I Was Happy; Then I Went To Work

From the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (women) are created equal, that their Creator endows them with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” To the top-charting song, “Happy”, by the multi-talented, music producer, songwriter, and performer, Pharell Williams, happiness is one of the aspirations of our modern life. We strive to be happy in our home lives, our personal relationships, and our workplaces. During the workforce of the first half of the 20th Century, being happy at work was not considered necessary to peak job performance. An honest day's work for an honest wage was enough. Getting satisfaction from your job or being happy about going to work wasn't supposed to factor into the equation. However, being happy and having a sense of belonging in the workplace has always been important to the employee. In fact, when employees are happy about their workplaces and they feel a sense of belonging within their workplaces, the following work outcomes occur: 56% improved job performance, 50% lower turnover risk 75% decrease in employees' sick days. This debunks the old-school thinking that employees' happiness doesn’t matter in the workplace. In this session, Dr. William T. Lewis, a people, and culture thought leader, will lead the participants in a powerfully engaging discussion about how to build the infrastructure for workplace cultures of belonging and happiness. Specifically, we will look at the five mindset shifts (Mindset, Language, Relationship, Behavior, Culture) that HR and team supervisors need to make if happiness and belonging permeate the organizational culture.