What does it truly take to be happy in your line of work and does that mean you are happy at work?
In honor of National “Happiness Happens” day, we posed a question to the people in our community, including our internal team on what makes them the happiest about their work.
You might be as energized by their answers as we are because all of them, on some level, speak to the value of human connection, and having the right team to work alongside. This validates that people are major contributors to happiness in our lives, and perhaps, creating physical environments to connect people will always be an important way to support happiness. The true expression of happiness cannot be prescribed by one set of values, it is unique to each profession and every unique individual, but we believe that it can be achieved in any workplace and in both physical and emotional forms. Are you ready to read what the real humans wrote about happiness in our survey? Read on!
Do you feel a little happier by reading the comments above? We thought you might. But why is this information useful to you? How does being happy with your work mean you could be happier at work? Statistics state that by being happier at work, an individual will be:
What does happiness have to do with my place of work?
Although the office has continually evolved, the need for human connection is still a prominent factor for most businesses. Creating physical environments that focus on ways to connect is a powerful gesture in the wellness of a workplace, thus the satisfaction of employees. The spaces that connect us as humans can be the host for collaboration, social interaction or simply a sense of welcome.
In the book “The True Measure of a Space is How it Makes us Feel” recently published by Teknion, Architect Francis Duffy is quoted on a statement revolving around contemporary offices “With its lounges and other group spaces, today’s office may not be a palace, but does provide a spectrum of settings that reinforce community, including both formal and informal spaces where people connect, gather, and converse.”
By designing physical spaces for human connection, we can provide cues for conversation and collaboration. The volume and shape of a space, the arrangement of furniture, must set the stage for human moments of connection. London-based designer Ilse Crawford, principal of Studioilse and head of Man and Well-Being at the Design Academy Eindhoven, has pointed out that designing a collaborative space is not as simple as “having sweet sofas…” Rather, “it’s the working out if you like, the politics, the organization of how you have conversations.”
So in summary, we celebrate National “Happiness Happens” Day today, August 8th because we believe that happiness should be evident in our everyday lives both in the workplace in the work we do.
You are encouraged to “Pay-it-Forward” by sharing this post and spreading the happiness throughout the month of August (and always).
Did you miss the survey that we sent via email and want to share your happy thoughts? Great! You can do that HERE. We will be sharing testimonies of happiness on social media throughout the month of August.
Curious how we stay happy at iSpace Environments? Look for our future blog post around our Impact team and why they help keep up our positive culture.
“The best ideas start as conversation”
– Jonathan Ive
Sources:
sohp.com/happier-at-work/
http://www.gallup.com/poll/165269/worldwide-employees-engaged-work.aspx
Book: https://d2r72yk5wmppdj.cloudfront.net/m/1019988802a34b4b/original/The-True-Measure-of-Space-is-How-it-Makes-us-Feel.pdf
Want to spread the happiness in your workplace?
Contact your iSpace Account Manager or email us if you would like to inquire on our services.