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the HappY Workplace conclavE
inaugural edition of
February 23, 2018, New Delhi
presents
happy conclave 4
happy angle 7
happiness survey 9
happy encounters 14
happy lifestyle 16
happy spotlight 19
happy and healthy 22
happy pursuit 25
happiness advantage 27
happy hours 28
happy trends 30
happiness ambassadors 32
Dear friends,
I am really happy with my debut as an independent entrepreneur. The purpose is defined – to work towards creating happiness at workplace. Eclectic panelists, enthusiastic delegates, eminent sponsors and energetic volunteers – that’s all it took to pull off a show that saw a full house in the inaugural edition itself held at New Delhi. By all means, it was a dream start.
HyWe, the HappY Workplace conclavE is not merely a get together of working professionals. It’s a community of committed individuals who want to make a difference.
I decided to take this initiative because I want employee and employer to benefit from what I went through. I want to help organisation understand how unhappiness at workplace impact them. I want to help my colleagues realize various forms of this malady and what can be done to deal with it. I have seen people suffer in silence. I have seen colleagues going into depression. I have seen their family members having sleepless nights. Worse, I have seen children losing their childhood. And I have also seen organisation declining due to the fear and uncertainty that gripped and crippled the workforce.
Yes, I quit and chose self-esteem over job. But that’s not the choice that everyone is willing to make. I envision a transformation where employer and employee come together to create a workplace where people look forward to coming every day, where job is fun, and where one is fearless to express and experiment. It’s a proven fact that one needs to feel happy to be able to do anything meaningful and worthwhile. All one needs to do is to bring pride and purpose to boost performance at the workplace.
Sure enough, we need to think positive. More importantly, we need to stay healthy. As Dr. Rakesh Shrivastava, MD, Cardiology from USA in his article, ‘How does your work affect your health’, tries to convey with facts and logic. He writes, “Creating a healthy workplace is in the best economic interests of any organisation.” The article is included in this journal, which is essentially a compendium of some interesting snippets and write-ups, including excerpts of discussions and deliberations that took place at the conclave.
Let’s join hands to stand up and speak up in a constructive way. Let’s play with a straight bat. That’s what we want to do. And that’s why we created “Straight Drive.” The game has just begun.
We wish you a happy reading.
Warm regards,
Mukund Trivedy
Founder, Straight Drive
4 5
the happY Workplace conlave
A full house at the inaugural edition of HyWe, the HappY
Workplace conclavE only reinforces the significance of
the topic. More than 150 delegates from various leading
national and multinational companies including start-ups
and academia attended the conclave that was held at
Hotel Pride Plaza in Aerocity near New Delhi International
Airport on 23 February 2018. Another redeeming
feature of the conclave was that the participants were a
heterogeneous group comprising working professionals
from across the industry, functions and hierarchies. They
all congregated to seek only one thing – how to create
happiness at workplace? It was not a question of whether
to do it or not but how to do it.
A day long schedule divided into a mix of keynote address
and panel discussions, the conclave sought to discuss and
discover a holistic view of creating happiness at workplace
covering as many aspects as possible. Kicking off the
style explained how some moronic bosses in the corporate
world derived happiness by making their subordinates
unhappy. He emphasised, “Happiness ensues and
it cannot be pursued.” Dr. Chatterjee referred to the
flawed mental models as the real bottlenecks, “Most
organisations are essentially designed to perpetuate the
pursuit of impossible.” Providing a genesis of creating
happiness at workplace, he suggested, “Organisations
need to create necessary structures and infrastructures
which allow people to be cool, calm and comfortable at
their respective workplaces.”
The panel session which essentially comprised Founders
and CEOs, elicited some interesting perspectives on
what happiness meant and why it mattered. Kartik
Bharat Ram, Dy Managing Director, SRF, set the ball
Happy Conclaverolling by announcing that his company measured and
monitored happiness index of employees on a monthly
basis. He also attempted defining the happiness for his
organisation, “We sincerely believe that employees are
happier if they are clear about their roles, responsibilities
and accountabilities.” But the key to happiness according
to Kartik lies in recruiting people who fit the DNA of
the organisation. He supported the argument with an
assertion, “We try to create a genome in terms of what is
an ideal employee for our organisation.”
Describing his organiaton’s framework of a happy
workplace, Nitin Razdan, Partner, Deloitte Consulting,
India referred to Meaningful Work, Supportive
Management, Positive Work Environment, Growth
happy conclave
The event did full justice to the name of organisation, Straight
Drive. The discussions and deliberations emanated straight from
the heart. It was a conclave with a difference where emotions took
precedence over eloquence.
event, Padma Shri Dr. S.C. Manchanda, the renowned
Cardiologist who is a former Head of Cardiology at AIIMS
and is currently associated with Ganga Ram Hospital in
Delhi, highlighted the need to inculcate a healthy lifestyle
to create a happy workplace. He cited several medical
reports and data to show how stress at work was causing
lifestyle diseases. Referring to happiness as the attitude of
mind, Dr. Manchanda said, “Workplace becomes a hell if
you do not enjoy and relax at your work.” His prescription
for a healthy mind includes, Healthy Diet, Stress Control,
Regular Exercise and Tobacco Cessation. The session was
moderated by Palash Jain, Ex Googler and Management
Consultant who also shared his personal experience of
coming to terms with personal tragedy and deciding to
move on with life with full energy and enthusiasm.
