What makes people at work happy?

Post-covid situation in the work environment is way different than the work atmosphere was before the pandemic. People leaving their jobs as a mass action has earned its name during the last two years – The Great Resignation. Nearly two-thirds of US workers are looking for a new job, who says?. The reason why is a mental state that we normally as human beings experience after shock – the need for change. In addition the fear of loss of our own life or that of our closed ones triggers so-called survival mode. Imagine survival mode as part of our ancient brain that we used while living in tribes – always on the hunt and always alert for danger. Survival mode instructs us not to use the scales to value positives and negatives and derive cognitive conscious. On the contrary - survival mode is looking for dangers/problems. If you have two tigers behind your back everything else loses its importance. So survival mode triggered by the pandemic erases all the benefits of the working environment and is only looking for the two tigers – for what is wrong.

It is really important to understand how this mechanism works – people look for a change during the crisis period, but wait until the environment improves. They only take action only after the crisis has gone. This means that post-covid situation is a period for the need of change in the employee’s mind. Now more than ever we need to foresee what the potential problems for our employees are and fight back. Yes, find the problems and deal with their resolution, not compensate with other benefits. And remember we not only strive for our workers to be happier and devoted to their jobs, we aim at saving our businesses from experiencing the Great Resignation, exactly here in Europe as it has already started happening in the US.

We interviewed 2000 people from different nationalities that have left their job since the Covid crisis started and we found out that no matter the field, people have quite recurring reasons to quit their job:

Ø Lack of appreciation and not making an impact (contribution)

Ø Lack of support of their manager - unreliable managers during problem-solving processes at work

Ø Lost sense of belonging – when the team is remote, the salary becomes the most valued asset

Ø Lack of flexibility

Ø Too much control from the management and too little decentralized management power

Ø Better salary at a new working place (especially with the lack of belonging)

Ø Unclear rules for the work process

Ø High levels of anxiety – need for a change (bored and unchallenged by the work)

Ø Unpaid additional working hours

We know that underneath the employees’ reasons to leave their job lies the changed mentality that is happening worldwide because of the pandemic situation that triggers change in behavior. How do we change it back? How do we repair a change on such a great scale?

v We use two methods for crisis management

1. Intrapersonal resolutions: dealing with the 4 types (4 Fs) of stress reactions in workers– trainings with the top managers or personal on-line meetings with employees

- Fight mode workers

- Flight mode workers

- Fawn mode workers

- Freeze mode workers

2. General resolutions – measures of change in the work environment that generate happiness

vOur methodology

Our team members are licensed Ph.D. professionals in the field of behavioral psychology, persuasion and neuroscience. We start dealing with the work-environment problems from their roots – by acknowledging and stimulating the natural body hormones that make our brain thrive – oxytocin, dopamine, endorphins and continue with generating actions that put back the normal state of people - away from survival mode.

Change starts with generating 3 hormones into the brain through behavioral and environmental change.

vThe natural body ability to create happiness

The hormone cortisol is released when people are in stress. It is known as the “thief” hormone as in order to be produced it steals away from our bodies other types of hormones that we need to feel at ease (dopamine, estrogen, oxytocin). So the situation especially now is either cortisol or happiness. Positive psychology lays out serious research on the increase of the brain’s productivity - as high as 20 % - when people are in positive mood. I cannot underline more vividly the importance of the fact that all learning and achievement is state dependent. This basically means that companies should focus on lowering stress at the work place as a starting point. In order for our workers to be focused and productive stress should be low. We need though just the exact amount of stress so that we can stay alert and do our job but it should not be coming from the team members rather by deadlines for example. Keeping the deadlines should be rewarded (creation of dopamine) instead of penalizing the unmet deadlines (creation cortisol).

vOxytocin happiness stimulation

1. People feel happy when they are appreciated by their managers.

Looking at your phone while talking to your employees is not you being busy, it is you being rude.

Techniques:

- Persuasion by the use of names

- Persuasion by exact attention and enough empathy

- Persuasion by boundaries/time boundaries

- The importance of words and argumentations – why “because” is so important

- Body language persuasion – if we see our employee crossed-handed how do we unlock their position so that we unlock their brain? What does it mean if the person is pretending to be collecting imaginable dust particals from their clothes?

- Persuasion by information – Leaders are readers

- Conflict management – how to spot an arising conflict? How do we change a person’s behavior from amygdala emotional reaction to neocortex cognitive action?

2. Workers need equality

Techniques:

- Salary and conditions - it is very important for workers to have the same conditions with the other employees that share the same responsibilities. It gives them the need for justice at the work place that if lacking is a reason by itself for resignation.

- All-in access

- Free Friday afternoon not only for the high management (e.g.once a month)

- Personal growth seminars - access no matter of the position – personal growth as a natural human drive

3. Employees need safety.

One of the main advices given by the EURES of the European Commission is to provide a safe environment for your employees when they return to their work places. This goes both ways – mentally – to calm down the survival mode but also literally – hygiene stations with masks, disinfectants as well as secure distance and clean environment.

4. The “competence-confidence loop” generation makes people feel capable and thus happy at what they do.

Techniques:

- Optimization of human potential - strong sides discovery– when a person is using their strong sides (3 to 5 from 33 possible) they feel that their work is easy and pleasurable. Strong sides evaluation and possible job change inside the company boundaries while optimizing the strong sides of employees may be a game changer in the productivity and happiness levels.

- The absolute rule for success: use your strong sides, do not develop your weak ones (the 10 thousand hours virtuoso: skills-ability-talent)

- Seminars in the personal development field

- Seminars on how to remember fast – The brain learns by repetition and by intensity. The long term memory is built by two components: information + emotion

5. Sense of belonging or how do we change the work place to a family place?

- Trust building (break the small groups, conflict management, concrete “enemy”, the same purpose, company values and traditions, equality, etc.)

