Implementing the science of happiness in the workplace

Today 1 in 6 workers will experience mental health problems in the workplace. If you look around the office now at your teams, colleagues and managers, this is a remarkable and sobering statistic. There needs to be a transformation in the way well-being is managed at work. Well-being at work should be so much more than being ‘ok’ or ‘not unwell’. The science of happiness – positive psychology – states that well-being is about people being able to flourish.

When people flourish this enables high performance and thriving teams. Well-being support at work can often be a list of services and perks that people can access, such as counselling, or enjoy, such as gym membership. What if well-being was embedded far deeper into the way that line managers and employees worked together?

Line managers are in a unique position to support people with their well-being at work in a far more holistic way, but they do not always have the skills or confidence to know how to help their teams. The science of happiness – positive psychology – offers a clear and actionable framework that line managers can use. Positive psychology says to thrive at work people need five elements in place:

1)  Positive emotions
2) High engagement
3) Positive relationships
4) Sense of purpose or meaning
5) A feeling of accomplishment.

These make up the model PERMA – proposed by Martin Seligman the founder of the positive psychology movement. Each part of PERMA combines to help people at work have a sense of well-being that helps them thrive and also enables high performance. The practical structure of the model means line managers can build in positive changes for each of the elements to enable a culture of well-being.

Positive emotions are crucial in the workplace to enable well-being and help drive performance and productivity. Positive emotions have a power beyond a just a fleeting feeling of happiness. Research shows positive emotions help people to see the big picture, and therefore be more strategic, negotiate better with others, take more care when they make decisions and be more accurate in their work.

Positive emotions are also contagious. When people ‘catch’ positive emotions from others, they are more likely to be seen as cooperative and competent. When line managers create a team environment that enhances positive feelings then this can spread through the team, and even to other teams in the organisation. Simple actions such as planning positive events with the team – team lunches or coffees can help increase happy feelings. The best way for line managers to help their teams feel more positivity is to understand them. Therefore, asking questions such as: ‘what do you most enjoy in your work?’ Or ‘what team activities would you like us to do?’, are really helpful well-being questions.

The next element of PERMA is the E of engagement. To enable high engagement line managers can seek to understand the strengths of each of their team members and align roles and goals to strengths. There is no easier way to help someone feel positive than asking them to achieve in a task that they love and are good at.

Line managers can also help people develop positive relationships, the R of PERMA. Positive relationships are nurtured with empathy through listening, understanding how someone is thinking and feeling and showing them or telling them that you have heard. Enhancing listening skills to the highest level of listening which is listening to help the other person understand more about themselves or their situation, is a powerful way to enable well-being. When people feel heard they feel respected and valued.

The M of PERMA is meaning. When people have more meaning they have lower levels of stress, lower levels of anxiety, and more frequent feelings of happiness. There are four components of meaningful work: purpose, values, efficacy and self-worth. Line managers can seek to understand what people in their team value, and what motivates them in their work. They can empower team members, rather than direct or micromanage, to nurture feelings of efficacy and self-worth.

The final element of PERMA is Accomplishment. When people experience burnout what is often lost is a sense of accomplishment and agency which leads to a feeling of helplessness. Feeling accomplishment is an incredibly powerful way to build well-being. Line managers can ensure their teams are given positive feedback for their accomplishments and that successes are celebrated.

These are just some suggestions for each element of PERMA that line managers can consider, there are many more. A theme that comes from these actions is knowing team members well, and understanding their motivations, strengths and interests. This knowledge can only come from taking the time to have quality conversations with open questions, empathy and using the highest level of listening. This is a much more proactive approach to managing well-being as the line manager is setting up their people to thrive, rather than just noticing and helping them when they are struggling. The science of happiness approach builds a culture of well-being that helps people to flourish and performance to thrive.