Member Article

New research project to investigate workplace happiness

“A new research initiative backed by broadcasters Kate Humble and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has been launched today. The Good Life project aims to provide evidence based and cost effective solutions to the benefits of nature in making businesses happier, healthier and more profitable.

The project is being spearheaded by behaviour expert Jez Rose along with a team of psychologists and neuro-scientists and is endorsed by the Soil Association.

Rose believes many organisations are heading in the wrong direction:

“Latest figures show that the average level of workplace absence in the UK is 6.9 days per employee with minor illness remaining the most common cause of short term absence and creating a cost to the employer of £554 per employee.

Too many organisations are moving backwards - towards hot desks and banning personalisation of working spaces and even plants from the workplace. This flies in the face of years of evidence based research proving that a connection to our natural environment is not only important but it also makes a huge difference to individual performance and well-being.

The research will take place over six to twelve months and The Good Life Project team are now looking for business organisations who would like to be involved with the research, nominating colleagues to become Good Life Ambassadors. They would be given full training and a series of interventions to be taken back to the workplace with appropriate resources where they would champion the changes in their working environment. The impact of each intervention will be fed back to the Good Life project research facility.

Interventions will include:

- Different types of wall art depicting the natural environment to measure the difference they make to stress levels within the workplace.

- Creating an indoor herb garden for employees to tend and enjoy during downtime to measure emotional impact

- Encouraging outdoor activity at lunchtime and after work

Rob Percival from the Soil Association said:

“The Good Life Project is an inspiring one that throws light on a very important subject. It aims to demonstrate smoething that I and many others already believe: that health and wellbeing are intricately bound up with our surroundings, and that a closer connection to the natural environment can improve and enrich our working lives. If we are happier and healthier at work, of course that has huge benefits for the rest of our lives too, so I very much look forward to seeing the results of this research and the new directions they could lead us in.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by The Behaviour Expert Ltd .