserable at work.
The mental traps that keep people stuck in bad jobs and how to avoid them.
How you can craft a specific achievable plan to become happy at work.
Measure your current happiness at work and track your progress.
But wait – there’s more :)
When you sign up you also get a free copy of Alex’s book “Happy Hour Is 9 To 5” AND you get access to an online forum where you can share experiences and tips with fellow attendees and ask questions of Alex.
The course opens on January 26. Sign up now and be the first to get access. And did we mention: It’s FREE :)
The beginning of a new year is a great time to take stock of your work life. Are you happy or unhappy at work? What would you like to change?
It’s important to evaluate, because how you feel at work has such a large influence on you at work AND at home. When you’re happy at work, you have better job performance and more career success. You also have better health and a happier private life.
Unfortunately most people look back and think exclusively in terms of what went wrong. The things they should have done. They goals they ought to have achieved. The progress that didn’t come.
We gain much of our happiness at work (and in life) by appreciating the good things we have and do. Sure, you should also make sure to improve your circumstances and address any problems but it is just as important to be able to appreciate the things that do work.
This is hard. Negativity bias is one of the most well-established psychological phenomena and it means quite simply that our minds devote more mental focus and cognition to the bad than the good. Our thoughts automatically go to problems, annoyances, threats and fears but remembering and appreciating the good in our lives takes effort and focus.
We think you can achieve much more by turning that around 180 degrees, so here’s our suggestion for a simple new year’s exercise in happiness at work.
Think back at your work life in 2025 and answer the following 10 questions. It works best if you take some time to think about each question and if you write down your answers.
What went really well for you at work in 2025?
What did you do that you were proud of?
Who did you make a difference for at work?
What new skills have you learned professionally?
How have you grown and developed personally at work?
Who has helped you out at work in 2025?How can you thank them?
Who have you admired professionally?How can you let them know?
Which 5 things from your work life in 2025 would you like more of in 2026?
Which 5 things from your work life in 2025 would you like less of in 2026?
What will you specifically do to become happier at work in 2026?
Some people think that they must work hard to become successful – and that success will make them happy. The truth is the opposite: being happy makes you more effective and successful at work.
So this year, make happiness at work your #1 career goal – because being happy at work will make you more successful in your career.
Happy companies make more money and tons of studies prove it.
I see an increased focus on employee happiness in many industries – including in finance. I have personally worked with so many banks, pension companies and insurance companies that came to the realization that happier employees lead to a better bottom line. That’s great!
However, workplaces in this sector also face a number of challenges that can cause frustration, stress and burnout if we don’t address them.
In this webinar we will cover:
Why happy employees are great for the bottom line in finance
The biggest challenges and stressors in the industry
How exactly to make finance workplaces happy
Great examples from some of the happiest companies I know in the sector
We’ll keep the whole thing fun and snappy and be done in just 30 minutes.
Date and time: Wednesday December 17, 9AM ET / 3PM CET.
Many workplaces have an unhealthy obsession with measuring the performance of their employees. Everyone must have goals and KPIs and be evaluated on whether or not they meet them.
In practice, this often ends up demotivating employees and fostering a large number of unhelpful and unproductive behaviors.
In this webinar we uncover what the research says about productivity goals (it’s NOT pretty) and show how workplaces can measure performance in way that actually make employees happier, more motivated and more productive.
Content includes:
How performance goals foster the wrong behavior and LOWER performance
What to measure and what NOT to measure
5 tips to measure performance in a better way
Great examples from happy workplaces around the world
AI is being introduced in many workplaces but what’s been missing is a discussion on how to do it in a way that doesn’t kill the happiness, motivation and creativity of employees.
In this free webinar we showed companies can introduce AI in ways that make employees’ jobs more fun and interesting instead of just making people afraid to lose their jobs.
Many CEOs are are currently nixing work-from-home programs and forcing all of their employees back into the office full time.
And without fail, they all seem shocked and appalled when employees dare to question their decision.
Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, in particular was just outraged that thousands of his employees spoke against it and signed a petition to preserve flexible working. He went on an angry rant full of curse words in a town hall meeting where he claimed that being together in the office is the ONLY way to be creative and productive because there you can communicate and collaborate in person.
He said that he didn’t care how many people signed the petition and added things like:
Don’t give me this s— that work-from-home-Friday works. I call a lot of people on Fridays, and there’s not a goddamn person you can get a hold of.
A lot of you were on the f— Zoom…and you were sending texts to each other about what an a— the other person is.
Most recently, Danish pharma giant Novo Nordisk announced not only a massive round of layoffs but also that all office workers must be in the office full time going forward. This triggered a lot of pushback from employees because Novo has had a very flexible policy of letting people work from home when it makes sense for them and the team.
So I thought I should do a public service for all of these CEOs and try to help them understand why their employees don’t just accept it and knuckle under when their freedom to work from home is taken away.
There are three main reasons why.
