The reasoning is both simple and powerful: the most important and profitable asset of any company is its employees. So what could be better than keeping the organisation’s most important asset in its natural state, where its full potential manifests itself?

However, this reasoning does not apply exclusively to the workplace. Its connotations are paramount, since all people are workers, at least potentially, whether in active work, post-work, academia, or any other situation. It is evident, then, that happiness transcends any of these reasoning, to go to the common denominator: the human being.

Scientific research into happiness

Talking about happiness is nothing new, Aristotle was already making profound dissertations in the 4th century B.C. However, in recent years, the concept of positive psychology, which is a current of psychology that studies the bases of psychological well-being and happiness, as well as human strengths and virtues, has gained momentum. It differs from other psychology currents and its historical precedents in that it is based on the scientific method. Psychologist Martin Seligman laid its foundations at the end of the 1990s, and other authors, such as Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, have added to it with their contributions.

At first glance, the purpose of positive psychology may sound too arrogant: ‘now science wants to tell us what happiness is? But there are many dissenting voices who believe that happiness goes far beyond the processing of a simple set of measurable values in the realm of psychology.

Debates aside, we all know, without needing to learn it, when we feel good and, above all, when we feel bad. It is innate. The fact is that our organism goes smoothly with wellbeing, while it starts to give warning signals when we experience discomfort.

What do the experts say?

Given that companies are above all groups of people, it may seem basic to ensure the well-being and satisfaction of workers at work. However, in the business logic linked to the Industrial Revolution (still very present everywhere), the general paradigm has been quite the opposite: to make them work to the maximum in order to obtain higher profits. A vision in which their personal well-being is far from the company’s concern.

Studies on the subject conclude that the experience of workers who feel at ease in their organisation is far more precious than even the material goods they may receive as gratification. This is because this experience has no shelf life; it can always be recalled and enjoyed again.

Employee happiness as a barometer of business health

So now it is no longer just about focusing on the famous customer experience (CX), but the employee experience also plays a key role in the success of the organisation. Both from the company’s point of view, because a happy, creative or empathetic employee is synonymous with a more productive worker, and from the worker’s point of view, because we spend almost a third of our lives at work.

A good sign of the consolidation of this trend is the emergence of several indices, such as the Global Workplace Happiness Index, which measure happiness in the workplace. Likewise, the figure known as Chief Happiness Officer or director of well-being is consolidating in those organisations that are committed to the value of people and the profitability of a happy employee.

What a strange mix and, at the same time, what a fruitful synergy when the focus of the organisation is on people!

At 11Onze we have believed in this fundamental value from the beginning, which is shared by all the people who make up our community. And it works!

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