Member Article

The happiness agenda

The first-ever International Day of Happiness, as proclaimed by the United Nations last year, happened in 2013, recognising “the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world.”

It has set me thinking about happiness though. Here we are in a recession and evidently a psychological recession too, because according to a survey conducted by Office Angels, only about 42% of workers in the UK are actually happy with their current jobs. That’s a pretty revealing statistic.

The fact is, psychological capital plays an intrinsic part in the performance of companies and therefore it shouldn’t be ignored. It’s well known that a positive mindset results in optimism, resilience, productivity and creativity; all the things that ultimately contribute to commercial bottom lines. The government is aware of this too. It is always trying to measure our well being at work, because sickness absence, presenteeism (being present at work but contributing little value to the business) and labour turnover cost this country billions every year.

Psychologists say that happiness at work actually predicts performance and this can create a ripple effect, so happily I think we must be doing something right, based on Ve Interactive’s creative output, the talented staff the company has attracted, our international expansion and client portfolio to date. And whilst we can’t claim to have created a superlative company culture at Ve… (yet) we’re certainly working hard on all the elements of its alchemy, through a shared ethos of contribution, commitment, hard work and hard play. Oh and smart business strategy too, because as the Japanese proverb puts it “a vision without action is a daydream, action without vision is a nightmare.”

But as a by-product of all this positive productivity we now need more hands on deck! So are you one of the 58% who is unhappy with your current job? And did you know that we’re hiring?

:-)

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Kathy Heslop .