Dr. Debashis Chatterjee, Director General, IMI, New
Delhi, had the audience in splits when he in his inimitable
Dr. Debashis Chatterjee, Director General, IMI, New Delhi
Nitin Razdan, Partner, Deloitte Consulting, India
Kartik Bharat Ram, Dy Managing Director, SRF
Opportunities, and Trust & Leadership as the five key
tenets of an Irresistible Organisation. According to Adam
Cox, an independent Management Consultant from
UK, happiness would mean different things to different
people and it would be different for the same people at
different stages of their life and career. Referring to the
organisation culture as the real bedrock of happiness,
Adam said, “The culture of an organisation is best defined
as the employees’ perception of the last visible internal
promotion.” When interpreted, it meant, “What gets
rewarded gets reinforced.” He reiterated, “Leaders must
say what they mean and mean what they say.”
From what the CEOs and Founders discussed, it was clear
that providing customised and flexible policies to different
generations of workforce, striking work life balance with
24X 7 always on work culture, working across different
geographies and time-zones, and offering a choice to the
Padma Shri Dr. S. C. Manchanda delivering the keynote addressPadma Shri Dr. S. C. Manchanda delivering the keynote address
Session on Happy Ours:
6 7
the happY Workplace conlave happy conclave
employees for everything from job to policies to postings,
are the key challenges that today’s organistions are
grappling with.
Highlighting the key outcomes of his organisation’s
recently published report on Best Places to Work, Pankaj
Bansal, Founder and CEO, PeopleStrong, said, “Most
admired companies are not necessarily the best places
to work.” His rationale was that people now didn’t view
jobs and organisations synonymously. Quoting from the
report he further added, “People perceive an organisation
as the best place to work if it is inclusive and fair, if it
doesn’t have huge hierarchies, and if it gives them an
opportunity to innovate.” Pankaj also provided his own
take on creating happiness at workplace, “I feel happiness
is a western concept. Traditionally in the Indian context,
we have always strived for contentment and happiness is
only an outcome.” Pankaj also brought attention to the
scientists’ view of decoding happiness which essentially
entailed about achieving a balance between the four key
requirements namely 1) Personal Health 2) Professional
Achievement, 3) Social Relationships, and 4) Giving to
Others. The session was ably moderated by Sanjeeva
Shivesh, Founder and CEO, The Entrepreneurship School.
The conclave also witnessed some interesting discussions
on the concept of Happiness Inventory by Dr. Yogesh
Pahuja, Founder of Happiness Studio and author of ‘Are
you Happy@Work’ and ‘Using Science and Philosophy
to create Happier Workplaces’ by Jennifer Hancock,
Founder of Humanist Learning System from USA. Other
sessions included deliberations on the practical challenges
and opportunities of building happiness quotient at
workplaces by HR Heads of different organisations. The
speakers in this session included Ajay Chowdhury,
President & CHRO, SRF, Jaspreet Kaur, Head (HR), M3M,
Masroor Lodi, C0-Founder of The Entrepreneurship
School and Pravash Pandey, Group General Manager
(HR), Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RINL).
The conclave concluded with the sharing of best practices
of creating happiness at workplaces. The panelists
included P Dwarakanath, Head - Group Human
Capital, Max India, Deepa Dey, Head Communications,
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare, Shravani
Dang, VP and Global Group Head - Corporate
Communications and Marketing, Avantha Group,
Lipika Verma, Director - Rewards, Schneider Electric,
and Shweta Kothari, Journalist and Communication
Consultant.
Earlier, Mukund Trivedy, Founder, Straight Drive while
welcoming the speakers and delegates set the context
with an emotional appeal that was interspersed with his
personal experience of how negativity and toxicity in the
organisation he worked earlier created an uncertainty in
the minds of employees. This, he said, adversely impacted
the health and happiness of individuals and family
members. The conclave he said was aimed at creating an
awareness about the need to harness the power of pride
and purpose to boost performance of the organisation.
Adam Cox, independent Management Consultant, UK Pankaj Bansal, Founder and CEO, PeopleStrong
“The Happy Workplace Conclave served as an exciting platform for corporate thought leaders
to come together and discuss the ever-so-urgent need to move away from traditional lead
performance measures like employee engagement towards creating happier workplaces. It was
exciting to hear experts from divergent fields – medical practitioners and academicians – share
their views on the subject. My best wishes to Mukund and the team behind HyWy, and look
forward other similar initiatives from them.
Anurag Anand
General Manager, Coca Cola
Taking up happiness as a
purpose is chosen by very
few people. It was a pleasure
to be a part of the Hywe
conclave. Kudos to Mukund
who brought together so
many beautiful minds for a
common purpose of creating
happiness@workplace.
Jagisha Upadhyay
Chief Happiness Officer,
Simplifit
This was a path breaking
conclave on the important
subject of happiness at
workplace. The wide variety
of knowledgeable speakers
from academia, industry
and consulting organisations
gave a holistic perspective
on the subject. We left with
an appreciation for the
impact happiness has on
the workplace with some
actionable insights. A very
good conference, sequel of
which is keenly awaited. All
the best.
Sanjay Rao
Group CIO, SRF Limited
This was indeed a conclave
with a difference. What
I liked was that almost
everyone spoke from their
heart and hence the subject
connected with us at the
emotional level.
Prof Radha Sharma
MDI, Gurgaon
“Testimonials
I think the conclave
was well designed and
executed with some
excellent speakers. More
importantly, the conclave
succeeded in seeding the
thought that happiness at
workplace matters. I am
sure the campaign will catch
momentum.
Sandeep Kochhar
Storyteller & Founder,
BlewMinds
8 9
the happY Workplace conlave
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happiness@workplace
Happiness@WorkplaceA dipstick survey of Indian Organisations in 2018
SANJEEVA SHIVESH
Founder, The Entrepreneurship School
Modern management literature is now flooded with
research and articles on happiness and its importance
at workplace. Several research studies have shown that
happy employees have higher innovation disposition,
higher productivity – hours given and profits generated,
fewer sick days, better appraisal ratings and overall better
incomes.
