One of the quickest ways to make the most people happy is through implementing measures in the workplace. Think about it – how can you say the residents of a city are truly happy without looking at the organisations they work for up to 60 hours per week, with many having only one day off a week?
A 2013 poll by Gallup showed only 26 per cent of the workforce were engaged in their jobs in the UAE, which means about three-quarters of the working population are not. Being disengaged means they lack motivation and are less likely to invest effort in organisational goals or outcomes – they are unhappy.
If we take a look at tech giants such as Apple and Google, we know – through countless case studies and research – that happiness levels there are extremely high. Employees at such high-flying companies often have levels of responsibility and workloads that would outweigh lesser organisations.
Apple and Google are well-known examples, but are by no means unique in their successful creation of happy workforces. Most of these preferred employers tick three important boxes, as they provide an environment where their employees enjoy varying degrees of autonomy, mastery and purpose, and are not merely driven by financial targets and bonuses.
Accomplishment of the triumvirate of autonomy (the desire to direct our lives); mastery (the urge to get better and better at something that matters) and purpose (the yearning to do what we do in service of something larger than ourselves) can be demonstrated well with the example of Wikipedia compared with Microsoft Encarta.
Microsoft Encarta was started back in the mid-1990s, when Microsoft hired a large team to design and write an online encyclopaedia. Regular project management and rigid working structure ensured it was completed on time, meeting all specifications, rewarding employees financially for output targets.
In stark contrast, Wikipedia began in 2001 with the idea of using a small army of mostly anonymous online volunteers to populate an encyclopaedia. Unlike Microsoft, instead of selling the encyclopaedia, Wikipedia made it available to the public for free on the Web. The reward for writers wasn’t financial incentives, but the promise being part of something big and its sense of community. The online volunteers were united in a common purpose and were rewarded with special public recognition for those who went the extra mile with their contributions. Whether or not it intended to, Wikipedia created the perfect culture of:
• Autonomy: thousands of people working on their own, for enjoyment.
• Mastery: adding their own expertise, earning respect among their peers.
• Purpose: being part of a movement that shares knowledge globally.
While Encarta was a job, the creation of Wikipedia was an epic moment in digital history. Encarta published about 62,000 articles in six languages with an eight-year advantage on Wikipedia. However, eventually Microsoft conceded defeat and shut it down in 2009.
Meanwhile, Wikipedia is now one of the most-visited websites in the world, with half a billion monthly visitors and over 34 million articles, and is available in around 290 languages. Wikipedia continues to grow and has maintained its culture by providing a sense of community and still rewarding those who go the extra mile, while adding, editing and moderating content.
Employees of happy, healthy, progressive organisations are usually very clear of the vision and how their daily input impacts upon this vision. They all live by their values and have a high level of teamwork and alignment, starting right from the top. They are innovative, not just in technology but in the way the do things. This innovation is usually a result of higher-than-usual levels of autonomy, mastery and purpose.
According to the results of the 2015 UN World Happiness Report, the UAE was ranked the 20th-happiest country in the world – the happiest in the region.
The UAE will continue to grow rapidly and businesses will continue to expand, on average, at a rate much faster in than more developed countries. This means, even more so than other parts of the world, that attention and action need to be in place to ensure happy, progressive organisations are created in terms of engagement and motivation – not merely financial rewards.
Triptta Neb is a director and founder of the Dubai-based leadership company Conscious Leadership Consulting and Coaching
