the employee happiness event

@peoplelab_#spotlighton

Emma Bridger

The Science of Well-being(Happiness) in the workplace


Have you ever wondered why?


Focus on the (positive) psychology of engagement

The current paradigm:

Work harder

More Success

Win/ happier


This formula is scientifically broken Every time we have a success the goalposts change. We reach our sales targets, we get set higher targets So we’re continually pushing happiness over our cognitive horizon And in fact…. The opposite is true – positive brains perform significantly better than negative, neutral or stressed brains So if we focus on creating happy, positive brains we are more successful Research shows increases in intelligence, creativity and energy This translates into business outcomes


Positive thinkingLyobomirsky 2005 found:

31% increase in productivityImproved resilienceLess burnoutLess employee turnoverIncreased sales 37%When your brain is in a positive state it performs better then in a neutral, negative or stressed state


Why is this?The formula is the wrong way round

Being in a positive brain state releases DopamineThis makes you feel happierBut it also turns on all your learning centers in your brain

Work harder

More Success

Happier positive

state


Creating a positive lasting changeYou can rewire your brain by doing the following everyday for 21 days:

• 3 gratitudes each day• Journaling• Exercise• Meditation• Random acts of kindness

This will help train your brain to scan for the positive, rather than the negative


https://youtu.be/1qJvS8v0TTI


Positive Emotion


Peak Experience• Think about a time when you loved doing what you were doing –

either at work or in your personal life• In pairs take 5 minutes each to tell your partner about this time

• What was happening• How did it feel? • What made it possible?• Why was it such an amazing time for you?• What did you learn?

• Then swap• Listen carefully to your partners story• Then in groups talk about the themes emerging


Your PlaylistMichael Frisch suggests creating a ‘playlist’ of activities which make us feel good, are likely to stimulate positive emotions, which we enjoy, which interest us, which make us happy…such as:

• Reading a book• Watching a funny film • Seeing the sunrise• Going for a walk• Going to a gig• Hanging out with friends etc.


Engagement


Mindfulness“Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally”Jon Kabat-Zinn PhD, “Wherever you go, there you are”, 1994

With curiosityWithout engagement or attachmentWhile being kind to yourself


Positive Relationships

@peoplelab_#spotlightonOther people matter

Christopher Peterson PhDA three word summary of positive psychology


How You Respond Affects Relationships

ActiveDestructiv

e

ActiveConstructi

ve

PassiveDestructiv

e

PassiveConstructi

ve

Activ

ePa

ssive

Destructive Constructive

Resp

onse

Attitude

Interest & engagementSupportive, encouraging

No interest or engagementSupportive, encouraging

No interest or engagementUnsupportive, discouraging

Interest & engagementUnsupportive, discouraging


Meaning & Purpose


Posting brown boxes or making dreams come true?


What is your purpose in life?Imagine fast forwarding into your old age… how would you answer the following questions?:• How and for what do I want to be remembered?• Who do I want to be remembered by?• Which of my accomplishments and strengths do I want others to

talk about?• When I look back am I am satisfied with my life?• Am I living my life is such a way now that this will be achieved?


Achievement


Please answer these questions about intelligence. Read each statement and decide whether you mostly agree with it or disagree with it. 1) Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can't

change very much.2) You can learn new things, but you can’t really change how intelligent

you are.3) No mater how much intelligence you have, you can always change it

quite a bit.4) You can always substantially change how intelligent you are.


Winston Churchill - Prime Minister

Repeated a year during primary

school

He was placed in the lowest division of the lowest class


Beethoven - Composer Beethoven’s teacher

called him a HOPELESS composer

He wrote 5 of his greatest symphonies

while deaf


The list goes on…..•…Einstein's teacher said that he was ‘academically subnormal’

•…Walt Disney was told that he lacked ‘creative imagination’


MindsetsFixed Mindset

intelligence is a fixed trait

Growth Mindset

intelligence is a malleable quality, a potential that can be

developed


Study: Praise for intelligence can undermine children's motivation and performance; Muller & Dweck 1998

Intelligence Praise

“Wow, that’s a really good score. You must have tried

really hard.”

Effort Praise

“Wow, that’s a really good score. You must be smart at

this.”

Control Group “Wow, that’s a really good score.”


Effects of Intelligence vs. Effort PraiseGrowth Mindset

Learning

HighHigh

Increased

Fixed Mindset

Looking Smart

LowLow

Decreased

Goals

ConfidenceMotivation

Performance

Afterdifficult

trial


Results from Intelligence praise

Performance on 2nd set• “I’m not good enough”• Reported a steep decline in fun • When asked if they would like to

take the games home to play with family, their future likelihood to play the game again declined significantly

Performance on 3rd set• They chose the next problem

based on designing not to fail (vs. learning)

• They chose their reading based on how they compared to others (vs. learning new strategies)

• Telling others how they did- 40% lied!!

2nd deliberately harder, told scored 5/10 and performed “a lot worse” 3rd same difficulty as 1st set


Results from Process Praise

Performance on 2nd set• “I didn’t work hard enough”• They had the same amount of fun

as 1st set• Their likelihood to play again was

same as 1st set

Performance on 3rd set• They chose their next problem

designed on learning more• Their choice of reading was

based on learning new strategies• Telling others how they did- only

1.3% lied

2nd deliberately harder, told scored 5/10 and performed “a lot worse” 3rd same difficulty as 1st set


# of problems solved on the IQ test Trial 1 (before failure) and Trial 3 (after failure)

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

Trial 1 Trial 3

Effort PraiseControl PraiseIntelligence Praise

# o

f Pro

blem

s So

lved


“I can’t do that... yet.”Mindset, in summary….


For more information contact: Emma [email protected] 07715 644 566@miss_commslab

mailto:[email protected]

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