There are two things that organizations traditionally use to make their people happy, but which simply do not work, and which may even be harmful: Salary, raises, bonuses Corporate status symbols and rewards As long as companies look to these two things to make people happy at work, we will get nowhere. And make no … Continue reading What doesn’t make people happy at work (but many people think it does)
A grand old lady falls ill Irma is the grand old lady of Danish retail. The company was founded in 1870 and is the second oldest grocery chain in the world. It’s a multi-million-dollar business with 70 locations in and around Copenhagen. But during the 1990’s the lady was ailing – the joke was that … Continue reading Why being happy at work matters for businesses
Steve Forbes was in Denmark this week on a European tour, meeting with political and business leaders. His main message was that while Denmark has arguably the strongest economy in Europe right now, the high danish taxes are limiting our economic growth. And danish taxes are very high: The highest tax bracket kicks in after … Continue reading Steve Forbes doesn’t get it – or why having the world’s highest taxes is a good thing
CNN has a great story of a small company who tried an innovative solution when four key employees became pregnant at around the same time: We had fewer than 25 employees at the time, and the soon-to-be moms were our head of publicity, a media buyer, the manager of print production, and a senior account … Continue reading Happy babies at work
The cult of overwork is the prevailing belief that the more hours people work, the better for the company. That notion is not only harmful, it is dead wrong, as this story from Arlie Hochschild’s book The Time Bind demonstrates. One executive, Doug Strain, the vice chairman of ESI, a computer company in Portland Oregon, … Continue reading The cult of overwork (again)
Some years ago CNN asked 12 well-known leaders including Carlos Ghosn of Nissan, Marissa Mayer of (then) Google and Wynton Marsalis how they manage their time and stay efficient. My favorite answer is this one: I know that it’s expected of executives to start the day extremely early, but frankly I feel I make better decisions … Continue reading The cult of overwork
It pays to be happy. Studies show that businesses with happy employees consistently outperform their less happy competitors in the marketplace and in the stock market. Considering the challenges that modern organizations face, creating a happy organization is the number one strategic imperative and the only way to long-term success. This article will tell you … Continue reading Make your business happy and rich
When the geeks at NCR in Australia threatened to go on strike, it was a move that could have paralyzed ATMs, supermarket cash registers and airplane check-in. This underlines the fact that IT has become so central to almost all corporations, that any disruption may cost a lot of time and money, which again means … Continue reading How NOT to lead geeks
Most modern countries are seeing a steady rise in the amount of time people spend at work. There is some evidence, however, that this trend contributes neither to the bottom line nor to our overall well-being. Esther Derby euthanizes the idea that long hours are a sign of employee commitment. She cites some alternative reasons … Continue reading Thank you for coming to work. Now scram!
I’m speaking at an HR conference in Istanbul next month, a leading turkish newspaper wanted to do an interview by email about happiness at work. They sent me some great questions, which I answered as best I could. The best part about great questions is that they leave you and the questioner wiser. Below are … Continue reading Turkish Q&A