1: Loss aversion
The work of Daniel Kahneman and many others has proven that we humans hate losing stuff. Taking something away from us – even stuff we don’t necessarily value very highly – can trigger intense negative feelings.
If employees currently have the freedom to work from home, taking it away from them will absolutely trigger loss aversion.
2: Working from home is amazing
People who have the flexibility to work from home at least part time love it. Research shows that it has a large number of positive effects, including:
Productivity – people get more work done, partly because they experience fewer interruptions than in the office.
Better work-life balance – it’s easier to handle all of your responsibilities outside of work when you can work from home. You also spend less time commuting.
Feeling of trust – employees feel trusted by the company and therefore more loyal and engaged.
Of course they don’t want to lose all of this and of course they’re going to push back against any decision that would make their work lives significantly worse.
3: Forcing people back to the office is meaningless
If the company could demonstrate conclusively to employees that the only way the company can move forward and be successful is by stopping working from home, then I think people would accept it.
For instance, if my job changed from an internal role to a customer facing role that required me to be physically present in a location, then it’s clear why I can no longer work from home and that decision would have a legitimate purpose to back it up.
But companies never do that. Instead they make a lot of noise about “fostering collaboration” or “making faste decisions” or “strengthening the culture” while never actually demonstrating why that can’t be done while still giving employees the option to work from home some of the time.
And here’s another thing: Even on days where people are in the office, a large percentage of the work or the coordination they perform is still digital through email, chat or video meetings. Even more so, if the company has people in different locations.
You don’t go to a coworker’s desk and interrupt their workflow every time you need help with something. You don’t call a meeting every time you have a question. You don’t go to your manager’s office every time you need to make a decision. Or at least, I really, really hope you don’t!
If 50% of your work day in the office is virtual anyway, you’ve gotta ask yourself why you couldn’t have spent 50% of the week working from home.
And that’s why employees will see the decision to force them back into the office and thereby make their work-life significantly worse as a bad and meaningless decision.
The upshot
My video on how to make remote workers productive and happy.
All of this of course also means that if the company doesn’t listen and reintroduce flexible working, employees are going to vote with their feet and go find better jobs. And who’s going to go first? The most qualified people as always will find it easiest to get new jobs. That leads to brain drain.
Some people see this as a good thing. Just today I heard the dumbest argument I have ever heard for forcing people back to the office: It will help the company identify who is not committed to being in the office full time.
Wow. Just wow. That rationale could be used to justify any mistreatment of employees; anyone who speaks out is just not committed to the organization!
The good news is that many companies are deliberately choosing to be remote, like Spotify, Canva and Atlassian.
Even Dimon has since apologized for his rant. Not for maligning his remote workers. Not for claiming that they’re all slacking when they work from home. No – he apologized for cursing.
Jamie, Jamie, Jamie… the problem was not you dropping some F-bombs. The problem was your complete inability to trust your employees and to recognize that there are more ways of working effectively than the one you prefer.
My brand new comedy show “How To Become Danish In One Hour” is getting such amazing feedback that I am now also offering it in a version for workplaces with a mix of Danish and non-Danish employees.
The show is perfect for:
Companies in Denmark who want to help their expat employees thrive and succeed.
Danish companies operating in other countries who want to help their local employees understand the Danish culture and work style.
It’s a hilarious positive team-building experience that will have people laughing together but it’s also an insightful commentary on what it means to be Danish and how to have a good time in this silly little country.
After almost 25 years as an international speaker I have an… interesting collection of souvenirs. Here are my 5 favorites, including a super weird one!
Everybody makes mistakes at work. But many workplaces pretend like that’s not the case and tend to punish any mistakes in various ways.
That is destined to fail. When mistakes are punished, employees don’t stop making mistakes, they just hide the mistakes they do make or try to push the blame onto others. Or else, everyone starts playing it really safe and never take any chances or try new solutions and approaches for fear of getting it wrong.
In this free webinar we showed how companies can instead CELEBRATE mistakes. It sounds crazy but it’s a brilliant tool to boost creativity and learning.
Content includes:
Why punishing mistakes never works
How celebrating mistakes unlocks creativity, innovation and learning
How to celebrate mistakes at work
Great examples from happy workplaces around the world
Our Chief Happiness Officer Academy not only gives you three days to dive into the theory and practice of happiness at work but it also gives you a chance to experience Copenhagen – the world’s happiest city.
During the Academy, you will: • Visit Tivoli – one of the world’s prettiest amusement parks • Have dinner at some great Copenhagen restaurants • Do some sightseeing with the other participants • Go on a site visit to one of Denmark’s happiest workplaces • Have the farewell dinner in my home
Don’t get me wrong – the content of the Academy is the main focus but getting to experience Copenhagen is a really nice bonus. This citys is AMAZING.
The Chief Happiness Officer Academy is our most in-depth 3-day training where we share everything we know about creating happier workplaces. Get an in-depth background in happiness at work, hear about the latest research in the field and learn how to use this in your own business.