The concept of happiness is in existence ever since
mankind flourished. In Vedic texts, Ananda which
is happiness in English, signifies eternal bliss which
accompanies the ending of the rebirth cycle. For the
ancient Greeks, happiness meant virtue. For the Romans,
it implied prosperity and divine favor.
Darrin M McMohan in his book, Happiness – A History,
writes, “Throughout history, happiness has been equated
regularly with the highest human calling, the most
perfect human state. Yet it’s only within the past two
hundred years that human beings have begun to think of
happiness as not just an earthly possibility but also as an
earthly entitlement, even an obligation.”
So, when Straight Drive approached us to find the state of
happiness in Indian organisations, we pondered, what is
the meaning of “happiness at workplace”.
• Is ‘Ananda’ permanent or transient? Why is
an employee sometimes in a better mood and
sometimes not? How long can a person be happy?
• Why are some people at work happier or unhappier
than others?
• If a person has natual happier persona, does that
translate into a happy department or a happy
workplace?
• Conversely, if a group is happy does that mean that
individuals in that group are also happy?
• Are “engaged” employees more happier that others?
• Is happiness same as job satisfaction, employee well-
being and several new constructs that have come up.
Soon we realised the enormity of the task. There are
several instances of unpleasant incidences at workplace
leading to anxiety, tension and stress. People experience,
both positive emotions and negative emotions at
workplace, which clearly are not captured in job
description.
Survey Design and AdministrationSo, what causes happiness in general and happiness at
work, specifically?
There are reasons to believe that happiness comes from
within i.e. the state of mind of the individual, from outside
i.e. the external environment and the interaction between
the two. At organisational level, happiness attributes come
10 11
the happY Workplace conlave
from culture and business practices.
The most important constituent of
organisational culture is people.
People build the culture of any
organisation. These are colleagues,
bosses, leaders, customers, suppliers
and larger stakeholders.
In a seminal research “Who is
Happy”, D.G Myers and E. Diener
defined, happiness as “An experience
of frequent positive affect, infrequent
negative affect and an overall sense
of satisfaction with life as a whole”.
While, the survey design for Straight
Drive was intuitive, consciously we
avoided long questionnaire, as we
have doubts about applicability of
long surveys in organisations.
In the survey design, we adopted twin-
pronged approach to understanding
happiness, elaborated below:
a. The first approach asked
respondents to rank six
independent factors that affected
workplace happiness. These six
factors were identified through a
focused group discussion of six
senior professionals coming from
human resource management
side.
b. In order to build and test a
model for workplace happiness,
in the second part of the
survey instrument, individual
respondents were asked to agree
or disagree with six statements on
5 point Likert scale.
In another question, the respondents
were asked declared their current
state of happiness at work and their
current state of happiness in life.
The language of survey was English.
For the reasons of conducting the
survey expeditiously, we chose the
online route of survey administration and were distributed to 800+ randomly
chosen people from whom we received 146 complete responses.
The summarised profile of respondents is as below:
• Male: Female split is 75:25
• Age profile: 21.9% in their 20s, 34.2% in their 30s, 34.2% in their 40s
and 9.6% in their 50s.
• Economic sector coverage of respondents: 19.2% from government,
20.1% from private sector, 26% from multi-national corporations, 27.4%
from MSME and startups and 5.5% from not-for profit sector
• Seniority: 31.5% respondents worked in top management, 28.8% in
middle management, 26% in junior management and only 13.7% from
worker category
This also means that a large section of working population, who did not
have access to Internet or smartphone and was not proficient in english, has
been ignored. This is reflected in lower share of workers in this survey. These
limitations can have implications on the overall findings of this survey.
Factors associated with workplace happiness
The survey asked respondents to rank following factors in order of importance:
• Good relationship with people at workplace
• Autonomy to make decisions with respect to work in hand
• Assurance of Good Career
• Being Respected at workplace
• Getting well paid
• The Boss
Factors that affect Workplace Happiness
Higher Score implies higher importance (Graph - 1)
happy conclave
The State of Happiness in Life and at Work
(Graph - 2)
The State of Happiness at Work
(Sector wise - per cent employees who are happy, Graph - 3)
From the Graph-1, it can be seen that employees perceive
‘Good relationship with people’ is the most important
factor that affects workplace happiness.
Being respected is the second most important factor and
autonomy to make decisions is the third most important
factor that affects workplace happiness. As a matter of
fact, getting paid well and assurance of good career
is least important factors. This may appear peculiar,
however, we consider this as a fair assessment, given most
people consider good salary and career as a ‘must have’
feature in the context of jobs.
Causal Relationship To understand the causative factors linking into workplace
happiness, the survey asked respondents to declare the
level of workplace happiness and overall life happiness,
which was then correlated with six questions relating to
social bonds at work, importance assigned to job, being
respected by colleagues, treated well by the boss and the
belief whether happiness leading to good performance or
good performance leading to happiness.
Key FindingsThe good news is that more people have stated that
they are happy in life and at workplace (Graph – 2).
A point to note here is, more people are unhappy at
work as compared to life, indicating role of cultural and
environmental factors.
From this graph, we can also interpret that happiness in
life and happiness at workplace have good degree of
correlation.
There are three interesting high level data-cuts. These are sector wise, responsibility wise and age-wise results for
happiness at workplace.
