Happiness at work: is it up to the company to make us happy?
In the age of Chief Happiness Officers, or happiness managers, companies seem to have to take responsibility for the happiness of their employees. But is that really their role? Are they responsible for this happiness that is apparently so sought after and desired by employees? No However, they must create favorable conditions so that each individual can find their own happiness there by themselves.
This is a position that has been on the rise in companies in recent years: Chief Happiness Officer or Happiness Manager. In French, it is the “Responsible for happiness” in business. On the professional social network LinkedIn, just over 700 people registered in France claim this function, whose main mission is to “”improve the conviviality and well-being of employees”.
If startups and especially large groups are now betting on these happiness managers, it is not for nothing; the fact of being fulfilled at work would significantly improve productivity and would promote loyalty in the long term. But beyond these benefits, they seem significant, “happiness at work” has become an essential criterion for a large majority of employees who, since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, have reconsidered their relationship with work. It is no longer a question of work as a source of remuneration, but of personal development. Finding meaning, to achieve their full potential, to be in line with their values, these are the desires of today's active people.
Many companies are thus multiplying actions to cultivate this so-called happiness. They invest in warmer and more friendly offices, in activities to boost team cohesion and “better living together”, such as the famous team building. But above all, they invest in people: more responsibilities, autonomy and freedom in the organization of work. They share their vision and promote trust, kindness and human relationships. Concepts that until now had little or no place at all in highly hierarchical organizations.
In addition to Chief Happiness Officers, other positions in companies are also emerging; there are also CSR (corporate social responsibility) and QVT (quality of life at work) managers. Functions that did not exist a few years ago.
This commitment to happiness at work is highly commendable, but this notion raises a real question: is it up to the company to make us happy? In other words, is the company really responsible for our happiness?
Creating conditions to promote happiness at work
First, let's understand the word “happiness.” Among the multiple existing definitions, let's take that of the Académie Française, which defines happiness as a “state of perfect inner satisfaction.” Like any feeling, being happy is first and foremost a subjective experience. Happiness is specific to everyone, it can be expressed and experienced in different ways and especially according to different criteria. But it is still necessary to determine this state. Like its definition, our happiness is often abstract. To the question, “What makes you happy? ”, we don't always know what to answer, because this happiness is also constantly evolving according to our interactions with our environment. What made me happy last week may make me unhappy today. And vice versa.
Artificially creating a “bubble of happiness at work” is also very questionable. We can have a great job that meets all our expectations, but if we are not happy in our personal life, we will hardly be able to fully fulfill our expectations in the office. On the other hand, if we are not fully satisfied with our work, but we are very happy in our personal daily lives, we will subconsciously compensate. “Everything is fine in my life, work is just a detail,” one might say to ourselves. But if our professional environment really weighs on us, we will no longer be able to ignore it.
Finally, the company has its codes, its culture, its objectives that necessarily constrain collective action and life. Even if it could commit itself to the happiness of its employees, it could therefore only be relative happiness. A joy of living well in a predefined environment for those who fully and at all times adhere to the principles of their employer. Here too, we can question the fullness of happiness that is ultimately contractual...
Therefore, how can a company guarantee the happiness of each of its employees? That is impossible. Happiness is far too complex and above all personal to make it a common goal. The organization cannot meet all the expectations and aspirations of everyone, even if it believes that it will do everything possible to achieve it. The company cannot under any circumstances be responsible for the happiness of its employees. On the other hand, it can, or even must, create favorable conditions to help its employees to develop according to their own needs as part of collective action.
We are responsible for our own happiness, not the company
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In the end, the only person responsible for our happiness is none other than ourselves. Thinking that our business should make us happy is illusory, even dangerous, because as soon as we consider that a society should take responsibility for our happiness, we disempower ourselves. At some point or another, we will only necessarily be disappointed by a given directive or by such actions carried out within our organization. Too many expectations undeniably lead to a lot of disappointments.
Let's not forget that we are the first captain on board our ship. If the sea is too rough or too calm, it is up to us to change course to sail on waters that satisfy us more and that, above all, take us to our desired destination. But it is still necessary to know it and especially to know ONESELF. What makes us happy? What do we want? Who do we want to be?
The definition of our happiness is abstract. It is up to us to define it according to our own criteria and aspirations, by working on its Self-Leadership. It is only by taking one's place, all his place in our professional life that we will thus be able to experience this happiness at work firsthand. Serendipity could define this happiness: an optimal synchronicity between our environment and us, at a given moment. So it's not the business that makes us happy, but the choice we made to invest in it at this stage in our lives.
