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NOTES
1 Diener, E. and Diener C., “Most people are happy” in Psychological Science 7, 1996.
2 Fromm E., “Die Pathologie der Normalität. Zur Wissenschaft vom Menschen”, 1991.
3 https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=39084#.WRxX- rStvEM
4 Fisher C.D., “Happiness at work”, 2010.
5 Lyubomirsky S., Sheldon K.M., Schkade D., “Pursuing Happiness: The Architecture of Sustainable Change”, 2005.
6 Seligman Martin E.P., “Authentic Happiness: Using the (...)”, 2002.
7 Idem.
8 Hatfield E., Cacioppo J.T., Rapson R.L., “Emotional Contagion”, 1994.
9 Seligman Martin E.P., Csikszentmihalyi M. “Positive psychology: An introduction”, 2000.
10 Gavin J.H., Mason R.O., “The value of happiness in the workplace”, 2004.
11 Gavin J.H., Mason R.O., “The value of happiness in the workplace”, 2004.
12 Gavin J.H., Mason R.O., “The value of happiness in the workplace”, 2004.
13 Fisher C.D., “Happiness at work”, 2010.
14 “The Science behind the smile”, Interview to prof. Daniel Gilbert on Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb 2012.
15 http://www.greatplacetowork.com.
16 Surowiecki J., “technology and Happiness”, MIT Technology Review, 2005.
17 Adobe, “Future of Work”, 2016.
Research suggests that making people feel happier depends on the types of challenges they face and establishing difficult but attainable goals. Happiness is related to the frequency of positive experiences rather than their intensity.14
Challenges are not hard to come by in our increasingly competitive world, but transforming them into catalysts for happiness at work involves the creation of a sense of purpose for both the employee and the organisation. The former is asked to come at work with a positive attitude, willing to learn, to contribute to a common goal and to grow; the latter, above all, has to give a sense of meaning, making transparent the impact of their work and on their own growth. The Great Place to Work Institute reports happy employees are those that "trust the people they work for, have pride in what they do, and enjoy the people they work with”15.
The role of technology in supporting this process is crucial. Despite the ongoing debate about whatever degree of happiness it may or may not have brought to our lives16, technology has not only redefined the way we work but is also creating a brand new culture of work, supporting all the drivers of personal engagement at work: communicating and sharing a higher purpose, understanding the impact of work on people, giving autonomy to employees and creating new relationships between individuals.
In the past, technology transformed workflow, freeing us from routine tasks. Now it is increasingly focused on increasing our understanding of processes through the collection of data and the creation of models. It is bringing a new level of social cohesion to the office, free from traditional barriers such as culture and language, and supporting transparency, teamwork and collaboration.
It is also helping to make people happy by expanding the choices they have about where, how, when and why they might work. This alone does much to explain why the provision of state-of-the-art-technology is considered by many the most important factor “in keeping them happy at work (81%)” compared to access to food and beverages (72%), “beautiful office design” (61%) and on-site amenities (56%)17.
We are just at the beginning of a digital transition where technology is subtly asking us to renounce to a bit privacy and control in change of relieving us from anxieties and helping us to express our full potential. Being happy is part of this deal.