The big news is people in government and public sector are most happy at their workplace as compared to other
sectors and people working in not-for-profit sector are least happy (Graph – 4). Another point to note is that people
working in MSMEs & Startups are happier than Large Private Companies. We believe that this spike is because of more
respondents are from startups than from MSMEs.
happiness@workplace
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the happY Workplace conlave
The State of Happiness at Work
(Responsibility wise - per cent employees who are happy, Graph - 4)
The State of Happiness at Work
(Age wise - per cent employees who are happy, Graph - 5)
Happiness vs Unhappiness at Work
(Graph - 6)
From this graph, we get another
insight - employees at ground level
face most unhappiness and senior
management are the happiest. The
age group-wise break down of is at
Graph - 5.
On the whole, employees become
happier at work with the passage of
time and age. However, Yet people
in age group of 30 to 40, are most
unhappy.
While a part of this could be
attributed to life factors, such as
family and children responsibilities,
30s is also an “adolescent period
of working life” where person feels
pressure to prove himself / herself at
work, expect of greater respect from
peers and bosses. This is a vulnerable
period, where heightened awareness
and a nurturing environment could
address the vulnerabilities of an
employee.
Analysis of Happiness Factors at WorkIn a comparative analysis of factors
that differentiate people who are
happy at work with people who are
unhappy at work (Graph – 6), we
find a few points worth attention and
further discussion. These are:
• People who are happy at work
are happier in life (71% more)
• Happier employees experience
greater social bonding (70%
more than unhappy people),
sense greater peer respect (63%
more) and are treated well by
their bosses (59%)
• For happiness at work, assigning
higher importance to work is not
a differentiating factor between
happy and unhappy employees
• Overall, happy employees experience 300% higher positive emotions at
work in comparison to employees who are unhappy
happy conclave happiness@workplace
The Golden EquationWe conducted a regression analysis of this data set,
where “degree of happiness at work” was taken as
a dependent variable. Social bonding, importance
assigned to job, getting respected by peers,
treatment by boss and general level of happiness
in life are independent variables.
The coefficient of regression (R-square) for this
model is 0.58, which makes a case for fair
acceptance of the mode. The workplace happiness
equation is:
WH = -0.18 + 63%* Life Happiness + 34.3%*
Social bonding
+ 12%* Peer Respect + 6%* Boss Treatment
– 9.3%* Importance assigned to Work
Implications for Managers.
Sure enough, our findings offer a few implications
for managers, when it comes to crafting strategies
to increase workplace happiness. These are as
follows:
1. The most important aspect of happiness at
work is general optimism and positive attitude
in life, ‘ nanda’ that is intrinsic to a person.
2. The second most important factor is social
bonding at workplace. Employees who get
better social networks and affiliations at
workplace are happier. Managers must work
to enhance the social bonds at workplace.
Social awareness and environments can be
developed to increase the desire of employees
to be wanted at workplace.Implications for
Managers
3. Peer respect also contributes to workplace
happiness. This is a tricky domain. There is
a famous saying, “Respect must be earned.”
Respect at workplace comes from various
things – quality of work, consistency of meeting
commitments, helpfulness and general degree
of image building. Coaching your employees
in these dimensions could work.
4. Bosses’ behavior can be source of unhappiness.
Bosses, who treat their staff well, also keep them
happy. It is a well-known fact that “Employees don’t
quit organizations. They quit bosses.” Therefore,
managers must be coached to treat employees well,
always.
5. The model has thrown a negative factor i.e.
Importance assigned to work is a source of
unhappiness. While this may appear bizarre, our
hypothesis is expectation to achievement gap. While,
organisations like to assign greater importance to
work, when people start attaching too much value to
their work, it could become a source of stress.
SummaryAs discussed, happiness is a complex construct; therefore
it must be examined from different perspectives.
However, given the soundness of business case of
improving happiness at work, it is an important goal for
management. Our quick survey, with its limitations of
diversity and volume of respondents, has thrown some
actionable insights, which can be rapidly employed by
managers.
Comments are welcome. The author can be reached at
14 15
the happY Workplace conlave happiness@workplace
Happy Encounters Happy Encounters
16 17
the happY Workplace conlave
Happy LifestyleLifestyle and Happiness
PADMA SHRI DR. S. C. MANCHANDA
Sr Consultant, Cardiologist, Sir Ganga
Ram Hospital and Former Head,
Department of Cardiology, AIIMS
At the outset, I must congratulate the Straight Drive team
for oraganising the conclave on happiness at workplace.
My limited objection to the topic is that why should we talk
about happiness at work only. After all, we spend only 8
to 10 hours a day at our workplace. We should remain
happy at home as well.
My patients from the corporate world very often complain
about stress at work. Some go to the extent of describing
their workplace as ‘hell.’ Many say, “I will be very happy
the day I retire.”
It’s indeed a matter of serious concern. I am 78 now and I
still enjoy my work. The reason I never get tired is because
I enjoy my work and this helps me relax. The worry is that
very few people enjoy their work.
Following a healthy lifestyle is the key to happiness.
Lifestyle is closely related to health and health is related
to happiness. Unfortunately, people have wrong notions
about lifestyle. For some wearing a branded shirt is a
lifestyle and for others going to big parties is a lifestyle.
Research has shown that around 60% of the people in the
world are dying because of lifestyle diseases.
In my view, a healthy lifestyle is all about committing to
four major habits namely Healthy diet, Stress control,
Regular exercise and Tobacco cessation. Believe me, if you
follow the regime, you would not require a cardiologist.
Not many understand this concept in totality. People tend
to equate health with physical health. A person can be
called healthy only if he or she is physically,
mentally and spiritually healthy.
