Happiness at Work and Play

Happy employees can help a company be successful. The flip side of course is how unhappy employees can drive customers away and create increased costs to the company in terms of employee turnover and hiring expenses.

While research has linked happiness to our genetic makeup, the “nature-nurture” theory certainly has a role here as well. Our culture and upbringing bear some responsibility for our happiness as does our socio-economic status, but if work continues to be a constant source of stress for you, you’re not scoring points with either yourself or your employer.

Leger Marketing surveyed 58 countries in 2011, ranking their happiness based on per capita income and hope about the nation’s economy. The Happiness Barometer for 2011 identifies Fiji as the happiest country overall. Canada comes in as #23 and Afghanistan fares better than the United States. Overall findings show that 53% of the world is happy compared with 13% who say they are unhappy.

So as this year comes to a close, it’s a good opportunity for all of us to take stock of our own happiness index in not only our work, but in our personal lives as well. If you’re unhappy, you need to get happy. Make 2012 your year to improve your happiness.