Guest writer Sarah McLellan runs Make It Human, a company focused on equipping leaders and managers with the knowledge and capability to shape great culture in the flow of work.
Gallup recently released results of their analysis on the impact of working a four-day week. Could this finally provide the long-awaited silver bullet for job and life satisfaction?
The answer... It depends.
For some it did improve these measures, but for others it didn’t. Not the universal solution we’d hoped for.
Perhaps it’s gaining new accreditations, promotion to bigger, more impressive job titles that offers the key to contentment at work?
This can be important to some, and have a positive impact on feelings of satisfaction, but often only for a limited time. The shine and celebration wear off, and ‘meh’ feelings are likely return.
It must be financial rewards, then. Is how much we earn the key to work satisfaction? This can work to a point, as Dan Pink notes, but for most people once we feel it is a ‘fair’ level of reward for the work we do, motivators shift.
There’s something else we yearn for to fuel and sustain feelings of happiness over the longer-term.
Think of the happiest person you know...
Maybe a friend or family member, or someone well-known. An individual who seems to soar through life with a relentlessly positive outlook, loves what they do, is always searching for the next way to have impact, feels comfortable in their own skin, and oozes contentment.
In 2020, the ‘world’s happiest man’ was named as Matthieu Ricard, a 69-year-old Tibetan Buddhist monk. He took part in a 12-year brain study on meditation and compassion led by a neuroscientist from the University of Wisconsin, revealing his status as exceptionally happy.
Ricard attributes this to benevolence and using meditation to keep developing the skills he needs to be giving, resilient and happy:
"If your mind is filled with benevolence, you know —the passion and solidarity ... this is a very healthy state of mind that is conducive to flourishing."
Another person who outwardly appears happy is Sir David Attenborough, the world-renowned botanist and broadcaster, still putting his heart and soul into saving the planet at the age of 97. The passion he has for his work and mission is palpable. The moments of wonder visible on his face, as well as the expressions of fear and regret; should we fail to act to save the natural wonders of our world. It’s clearly driven him to keep working and contributing to this great cause for almost a century. I wonder whether this makes him happy or if the burden of our planet’s longevity rests too heavily?
Across the globe, Nordic countries repeatedly top the happiness tables. Finland, Denmark and Iceland named the top 3 in this year’s World Happiness Report. Common factors attributed to this state (alongside extensive welfare benefits, low corruption, and well-functioning democracy and state institutions) are a strong sense of autonomy and freedom, as well as high levels of social trust. People living in these parts of the world experience greater choice and freedom, and they access social support and friendships to help in this journey.
What really makes us happy?
Three little words with powerful impact:
Autonomy, Meaning and Growth
Find this magic combination in the work you do and the impact can be huge. Positive emotions spread to feelings of engagement, belonging and motivation. Invigorating ideas, improving collaboration, generating growth for individuals, teams, and companies.
Autonomy
As Nordic countries demonstrate, when we experience it, our wellbeing improves, we feel happier, and can be more innovative and productive. And when we don't, we can experience learned helplessness - feeling out of control, that choice has been taken away, and a stressful, negative outcome is the only consequence. We move to accept this as the path forward, giving up on opportunities to change how things are done. This results in depression, burnout and serious health issues.
Back in the early 2000s, Best Buy received feedback from their employees that they wanted more autonomy to do their job well. They had stuttering engagement and productivity levels and so the HR and Leadership teams took a gamble - they introduced ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment). This was revolutionary. It introduced flex and choice - on work hours, time-off (as long as the work gets done), meetings are optional (join, if you think it well help you deliver results). They introduced 13 key principles. And then essentially closed their eyes and crossed their fingers... wondering how letting people do exactly what they wanted, whenever they wanted, could really work?
To their surprise, it did.
Best Buy found their Corporate Headquarters of 5,000+ employees achieved:
📈 20% team productivity improvement
😊 90% decrease in attrition
💬 Big improvements in employee and leadership communication and collaboration practices
💤 And, improved health, sleep, and satisfaction for employees
Of course, there were some key ways of working essential to making this a success. Trusting people to do what's needed to get the work done well, and demonstrating this through increased trust, autonomy and flexibility created a foundation for people and business to thrive.
Meaning
As Sir David Attenborough illustrates, finding meaning – through impacting something close to your heart, or in the relationships you build with others – can help you fly through the darker days, rise above the unexpected hurdles, and soar into creativity. People who find purpose live longer, healthier, and happier lives.
McKinsey research found people who have a strong sense of purpose are 5 times more likely to report higher levels of wellbeing. They have a 15% lower risk of dying and are 4 x more likely to report higher levels of engagement.
The longest study so far into what makes us happy followed a cohort of people across an 80-year span. The Harvard paper concluded there were two key elements happier people held in common: 1. They prioritised how they wanted to spend their time (in other words, they identified what was most meaningful to them and focused their time on these aspects). 2. They spent time building and maintaining social connections. They prioritised friendships. Impacting a meaningful cause through the work you do, and being supported through strong relationships makes life feel worthwhile.
Growth
Without growth we all stand still (or worse, become irrelevant). Companies grow when their people grow, and people grow when the company grows. This is the fulcrum of the relationship between individuals and organisations.
Our mission in today’s world is to create conditions for human growth. The world’s happiest man attributes his satisfaction in part to his dedication to developing and growing his own skills, as well as having a clear purpose in life.
This is reflected in people at work too:
LinkedIn research revealed people are 19% more likely to stay if they move internally within 2 years. People want to keep learning and growing.
People with growth mindsets benefit from enhanced levels of resilience, adaptability, wellbeing and optimism, spurring them on to stretch themselves, try new things and learn through these experiences.
Finding ways to keep growing beyond a title, status, or accolade, and simply as a person. This is what can facilitate long-term feelings of happiness and satisfaction.
Finally, returning to Gallup’s findings on the four-day week:
2/3rds of employees are thriving regardless of how many days they work
When people dislike their work, increasing time spent working only lowers satisfaction further
But, when people are already engaged in work they enjoy, they still feel happy even if working longer hours
The key to happiness is having choice (autonomy), ability to engage in purposeful work with other people (meaning) and accessing opportunities to learn and develop as we go (growth).
Increasing Autonomy, Meaning and Growth in our work is something we can all take steps to do.
Want to learn more about Sarah McLellan, click here.
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