I, therefore, urge you all to follow some practical lifestyle
related habits:
• Sleep well, eat well and laugh well
• Eat lots of fruits (these are anti-oxidants)
• Avoid too much of salt and fried food
• Be mindful of not only what you are eating, but also of
• what is eating you
• Remain cool and calm while eating
• Use stairs in office
• Prepare your mind to say yes to exercise, everyday
• Stop smoking and chewing tobacco
• Reduce alcohol consumption
• Do meditation
• Think positive
I am sure that if we adopt a healthy lifestyle, we will all be
happy. And if that happens, we doctors won’t be needed at all.
(Excerpts taken from the keynote address of Padma Shri Dr.
S.C. Manchanda, Senior Consultant Cardiologist, Sir Ganga
Ram Hospital and Former Head, Department of Cardiology,
AIIMS. One can watch the complete video of the keynote
address on www.straightdrive.net.in)
happy conclave
#PRAXIS7
RA CISC 2018
Presents
@PRAXISInd
Public Relations and CorporateCommunications India Summit
Hyderabad International Convention Centre
28 - 30 Sep 2018
The Essence of Storytelling
www.praxisonline.in
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the happY Workplace conlave
20 21
the happY Workplace conlave
Happy Spotlight Using Science & Philosophy to Create Happier Workplaces
JENNIFER HANCOCK
Founder, Humanist Learning Systems
The prescription for happiness is so universal and so simple
that even a child can articulate it. When I was eleven I wrote
this motto for myself: Live life fully, love other people and leave
the world a better place. Every major religion and philosopher
throughout history has taught basically the same thing because
this prescription works.
I am a Humanist and I apply my philosophy to all areas of
life, including business. The cool thing about what I teach is
my philosophy is fed by science and science, validates the
philosophy.
Happiness is a difficult metric to measure because it means
different things to different people. I take a utilitarian approach.
To me, happiness occurs when my stress levels are low and I feel
“in control.”
In the workplace this means I feel happy when I feel respected,
when the work that I do matters, and when problem solving is fun
– not frustrating – meaning we solve problems collaboratively in
the best interest of the company and our customers.
Respect, mattering and problem solving are intertwined and
combined. They align with our prescription for happiness, loving
other people and leaving the world a better place. And all rely on
a combination of philosophy and science to implement!
This prescription for workplace happiness isn’t simply a feel
good buzzword. It directly impacts the quality of the work being
done and constitutes a moral and pragmatic imperative for the
workplace.
I realise a lot of people are in business just to make money and
happiness is an afterthought. But last I checked, no one is going
to give you money just because you asked for it. Most people will
only give you money if you solve their problems well.
All businesses are in the business of solving problems. If you
aren’t solving problems, you aren’t in business. The businesses
that do the best help their customers solve a problem in a way
that a) works and b) is cost effective.
Our business objective should be the making of good decisions.
To that end, we need a philosophic tweak to how we think about
our businesses and our jobs. The goal? Making the world a better
place by helping people solve their problems.
A work group can’t solve problems well unless they respect
each other and have a shared set of values that helps them
collaboratively judge what a good solution is. It helps if they all
understand why getting the solution right matters so they are
motivated to find good solutions to your customer’s problems.
The purpose of creating happier workplace cultures is so problem
solving is truly collaborative and everyone’s input is respected. To
find good solutions to our problems, we must create workplaces
where everyone is respected and the group is cohesive and not
divisive.
The reason it is hard to create cohesive work groups is because
we humans are instinctually tribal and divisive. To overcome this,
we have to take practical steps to overcome our tribal brain.
The best way to do that is to encourage people to think more
humanistically and less tribally.
happy conclave
Philosophy encourages us to respect other people. Science not
only validates the need for respect, it helps us create workplace
cultures were respect is the norm. It turns out the best way to do
that is through philosophic training that reinforces respect as a
primary value.
There is a reason why most of the business schools around the
world are starting to teach humanistic management. Humanism,
as a philosophy, helps us prioritize human value as important.
This, in turn, is validated by the science, which almost always
reinforces taking a humanistic approach to problem solving.
In fact, we often can’t implement a solution that actually works
unless we take a humanistic approach.
For example: let’s consider the problem of bullying and
harassment in the workplace. We need to tackle the problem of
bullying, because if we don’t we won’t have respectful workplaces
and that has negative cascading effects on not only the general
levels of happiness in the workplace, but the work itself and
problem solving specifically.
Our ideal is respectful collaborative problem solving. Realistically
businesses usually solve problems based on who is the loudest,
who is the biggest bully, people’s insecurities and more. It is time
we recognize that bullying management is bad management and
stop rewarding it.
Stopping harassment and bullying is both a moral and a practical
good. To solve this problem, we need science because we need
practical solutions. The good news is we have seven plus decades
of research on how to stop unwanted behavior, like bullying.
If we pay attention to the science we know what we need to do
to get bullying to stop. We have to stop rewarding it and start
rewarding the behavior we do want. To do that effectively, we
need to be more compassionate.
People don’t do this because it seems counterintuitive, but it’s
true. Treating a bully with respect and compassion allows us to
behaviorally train them to stop. In fact, it’s probably impossible
to stop bullying if you don’t approach it humanistically. Seven
decades of behavioral science validates this.
This brings us full circle. Humanistic philosophy makes us want
to stop bullying, science tells us how to get it to stop. Applying a
humanistic mindset helps us to actually do it.
Humanistic philosophy AND science allows us to do what is right
and what will work in a way that is professional, compassionate,
ethical and effective.
We need to be more strategic in our problem solving and really
take the time to view the research on what works and what
doesn’t. And this applies to everything! All aspects of life.
Humanistic philosophy drives us to want to solve our problems in
an ethical, compassionate, responsible way. Science tells us how
best to solve it and it turns out that science keeps validating the
humanistic approach.
