Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

Don’t worry, be happy

As summer sun turns into autumnal gloom, it’s easy to slip into seasonal depression – especially at work. But don’t despair. Across Europe, businesses are becoming more aware that happiness is the key to productivity

Text David Mattin Illustrations Sunil Pawar/Slingshot London

There’s one prize so sought after – and so elusive – that it has troubled great minds for all of recorded history. Aristotle thought it would come via a life of virtue. Buddhists, and now neuroscientists, tell us we can attain it if we meditate. But what does your boss have to say – if anything – on the subject of happiness?

Over the past decade, the subject of worker satisfaction has marched inexorably into the popular consciousness. Perhaps it’s because Europeans are spending longer than ever at work. In Britain, which regularly tops EU working-hours league tables, one in four people claim to work more than 48 hours a week, according to the International Labour Organisation.

So with summer drawing to an end, just how can you bring more sunshine into your working life? Which lucky Europeans are happiest and what can we learn from them?

Cary Cooper is professor of organisational psychology at Lancaster University Management School and the world’s leading expert on these questions. “What has happened over the past 30 years is that Europeans have realised affluence isn’t everything,” he says. “We have more disposable income than ever before, we can afford the flatscreen TV and the nice car, but that isn’t making us happier.”

The reason, Professor Cooper says, is clear. “The problem is, to achieve these riches we’ve adopted an American work culture: long hours, little control of our working lives and not much job security. We know meaningful relationships with family and friends are primarily what make people happy, but modern office hours are interfering with that.

“As for happiness at work, thousands of studies show the crucial issue is control. We want a say in the nature of our work, how we do it and when. The less control you have, the more stressed you become.”

So is any country in Europe bucking this trend? If pressed to identify an EU oasis of worker happiness, the top contender must be Denmark. A 2007 study by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions found Danes are the happiest employees in Europe, with more than 90% satisfied with their jobs. A 2001 study by Ipsos-Reid also placed Denmark top in a world league table. Just what, exactly, are Danes getting up to in their offices that the rest of us aren’t?

Danish business expert Kim Lundberg is well placed to know. These days he’s a manager at Copenhagen Capacity, a government organisation that works to attract new businesses to the capital, but he spent much of the 80s working in London.

“In Denmark we don’t believe in the kind of micro-management you get in other work cultures,” he says. “We’re deadline driven and inside those deadlines people are given freedom to work as they wish.

“Another aspect of this is flexibility of hours and freedom to work from home. If someone needs to leave at 4pm to pick up their children, that’s fine. In the UK I used to see people playing chess behind their ring binders at 6pm, just so they didn’t leave before the boss.”

Lundberg starts his working day with a brisk dip in Copenhagen harbour, before arriving at the office at 9am and leaving at 5.30pm. Danish work culture, he says, helps breed employees who feel motivated and focused. “In an organisation that’s hierarchically flat, there’s no need to spend time on office politics. You simply get on with fulfilling your role. Typically, every Friday employees get together for breakfast to talk about the week.”

Evidence suggests that those countries at the bottom of Europe’s work-life balance league want to change. Human resources agency Chiumento specialises in helping businesses attract top talent in the UK, regularly named one of the EU’s unhappiest places to work. The company’s commercial director, James Underhay, says: “Our clients are very interested in the secrets of what makes people happy at work. They know that happy employees mean more loyalty.”

Chiumento surveyed more than 1,000 UK workers to produce the Happiness at Work Index 2007. It discovered one in five workers were unsatisfied with their jobs. But in a top-10 list of factors that would make for more happiness, the obvious answer – a competitive salary – only scraped in at number 10, behind a good work/life balance at four and friendly, supportive colleagues at one.

“We found that relationships at work – with colleagues and bosses – were the most important single factor for British workers,” says Underhay. “Conversely, poor communication from the top was the biggest cause of unhappiness. Based on our results, the Danish working culture is one Britain should look towards.”

But before all EU countries rush to copy Denmark, they’d do well to realise that a happy workforce is complex – what raises a smile in one country won’t necessarily do the same in another. Data on such differences is rare, but one study does offer a tantalising glimpse: a Europe-wide survey conducted in 2005 by international recruitment agency Manpower.

That survey of 12,000 European workers, published as ‘What Makes a Great Employer?’, found job security was Europe’s top answer to that question. Inside that, though, there were some intriguing results. While 47% of UK workers were keen on flexible working, only 30% of Germans said the same. And while 74% of Swiss employees said working for a company that addresses social issues is important to them, only 17% of Swedes agreed.

“Our data needs subtle interpretation,” says Manpower learning and development officer Jemma Fitzgerald. “Job security was a Europe-wide priority, but you have to see this in the context of a market in which people expect to move every two or three years.

“There was talk about how Germans don’t seem particularly keen on flexible working. One theory is that German work culture is more status driven and you have to be physically present in the office to demonstrate that kind of status. Also, travel infrastructure in Germany is excellent, so commuting isn’t as bad as it is elsewhere.

“As for Swedes, social responsibility is so engrained in the social fabric that they don’t consciously look for it – they assume it.”

The message is clear – with the job market more fluid than ever, and globalisation taking many of us outside our native countries for work, European employers must get wise to what we want, fast. Worker happiness is an issue that’s here to stay.

