The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Category: Happy At Work

How to be happy at work

  • Join me in Vienna in January

    On January 25 I’ll be doing my first ever workshop in Austria together with Gea Peper from Happy People Better Business.

    Get all the details and buy your tickets here.

  • Read 3 free chapters from Leading With Happiness

    I published my latest book, Leading With Happiness, 3 days ago and it’s been getting some amazingly positive reviews.

    I have also shared 3 free chapters from the book at leadingwithhappiness.com if you want a feel for what the book is like.

     

  • How do you make young employees happy at work?

    One of the biggest challenges for companies these days is to attract, retain and motivate young employees.

    There is a huge debate on how Millennials and Gen Zers are spoiled. They come into the workplace expecting recognition, professional growth, meaningful work and reasonable working hours. Many managers struggle to relate and ask “What is wrong with young people these days?” We ask “What is wrong with everyone else, that we’ve given up on those things?”

    McDonald’s Denmark relies heavily on young employees and have handled this challenge so successfully that they’ve won first place in the Danish Great Place to Work awards several times.

    At our international conference on happiness at work in 2017, their head of HR Mette Hybschmann shared how they created a workplace culture where young employees are  happy and motivated and experience professional and personal growth. You can see her entire speech here and get lots of specific ideas for motivating young employees.

  • My new book, Leading With Happiness, is out TODAY

    My new book, Leading With Happiness, is out TODAY

    “Leading with happiness is compelling—it’s useful, well-researched, and downright fun to read.”
    – Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author

    My latest book, Leading with Happiness: How the Best Leaders Put Happiness First to Create Phenomenal Business Results and a Better World is out TODAY and I could not be more excited.

    The book presents a simple but radical idea: The fundamental goal of any leader should be to increase happiness in the world. Leaders who don’t do that, are doing it wrong.

    Drawing on lessons from psychology, neurobiology and philosophy, the book demonstrates why leaders should put happiness first – for themselves, their employees, their customers, and the wider world – and why happy leaders are more successful.

    It’s been very well received already. Garry Ridge, the CEO of WD-40 Company, said “Every leader should read it. That type of leadership has been integral to our success and I know it will boost your results too.” Henry Stewart, the CEO of Happy said “This is a book that the world needs. It will move you. It will excite you. It will inspire you. And it could well change your life.”

    The initial reviews on Amazon are VERY positive too:

    You can read more about the book on its website at www.leadingwithhappiness.com and you can buy it on Amazon as a Kindle e-book or as a paperback.

  • The UN world happiness report: Happiness at work is crucial for individuals and companies

    The latest World Happiness Report, which ranks 156 countries by their happiness levels, was released on 20 March 2017 by the United Nations. It is co-authored by Oxford Saïd’s Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, who has focused on happiness at work.

    Here he explains the most important findings.

  • My new book “Leading With Happiness” comes out November 21

    It’s official – my next book, Leading With Happiness, comes out on November 21st.

    Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author, calls it “Compelling, useful, well-researched, and downright fun to read.”

    Preorders are already open for the Kindle e-book version – get it here. Paper books will become available on the publication date.

  • Read My Next Book Before Everyone Else and Completely FREE

    I am REALLY excited to announce that my next book “Leading With Happiness” comes out on November 21st. Read all about it here.

    You are hereby cordially invited to read it completely FREE and before it goes on sale. The only thing we ask in return, is that you review it online when it is published. Click here to see how it works and sign up to The Early Reviewers Secret Club :) Access is limited to the first 500 people and you must sign up no later than November 2nd.

    Sign up is closed.

  • The 30-hour workweek. Promising or pipe dream?

    There is currently huge interest in the 30-hour workweek in many workplaces . But is this just a pipe dream or could it actually lead to better results, happier workplaces and less stress?

    In this video I talk to Lena Rübelmann and Juliana Wolfsberger who have written a masters thesis called “The 30-hour Workweek -A Promising Alternative for Knowledge Workers?” at Lund University School of Economics and Management about their findings. My favorite: Switching to a 30-hour workweek does not reduce output. People get as much work done as they did before, even though they work fewer hours.

    If you want to know more, Juliana and Lena are happy to share their findings. You can reach them here:

    Other companies are finding the same thing, including Toyota Center Gothenburg, who 12 years ago, went from a normal 40-hour work week to only working 30 hours a week – and found that employee happiness, productivity, customer satisfaction and profits all went up. At our2015 Happiness at Work Conference, CEO Martin Banck explains why they made that weird decision, how they did it in practice and what has happened since then:

  • Bertrand Russell on work

    “Without self-respect genuine happiness is scarcely possible. And the man who is ashamed of his work can hardly achieve self-respect.”

    – Bertrand Russell

  • The Cult of Overwork is Killing Startups

    The Cult of Overwork is Killing Startups

    The New York Times has a great article called “In Silicon Valley, Working 9 to 5 Is for Losers” that examines workaholism in startups. It even quotes one entrepreneur as saying “I rarely get to see my kids. That’s a risk you have to take.” I wonder if he asked his kids if that was a risk they were willing to take.

    The piece also quotes from this excellent article by David Heinemeier Hansson, where he points out that startup investors are the main driver of this culture:

    There’s an ingrained mythology around startups that not only celebrates burn-out efforts, but damn well requires it.

    It’s not hard to understand why such a mythology serves the interest of money men who spread their bets wide and only succeed when unicorns emerge.

    There’s little to no consequence to them if the many fall by the wayside, spent to completion trying to hit that home run. Make me rich or die tryin’.
    …
    It’s bullshit. Extractive, counterproductive bullshit peddled by people who either need a narrative to explain their personal sacrifices and regrets or who are in a position to treat the lives and wellbeing of others like cannon fodder.

    These two articles do a great job of exposing the toxic overwork culture in many startups but I just want to add five few quick points on the topic:

    1: If hours are all that matter, an entrepreneur working 80 hours a week will be beaten by one working 90 hours a week. Where does it end?

    2: Many of the mental qualities that make a startup successful are lost when people are overworked, tired, stressed and unhappy, including networking, creativity and effective decision making.

    3: Permanent overwork kills people. For instance, those working a 55-hour week face 33% increased risk of stroke.

    4: Permanent overwork doesn’t result in increased output.

    5: Pointing to successful startups that worked 80 hours a week proves nothing. What about all the startups that worked 90 hours a week and failed?

    Imagine starting your own company and ending up creating a workplace where you hate to work. How stupid is that?

    On the other hand, employees of a startup where people are happy to work and have full lives outside of work, will be more productive, motivated and innovative, boosting the startup’s chance of success.

    Even if working crazy long hours did enhance a startup’s chance of success (which it does not), it would still be wrong because it hurts employees physically and psychologically.

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