Creating workplaces where people are respected, the work
matters and the problem solving is done well requires us to
combine both ethical humanistic philosophy with applied science
to get solutions that actually work.
This approach helps us to live life fully, love other people and
leave the world a better place in our business and personal life.
Imagine the positive impact we can have if we succeed in creating
truly happy workplaces that make a positive difference in our
communities.
Jennifer is also the author of several award winning books.
(https://humanistlearning.com)
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the happY Workplace conlave
Regd. Office: Larsen & Toubro Limited, L&T House, N. M. Marg, Ballard Estate, Mumbai - 400 001, INDIA CIN: L99999MH1946PLC004768
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Pursuing Dreams Partnering Growth
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8
Happy & Healthy How does your work affect your health?
DR. RAKESH SHRIVASTAVA
MD, Cardiology, USA
In the past few years, researchers have scrutinized how
workers’ health has a direct bearing on productivity, but
research on the flip side of the issue remains largely
unrecognized: How do work environments affect workers’
health?
One study based on the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention
Trial showed men who skipped their annual vacation were
more likely to die from coronary heart disease than were
couch potatoes or smokers who do get away for a little
annual rest and relaxation.
Health affects workTo make a case for change, human resources managers
must establish two points: that corporate culture affects
worker health and that diminished worker health directly
affects corporate expenses.
A Health Enhancement Research Organization study
showed that smoking, stress, exercise and body weight
together affect 20 percent of a company’s overall
medical costs. Another study showed the cumulative
cost of smoking in terms of sick days, time lost to smoke
breaks, added cleaning costs, increased property loss and
burn damage, and employer- paid insurance premiums
exceeded $7,000 for a smoker, compared to less than
$2,000 for a nonsmoker. Employees with good health
habits or only one health-risk habit cost employers
4.1 hours per week in reduced productivity, short-term
disability and sick time. Costs for those with three or more
risks jumped to 5.6 hours per week. That 1.5 hour-per-
week difference translates to eight lost days per year, per
person.
Beyond poor health habits, of course, there is a whole
range of medical conditions - allergies, migraine
headaches and depression - that impair productivity,
as can failure to take prescribed medicines for these
conditions. Once medical spending, absenteeism,
impaired performance and disability are added together,
poor health is a business challenge with major financial
consequences.
Work affects healthEnvironmental factors have a profound effect on health.
Poor air quality can affect the respiratory system.
An ergonomically flawed workstation can affect the
musculoskeletal system. Can there be any doubt that the
culture of the place where a person spends 40 to 50 hours
a week can likewise affect his or her health?
When the boss schedules a 7 a.m. breakfast meeting or the
technician grabs a bag of chips and works through lunch,
these work decisions impact health. Every day at 7 p.m., when
the salesman foregoes a trip to the gym to return a few more
calls, small but important trade-offs are made. Whether it’s
sleep, food, time with their families or exercise, workers forsake
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the happY Workplace conlave
something when they spend extra time at work. These trade- offs
may superficially benefit the business in the short run, but in the
long term they can start to cause problems.
Many argue the extra hours are needed to get the job done. Are
they? Anyone who ever pulled an all-nighter for a final exam
understands the law of diminishing returns. When does the
physical and psychological toll outweigh the productivity gain of
another hour in the office? We don’t know.
No one has identified the point where productivity plummets and
work becomes a health hazard, which is exactly the type of data
HR professionals need to make a case for changing the culture of
a workplace.
Let’s think about what gives when work doesn’t. Sleep is an
obvious loser and one with clinically demonstrated ramifications.
Even moderate sleep deprivation can cause mood disruptions,
irritability, low motivation and slowed response. Shift workers
are particularly vulnerable; between 5 and 20 percent suffer
from Shift Maladaption Syndrome, which can result in sleep
disturbances, gastrointestinal problems, depression, personality
changes and decreased interpersonal skills. To cope with those
problems, sufferers are more likely to self-medicate with alcohol
or drugs.
Sleep isn’t all that suffers. Family relationships deteriorate,
as does the sense of well-being associated with a socially,
emotionally, spiritually, physically and intellectually balanced life.
The negative effects of work are particularly acute for employees
in high-strain jobs with little control over their workdays. A study
of 21,000 nurses in high-demand, low-control jobs found that
over a four- year period their health declined more than would
be expected if they were smokers or led sedentary lives. After
adjusting for age, body mass, smoking, exercise, chronic disease,
education, isolation, marital status and virtually every other
conceivable factor, the group still ranked considerably lower in
physical functioning, vitality and mental health than did those
in medium- and low-strain jobs. In other words, independent of
what employees did individually, the organizational structure of
their workplace affected their health.
About 10 percent of people in high-demand, high-control jobs
exhibit symptoms of depression. That figure balloons to 57
percent for workers in high-demand, low-control jobs. Likewise,
for cardiovascular symptoms, such as chest pain and shortness
of breath: 3 percent of those in high-demand, high-control jobs
complained of such symptoms, compared to 20 percent in high-
demand, low-control positions.
Add a bad manager to the high-demand, low-control mix,
and the situation becomes even more toxic. Employees who
received little social support while working high-strain jobs were
considerably more likely to suffer from depression than were
those who had support on the job.
Intervention: An incomplete solutionTo a growing number of employers, none of this is news. They
have responded with stress interventions. They sponsor on-site
aerobics and yoga classes. They subsidize memberships to local
fitness clubs. They have employee assistance programs and may
even spring for on-site massages.
Such individually targeted interventions fall far short of the mark,
however, if the problem is systemic. If the workplace causes
the stress, sleepless nights, jangled nerves, heart attacks and
depression, then all the fitness programs add up to little more
than a heap of dumbbells. For systemic problems, nothing short
of a corporate cultural revolution will suffice.
