Apparently Working Long Hours Makes Americans Happier?

From Static.

Yeah, this one's just crazy enough that it might be true. The Daily Mail reports that Americans who work long hours are happier than those who don't, while in Europe, that trend is reversed. This information comes from a study at the University of Texas at Dallas. The study's authors could not conclude whether work actually CAUSES happiness in America, but they speculate that the results have more to do with worker expectations and the pursuit of income than with their actions.

American and European survey respondents were asked to rate themselves as "Very Happy," "Pretty Happy," or "Not too Happy." Results showed that "Very Happy" Europeans dropped from around 28% to 23% as work hours increased from under 17 a week to more than 60. American happiness, on the other hand, stayed the same as work hours increased, while their sense of "bliss" increased. This holds true despite other factors, such as age, marital status, and income.

Economics professor Richard Easterlin, who was not involved in the study, but comments on it anyway, theorizes that Americans believe more in the rewards of hard work. "It's not really that hard work brings more success in the U.S. than in Europe; it's what people believe in," he says.

You can read the actual study in the April issue of the Journal of Happiness Studies.

Shawn Achor Finds Great Return on Investment for Employee Happiness Training

"Yay, let's all go to a corporately mandated class!"
(At least that's what they'd be saying if they went to
Shawn Achor's class.) From Training Seminars
and Workshops.

We've long known that employee happiness affects a company's bottom line, but now PR Web reports that training in positive psychology may be even better than traditional employee training. Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage, conducted a study wherein a group of 77 managers was given a single class in positive psychology. Their moods were then compared four months later, showing that the managers had higher energy, life satisfaction, and stress management compared to a control group.

The study began in December 2008 with a 10-minute survey that looked at 14 different metrics, including stress, social support, and optimism. Then Shawn Achor conducted a single three-hour class entitled "Positive Psychology:  the Science of Happiness and Potential". In April 2009, the managers in the class and the control group took another survey, which found that even after four months, the class produced significant increases in life satisfaction. This is important for companies because previous studies have shown that life satisfaction is one of the most important factors in employee performance and profitability.

Shawn Achor says, "By testing employees over many months we can determine if there is a long term ROI (return on investment). This sets a new standard for trainings."

To read more about what various companies are doing to improve employee happiness, remember to click on my employee happiness tag.

People Who Change Jobs Are Happier

A completely undoctored photo of Sydney.
From Sydney-Australia.biz.

Today the Sydney Morning Herald reports on an Australian study that shows most people change jobs not to seek out more pay, but to seek out more satisfaction--and they usually find it. Around 17% of Australian workers (or 1.2 people) changed jobs in 2008, mostly for reasons of job security and job satisfaction. The National Centre for Vocational Education Research conducted the study.

Dr. Ian Watson, author of the study, says that most changes in jobs do not lead to an increase in pay or job security. "On the other hand," he says, "job changing does lead on average to greater levels of job satisfaction.'' This may occur because workers in new jobs get to learn and use new skills. The study also includes other interesting results, like how extroverts are more likely to change jobs than introverts.

Zappos CEO to Start New Company to Teach Happiness Principles

Tony Hsieh. From Fast Company.

Today Fast Company reports that Tony Hsieh, billionaire CEO of Zappos, plans to start a new company based on the principles in his book Delivering Happiness. The new start-up, also called Delivering Happiness, will advise businesses on value-based management and design a line of "motivational apparel." Hsieh (pronounced "Shay") says that his company’s root principles are to inspire, connect, educate, and experience. He suggests that companies adhere to their principles, even when they impact the bottom line.

In the future, Hsieh also wants to expand beyond helping businesses. He and his business partner Jenn Lim hope to publish educational literature for college students and provide "experience packages"--which include things like helicopter pilot lessons and foreign trips. Whether these packages will help longterm happiness or just create short-term pleasure is anyone's guess, but Zappos has an incredibly low employee turnover rate, even in its call center, so Hsieh probably knows what he's doing.