“We’ve had a fascinating insight into the way European cultures shape what employees look for,” says Fitzgerald. “Great businesses recognise that customers in different countries aren’t the same. Now, they must realise that the same goes for employees, too.”

Are you happy?

Professor Carey Cooper from Lancaster University Management School is a leading thinker on organisational psychology

“To assess this, ask yourself six key questions. First, are you happy with your hours? Do you have an acceptable amount of control over your work? Are you happy with the way you’re managed? Is there a clear difference between your work and your home life? Do you feel reasonably job secure? Finally, do you feel valued at work?

“If the answer to one of those is no, that could be why you’re unhappy. If the answer to all is yes and you’re still unhappy, it’s likely the content of your work is the problem – you’re in the wrong industry.

“Once you know you’re unhappy at work, ask: ‘Is it likely to change here?’ If the answer is no, look for new work, but keep your job while you look.

“It’s crucial you take a broad view. You don’t have to jump to the same role at a different company. What about starting your own business? Training to do something else? The more options you consider, the more likely it is you’ll find the right one.”

FR>> Les travailleurs heureux

Avec l’été qui tire à sa fin, comment apporter plus de chaleur à votre vie professionnelle? En outre, qui sont les Européens les plus heureux et que peuvent-ils nous apprendre?

Le Professeur Cary Cooper, sociologue, nous explique: “Nous savons que les relations constructives avec la famille et les amis contribuent avant tout au bonheur des individus mais aujourd’hui les horaires de bureau interférent avec cette donnée.”

Une étude de 2007 menée par la Fondation européenne pour l’amélioration des conditions de vie et de travail a mis en lumière que les Danois sont les plus ravis des employés en Europe, avec un taux de satisfaction de 90% au travail.

Un expert danois du monde de l’entreprise, Kim Lundberg, confie : “Au Danemark, nous ne croyons pas dans le type de micro-management, présent dans d’autres cultures professionnelles. Si quelqu’un doit partir à quatre heures pour aller chercher ses enfants, cela ne pose pas de problème.”

D’autres pays comme le Royaume-Uni, par exemple, essaient de suivre ce modèle. Un sondage mené auprès de 1 000 travailleurs britanniques a montré qu’une personne sur cinq était insatisfaite, et que des collègues coopératifs étaient un des facteurs qui favorisaient le bien-être.

On notera toutefois que ces questions sont complexes et très différentes d’un pays à l’autre. Là où 47% des travailleurs du Royaume-Uni valorisent la flexibilité, seuls 30% des Allemands le font. Septante quatre pour cent des Suisses disent que travailler pour une société qui aborde les questions sociales est fondamental à leurs yeux, mais seulement 17% des Suédois sont concernés par ce sujet.

“Une des théories est que la culture du travail en Allemagne favorise plus la notion de statut, vous devez donc être présent physiquement au bureau,” dit Jemma Fitzgerald, en charge de l’étude et du développement chez Manpower. “En ce qui concerne les Suédois, la responsabilité sociale est tellement enracinée dans le tissu social que plus personne ne songe à la rechercher consciemment : pour eux cette dimension est une valeur intrinsèque de l’entreprise.”

Une chose est claire, avec un marché fluide et global, les employeurs doivent être de plus en plus conscients de ces fluctuations, sans perdre de temps.

NL>> Gelukkige werknemers

Hoe breng je na de zomer meer zon in je werk? Welke Europeanen zijn het gelukkigst en wat kunnen we van hen leren?

Socioloog professor Cary Cooper: “We weten dat hechte banden met familie en vrienden het meest bijdragen tot het menselijke geluk. De moderne kantooruren staan dat echter in de weg.”

Volgens een studie uit 2007 van de Europese Stichting voor de Verbetering van de Leef- en Werkomstandigheden zijn de Denen de gelukkigste werknemers in Europa. Meer dan 90% is tevreden met zijn werk.

Deens bedrijfsexpert Kim Lundberg: “In Denemarken geloven wij niet in het soort micromanagement dat je in andere werkculturen hebt. Als iemand om 16u. zijn kinderen moet ophalen, is dat prima.”

Andere landen, zoals Groot-Brittannië, proberen dat voorbeeld te volgen. Uit een enquête bij 1000 Britse werknemers blijkt dat een op vijf ontevreden is. Het gelukkigst zijn werknemers met solidaire collega’s.

Het vraagstuk is echter complex en verschilt sterk naargelang het land. Terwijl 47% van de Britten flexibele werkuren belangrijk vindt, ligt slechts 30% van de Duitsers daarvan wakker. 74% van de Zwitsers wil voor een bedrijf werken dat sociale problemen aanpakt, terwijl dat in Zweden slechts 17% is.

“Eén theorie is dat status in de Duitse arbeidscultuur belangrijker is en dat je fysiek aanwezig moet zijn op kantoor”, aldus Jemma Fitzgerald, learning and development officer bij Manpower. “Bij de Zweden is sociale verantwoordelijkheid zo geïntegreerd in het sociale weefsel dat ze er niet bewust naar op zoek gaan. Ze vinden het vanzelfsprekend.”

Eén ding is alvast duidelijk: in een flexibele wereldmarkt zullen werkgevers snel moeten leren wat we willen.

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