In response to employee complaints and high turnover, most
companies have introduced alternative work schedules. One
survey found 83 percent offer part-time work options, 39 percent
have flextime, 30 percent allow telecommuting and 39 percent
say they have job sharing.
The case for change?Any hope of addressing work-related health problems must
demonstrate that change is in the company’s best economic
interests. Even with incontrovertible evidence that work can
negatively impact health, businesses won’t change their norms
unless someone shows them their practices cause them to lose
good people or result in lower output.
(Adapted from: Shelly Reese. Health affects work, and work
affects health. Business and Health 2002;1)
happiness@workplace
www.jsw.in/energy
We at JSW Energy believe that no dream is impossible. With each new day, we aim for a better version of ourselves.That’s what makes us as one of the top private sector power companies in India with a current generation capacity of 4.5GW.
We are a consistent dividend paying company since listing in 2009-10. We are known for setting up plants at low capital costs with maximum operational efficiencies. We are also well placed in terms of a high and increasing proportion of long-term contracts, diversified fuel mix, and a robust balance sheet.
JSW Energy has ambitious growth plans and set to enter the exciting new businesses of Electrical Vehicles (EV) and Renewable Energy (RE). In fact, in the RE space, we are already establishing a strong presence with the ongoing implementation of off-grid solar power solutions.
Together, we prepare for a future-ready tomorrow and Better Everyday.
Energising India’s Future.
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the happY Workplace conlave
Happy PursuitChoose Happiness. Be Profitable
“Happiness is reality minus expectations”. It is only recently
that people have started identifying happiness as a key factor
for the well being of an individual as well as an organisation.
Sure enough, there is enough research data available today
to establish a positive correlation between the happiness of an
employee and productivity.
Happiness is a ChoiceMany of us actively choose to hold on to the ‘negative
stimuli’ in our lives. Worse, we tend to keep harping
over problems instead of moving on. It’s only when we
choose to be happy we learn that happiness is as basic
as drinking water or breathing. So start thinking of joy as
a resource to be watched over and cultivated as much as
our bank balance.
Quick tip: Start each morning by saying, “I choose to be
happy.” And kick it off with a smile. Research has shown
even a fake grin improves our mood.
3D Model of HappinessFamily and social support systems can help us navigate
the maze that is life. Factors like supportive family, our
spouse, cooperation from friends, freedom for work and
a positive environment has a direct impact on our job
performance and happiness at our workplace. 3D Model
of Happiness states that there are 164 factors responsible
for an employee’s happiness at workplace.
QUICK 5 TIPS1. Have a friend at work
It always helps an employee to sail through and survive when he/she has
a sounding board and a reliable buddy, philosopher,and guide at work.
One survey found work friendships boost employee satisfaction by a
whopping 50 percent!
2. Build pride in what you do
It’s easier said than done. Each and every work is important if you believe
it to be. Ask yourself what your work means to other people. If you show
and build respect for your work, others will also do the same.
3. Take (and make) opportunities to do what you can do the best
That’s how you get a chance to demonstrate your skills and gain
recognition for your work. Say yes to opportunities or make them for
yourself, even if it’s setting up a weekly after-work dining group.
4. Don’t think about only money
It is interesting to note that for employees, personal financial gain comes
way down the list of happiness indicators in our research. Opportunities
for growth and work-life balance are also important, so sort those out
before you go chasing a bigger paycheck.
5. Accept challenges Every day brings pressures, tasks and deadlines.
Accept them as part of your job. And if you fail, flip your view and accept
it as something positive — think: “I haven’t failed; I’ve found a chance to
learn.”
Question Time Sometimes you need to sit back, relax and ask yourself: what am I
running for and am I doing justice to my family and myself? ‘Nail
down contentment’ and it just might help you climb the career ladder.
happy conclave
DR. YOGESH PAHUJA
Founder & MD, Happiness Studio; Author, ‘Are You Happy @ work?’
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the happY Workplace conlave happiness@workplace
Happy Hours
Rupa Tiwari, a classical singer of repute reciting the Param Brahma Shloka Lipika Verma, Director -Rewards, Schneider Electric
Vishwapriya Kochhar, Co-Founder & Managing Director of BlewMinds
Deepa Dey, Head Communications, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare
Mukund Trivedy, Founder, Straight Drive, introducing the topic
(L to R) Sanjeeva Shivesh, Founder, The Entureprenership School, Nitin Razdan, Partner, Deloitte India, Adam Cox, Former ED,CEB , Kartik Bharat Ram, Dy MD, SRF
and Pankaj Bansal, Founder, PeopleStrong
Shravani Dang, VP and Global Group Head - Corporate Communications and Marketing, Avantha Group
Prachi Kaushal, the Padwoman receiving the cheque from Dr. Debashis Chatterjee. Straight Drive donated some amount from its proceeds of its very first event, HyWe to Vyomini, a social organisation that works in the field of providing low cost biodegradable and high quality sanitary pads to underprivileged women.
happiness@workplace
Happy Hours
Pravash Pandey, Group GM (HR),RVNL Jaspreet Khurana, Head (HR) M3M
P Dwarakanath, Head - Group Human Capital, Max India
Palash Jain, Ex Googler and Practical Workshops Director Benz Thomas, the anchor
Celebration Time at the Valedictory Session
Manika Sharma, Director, The Shri Ram Schools
Ajay Chowdhury, President & CHRO, SRF
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the happY Workplace conlave
Happy TrendsBenefits of Happiness
It’s clear and supported by research that happy people work
together better.