- Traditions creation – cyclic repetition

- The game as a natural way to learn and operate with emotions

- Authority trust

- Managers: Practice what you preach – the importance of personal example

- Clear and written guidance what to do when having a concrete problem, so they can operate on their own

- Program/ a person who helps with conflict management

6. Care

- Environmental care (change from plastic in the office may make environmental fighters really happy and can be seen as a bounding value of the company)

- Material support – many companies in Russia care to buy for their employees all the needed equipment for working from home – pc, orthopedic chair, orthopedic keyboard, adjustable desk

- Health care ( food at work place, yoga time, food coupons etc.) as well as hygiene stations, mentioned above

- Transportation care

- Psychological care (psychologists on the call 24/7, offered by some international European companies)

vDopamine happiness stimulation

1. People feel happy when they get things done. As to be able to do that we need to teach them:

Techniques:

- Focus management – how to avoid distraction, because “Flow follows focus”. The “don’t think of a white bear” experiment

- Flow state generation – how to produce more in less time – some techniques are: challenge and skills “sweet spot”, immediate feedback, focus, “enough stress”, exercise, safety and security

- Managing to-do list

- Seminars of interest

2. Progress state – it is the natural mechanism of our bodies to make us Strive to Survive. The harder the goal, the greater portion of dopamine.

Techniques:

Purpose oriented workers are happy workers

- The level of assignment - it is known that the assignment should be a bit more over the worker’s abilities so that it keeps them interested (flow stimulation) but not too difficult as to not give up

- Major purpose segregation – major purpose segregation to small aims and celebrating every small achievement (by rewards – badges, certifications, bonuses, etc.)

- System of company’s values creation

- Always dopamine simulant: the to-do list – ticked

- The absolute: Clear instructions, that can be visualized

3. Freedom for making decisions.

If you take a person’s freedom of choice you’ve lost them for good.

Techniques:

- Delegation of decisions

Tactics –what do we do when we don’t want to take their freedom of choice but don’t want to delegate the decision making? How to make your choice but not hating you.

- Policy of mistakes are worth it – we learn by making mistakes, make a game or a one-on-one talks letting your employees speak about their mistakes without fear

- More responsibility and decision making at lower stages of job hierarchy

- Lower the sense of control

2012 Harvard university conducted a research proving that the early death connected with stress is 4 times higher in workers found in the lower steps of job hierarchy compared to their managers that have much more work and responsibilities. Scientists relate this conclusion to the possibility of the sense of having more control over your work life as balancing system to lower stress.

4. Flexibility

- Flexible working hours

It is scientifically proven that whether we are a “night awl” or an “early bird” is inherited by our ancestors. Nature has made it possible to have both - people going to sleep early and people that go to bed late because of one very practical ancient reason – to have a night watch always protecting those that sleep. So keep in mind that making all people wake up at the same time and expecting the same productivity is against human natural mechanisms. This basically means that some people will choose another company only because they cannot comply with your expectations.

Keep in mind that your employees have been working from home for a long time, when coming back to work they need to get used to the noisiness of the environment. It is agood idea to keep at least a day working from home so that the change is not that stressful.

Finland, Luxembourg and Ireland have the highest share of remote workers in the European continent, with over 20 percent of people still in jobs that either give them the opinion to work from home.

The majority of businesses wouldn’t have survived covid19 without the aid of remote digital infrastructure.

Now questions are being raised about the laws businesses should abide by to accommodate flexible working hours given its popularity in some industries. A poll conducted earlier this year by Slack found that almost a third of UK workers would be less inclined to apply for a job if remote working wasn’t an option.

Furthermore in Germany last January it became mandatory for workplaces to offesr staff the opportunity to work from home as long as “there are no operational reasons for not doing so”.

- Flexible schedule

Again when speaking about delegations and giving more control and letting workers learn from their mistakes – it all comes into their decision making on what and when to put something on their schedule.

- Flexible managers

Teach managers to active listening and to be open to help any worker when having problem and always contact them later with care, even if it is not needed, to see how they handled the problem.

5. Charity the great reward of dopamine – money that doesn’t come from workers pocket but can be used only for a good cause – leaving the choice to the worker which cause to support.

vEndorphin happiness stimulation

“No one can be laughing and afraid at the same time”.

1. Laugher

- endorphin is known to be the master of disguise – it hides the painful feeling of physical pressure on the internal organs while laughing. So laughter itself produces the chemical feel of happiness.

- Funny on-line games

- Funny joke-notes at the privacy rooms

- Intra-company humor – on purpose building

2. Exercise (yoga/aerobics at work)

Scientists have proven that one single workout has an immediate effect on our bodies – it will increase right away neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine and endorphin. Every workout improves our ability to shift and focus attention, and that focus improvement will last for at least two hours. Studies have shown that a single workout will improve our reaction times. Just imagine what does long-term exercise to our brains? Scientists found out improved attention function is dependent on our prefrontal cortex. We not only get better focus and attention but the volume of the hippocampus increases as well.

3. Work with hands (team-build something material/ remotely working employees - knead bread)

These measures can be summed up in one sentence – we can only build on success. When your workers feel successful they will never leave your company. We build the company’s success on the most treasured asset – deep care for the structure of success - the workers. And the post-covid situation is for all mostly a time for change – let that change not be a change of the workplace but a change for the better at “your” place – a company that feels like home, with better communication, better care for the employees, positive environment and happiness on everyday basis, because you change people’s destiny, they rely on you – “how we spent our days is the way we spent our life”.

#happy@work