(You can read about Tony Hsieh at the Global Happiness Summit here, or see a video of a speech he made to Google here.)

Marketers Teach Happiness to Sell Products

One of the most well-known campaigns to sell "happiness."
From 2010 and High Heels.

Today I read this interesting Fast Company article about a consultant who specializes in teaching corporations how to market happiness. Her name is Jennifer Aaker, and she teaches a Stanford graduate marketing class entitled "Designing Happiness". She also consults with AOL, Facebook, Adobe, and other corporations.

According to Aaker, "The idea of brands enabling happiness and providing greater meaning in the world is powerful. People have an aversion to anything that feels overly manufactured." The article also mentions John Kenny of the ad agency DraftFCB saying that nostalgia and other "safe emotions" can create happiness in an ad campaign, making happiness into a commodity used to sell products.

Students in Aaker's class create a photo project by taking pictures of happy moments for a month, then rating those moments on a scale of one to ten, thereby allowing themselves to discover moments that they didn't realize could make them happy. They apply the happiness principals they learn to a fictional company.

How do YOU feel about this corporatized streak in happiness research? We've seen before that when corporations take employee happiness seriously, they increase productivity and stock price, so everyone benefits. Happiness classes can also be a great experience for students, and Jennifer Aaker sounds like a great teacher.

HOWEVER, I sort of feel like using those principles to sell products steps over the line into creepiness. Does Coca Cola actually make people happy? No, it doesn't--at least in the longterm, after the sugar and caffeine leave your system. Coke is flavored high fructose corn syrup that will harm your body and actually ruin your smile if you drink too much, so why pretend that it causes happiness? It's the same thing with these other companies. I'm sure marketers love creating emotional links in consumers, but in the real world their products invite no emotion whatsoever. Now they seem to be explicitly using happiness as just another cynical tool used to manipulate consumers instead of a worthy goal in itself.

Maybe people will know the difference between the short-term pleasure that comes from a newly-bought item and the longterm happiness that comes from meaningful social connection and personal action. Hopefully?

One in Four British Workers Unhappy with Their Job

From Marc's Leadership Lessons.

Today the Press Association reports on a new survey that shows around 25% of British employees are unhappy with their job, while around 30.5% are merely "ambivalent," with employees in finance and law being the unhappiest. These results come from the recruitment firm Badenoch & Clark, who surveyed around 1,000 office workers.

Heidi Waddington, associate director of Badenoch & Clark, says, "Economic uncertainty over the past year has put tremendous pressure on employees. This trend is particularly evident in professional services, which has resulted in heightened intensity in the workplace and increasingly poor morale."

I would be interested in seeing figures like this for lower class workers (not in an office), but we may have to wait until Britain completes its happiness study. I'd also be interested in results for America and other countries. You can read more stories about employee happiness by clicking here. Corporations may especially want to pay attention to this one, which shows a correlation between higher employee happiness and higher stock value.

Costco Tops Employee Happiness List

Who would have thought that spending
all day here could make you happy?
From TCMnet.

Just in time for the holidays comes this story from The Globe and Mail. According to a new survey from CareerBliss, Costco has the happiest employees among retail chain stores. Rounding out the top three are Nordstrom and Old Navy.

CareerBliss's Happiest Holiday Retailer list combines data from almost 100,000 independent reviews submitted to their website. The reviews rate each company on a scale of one to five in these eight categories:  growth opportunity, compensation, benefits, work-life balance, career advancement, senior management, job security, and employee recommendation of the job. Costco has the best salary and benefits on the list, which contribute to its high happiness rating, but other companies made the list because of work-life balance--even with lower salary than the companies below them.

It's an interesting list because I never thought working in a mega-store could make ANYONE happy. Also, Wal Mart, the biggest corporation in the world, doesn't even make CareerBliss's top ten. All is mystery when it comes to employee happiness! Go to the news story for the full list.