Benefits to your employees • Learn to work in teams
• Increase leadership skills
• Enhance problem-solving
• Improve positive emotional contagion
• Reduce health care cots
Benefits to your company • Increase productivity
• Inspire creativity
• Ease of change
• Improve customer service
• Reduce sick day costs
• Create a better place to work
Source: “HAPPINESS AT WORK” Survey by Julie Ann
Sullivan
The five ways to well-beingThe five ways to well-being are a set of positive actions that
have been developed to help people get started on their way
to a happier life. While we all have different circumstances and
different likes and dislikes, these five ways are broad enough for
you to find your own style of happiness. Try them out at work and
in your daily life. See how well they work for you and tell us how
you get on…
Connect… With the people around you. With family, friends, colleagues and
neighbours. At home, work, school or in your local community.
Think of these as the cornerstones of your life and invest time in
developing them. Building these connections will support and
enrich you every day.
Be active… Go for a walk or run. Step outside. Cycle. Play a game. Garden.
Dance. Exercising makes you feel good. Most importantly,
discover a physical activity you enjoy and that suits your level of
mobility and fitness.
Take notice…
Be curious. Catch sight of the beautiful. Remark on the unusual.
Notice the changing seasons. Savour the moment, whether you
are walking to work, eating lunch or talking to friends. Be aware
of the world around you and what you are feeling. Reflecting on
your experiences will help you appreciate what matters to you.
Keep learning…
Try something new. Rediscover an old interest. Sign up for that
course. Take on a different responsibility at work. Fix a bike.
Learn to play an instrument or how to cook your favourite food.
Set a challenge you will enjoy achieving. Learning new things will
make you more confident as well as being fun.
Give…
Do something nice for a friend, or a stranger. Thank someone.
Smile. Volunteer your time. Join a community group. Look out,
as well as in. Seeing yourself, and your happiness, linked to
the wider community can be incredibly rewarding and creates
connections with the people around you.
Source: Developed by the centre for well-being at nef (the new economics
foundation) as part of the UK Government’s Foresight project on
Wellbeing.
happy conclave happiness@workplace
It’s clear and supported by research that happy people work together better.
Benefits to your employees • Learn to work in teams
• Increase leadership skills
• Enhance problem-solving
• Improve positive emotional contagion
• Reduce health care cots
Benefits to your company • Increase productivity
• Inspire creativity
• Ease of change
• Improve customer service
• Reduce sick day costs
• Create a better place to work
Source: “HAPPINESS AT WORK” Survey by Julie Ann Sullivan
Greater Sales
37%Increased Engagement
10 timesIncreased Creativity
3 timesMore Productive
31%
Fewer Fatigue Systems
23%
More Likely to Receive a Promotion
40%
Likely to Live Longer
39%
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the happY Workplace conlave happy conclave
Happiness AmbassadorsHappiness AdvantageThe mistake we make
When we encounter an unexpected challenge or threat, the only
way to save ourselves is to hold on tight to the people around us
and not let go.
In the midst of challenges and stress at work, nothing is more
crucial to our success than holding on to the people around us.
Yet when the alarm bells at work go off, all too often we become
blind to this reality and try to go it alone; and as a result we end
up circling helplessly at some dead-end corner until we run out
of air.
I have seen too many businessmen and women fall prey to this
miscalculation. I can remember hearing the trading bell ring at
the end of one particularly vicious day in November of 2008.
The Dow was way down; countless sums of money had been lost.
I watched as swarms of traders loosened their ties and walked
dejectedly off the floor. But what struck me was that they did not
retreat to the stronghold of their teams as they normally did after
a day of trading. They all walked off silent and alone.
These were smart, capable people with MBAs from some of
the world’s leading institutions, yet in a situation that required
them to be firing on all cylinders, they were actively undercutting
themselves. At the very time that they needed one another most,
they were forgoing their most valuable resource; their social
support. Time and again during those perilous months, I saw
companies jettison team trainings and social “perks”, ignoring
plummeting team morale in favour of things deemed more
“important.” But in fact, nothing was more important than what
they were letting go of.
We don’t have to go to the brink of a collapsing economy to
understand how easy it is to retreat into our own shells at the
moment we need to be reaching out to others the most. We’ve
all been there some time or another. A daunting project gets
dropped on our desk, and we get consumed with worry that we’ll
fail to meet the demands. Is there enough time to get it all done?
What will happen if we don’t? As the deadline looms and the
pressure mounts, we start eating lunch at our desks, working late,
coming in on weekends. Soon, we’re “focused like a laser” (or so
we tell ourselves), which means no face time with direct reports,
no casual hallway chats, no time even for nonessential calls with
clients. Even our e-mails are more brusque and impersonal. As
for time with family and friends, well, these things are the first to
go when we’re in crisis mode. But even though we’re giving work
our undivided attention, our productivity is declining, and as the
deadline nears, our goal seems to be slipping further and further
out of reach. And so we hunker down, shut off our cell phones,
retreat into the bunker of ourselves and double-lock the door.
One of the two things usually happens at this juncture. Either we
falter and fail to finish the project, or we power through and get
it done, then immediately get rewarded with another challenging
project, though we now have zero oxygen left in our tank. Either
way, we’re not only miserable, dejected, and overwhelmed, but
lost in a dead end, unable to perform – and all alone.
The most successful people take the exact opposite approach.
Instead of turning inward, they actually hold tighter to their
social support. Instead of divesting, they invest. Not only are
these people happier, but they are more productive, engaged,
energetic, and resilient. They know that their social relationships
are the single greatest investment that they can make in the
Happiness Advantage.
Excerpts taken from the book The Happiness
Advantage by Shawn Achor.
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12-A, Tower 8, Central Park 2, Sohna Road, Gurgaon 122018
