FINAL WORD
ORGANISATIONS THAT ACHIEVE OWNERSHIP WILL BE REWARDED WITH GENUINE AND LOVING CARE . a few quick wins that will reshape HR as the engine room of the Happiness Revolution :
1 . Ditch SMART objectives . They ’ re sooooo dull ! I encourage HUGGs ( huge unbelievably great goals ), exciting things that are on the edges of achievability . HUGGs are goals that are worth getting out of bed for . 2 . Strengths . Uncovering people ’ s strengths and then finding ways for them to use their strengths every day . Simple ? Yup . Are more organisations doing it ? Nope . 3 . Positive communication ratio of 6:1 . If I was a fly on the wall in your office and could hear six positives for every grumble , I ’ d be fairly sure that your team is rocking and rolling . If it dips below 2:1 , the energy will be leaking . If your communication dips the other way ( there are more negs than positives ) I ’ d be worried . 4 . Purpose is key . If people have a clear and compelling reason to come to work , they will arrive with a spring in their step . Find ( or remind them of ) their ‘ why ?’ A point worth noting , you cannot command happiness or purpose . It ’ s about creating insight , so they can realise it for themselves . 5 . Care . And I mean genuinely care . Chances are that if your people can respond affirmatively to ‘ someone at work seems to care about me as a person ’, they will turn up with a smile on their face .
On a final note , for the naysayers , positive psychology is much more than ‘ happy-ology ’ or ‘ positive thinking ’. It ’ s about using scientifically proven ways to improve your business . If one person in your organisation gets it , that ’ s great for them . If everyone gets it , that translates to a thriving workplace and wowza customer experiences .
Allow me to finish with an analogy . At some point , you will have rented a car . Most likely , this will have been on holiday . So , here ’ s a question for you ; before you returned the car to the airport , did you wash it ?
Why on earth not ?
Because it ’ s not yours , that ’ s why . To be truthful , you probably didn ’ t treat it very well either .
Bringing the concept to your team – are your people ‘ renting ’ or ‘ owning ’? Organisations that achieve ownership will be rewarded with genuine and loving care .
Getting positive psychology embedded in the culture of your organisation is about ‘ owning ’. You can stop commanding them to be world class because they will ooze it . Therefore ‘ happiness ’ is not just ‘ a little bit important ’, it ’ s an essential ingredient in your business success .
The bottom line is that employee happiness is the bottom line .
Dr Andy Cope is a happiness expert , positive psychologist and author of The Art of Being Brilliant x
72 www . intelligentcxo . com