Building a Happy Workplace

MAKING IT WORK AT WORK Whistling While We Work — Building a Happy Workplace BY DARYL KELLEY, Ph.D. t’s not unusual in our highly stressed economy for employers to focus on the bot- ers felt the younger genera- tom line, sometimes to the extreme of regarding workers as a liability on the led- tions were slacking, Elliott ger rather than an integral dimension of a company’s success.1 At a Nebraska state said, and younger workers I were impatient with the conference, I met a Catholic health care leader who is countering that trend and, through efforts to implant principles of positive psychology in the workplace, models technological incompetence a commitment to the moral dimension of employer-employee relations. of their elders. Each genera- tion had its own vocabulary That leader is Lee Elliott, vice presi- ter was facing serious problems getting and attitudes, leading to miscommuni- dent of human resources at Saint Fran- enough staff to safely care for patients. cation. (See related story on page 31.) cis Medical Center in Grand Island, The medical center was in the unen- In response, the human resources where a program to create a more joy- viable position of deciding each day department focused substantial train- ful workplace has reduced turnover, whether to accept more patients or ing on generational differences and enhanced the organization’s Catholic send them to other hospitals for care. ways to manage them. Conflict between mission and, in the process, improved Attracting and retaining qualified generations dropped to nearly zero. the hospital’s bottom line. staff is critical to any Catholic health Elliott said talking with employees Elliott, whose reputation as an care organization’s mission, and the also revealed there were some long- advocate for a positive work environ- Saint Francis human resources depart- held animosities among medical cen- ment extends beyond his hospital, ment undertook an extensive effort to ter workers. To help address this, he gave a talk at the conference. After- change the medical center’s work envi- developed a training program based wards, we sat down to discuss what ronment. They turned to employees on psychologist Fred Luskin’s work on his human resources department has for input, and the replies were loud and forgiveness.4 He also created an exten- been doing in the last few years to cre- clear — “Help us deal with conflict.” sive workshop entitled, “In Search of ate an extraordinary work environ- Elliott and his human resource Joy: On Becoming Happy” using posi- ment in a workplace formerly plagued department created in-house media- tive psychology techniques to teach by conflicts. tion, instituted substantial training employees the skills of happiness and They call it “the happiness for effective conflict resolution and well-being. program.” worked with managers to address Psychologists Martin Seligman and Through long discussions about bullying, which was not common but Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, two of the the nature of work and the treatment caused special kinds of toxic conflict. major players in positive psychology, of workers, I found Elliott to possess a Looking back, Elliott said, the train- have said that within organizations, highly developed morality and a gen- ing worked — the frequency of effec- positive psychology is about moving uine concern for employee welfare. tive conflict resolution increased and “individuals toward better citizenship, However, as he informed me, the hap- mediations were highly successful. responsibility, nurturance, altruism, piness program was not just altruism. But along the way, it became clear that civility, moderation, tolerance, and From the very beginning, it was con- nearly half of all conflicts resulted work ethic.”5 This certainly seems to nected to solving business concerns. from differences between generations be exactly what one would want in a In 2000, Saint Francis Medical Cen- on the job.3 For example, Baby Boom- Catholic health care environment. HEALTH PROGRESS www.chausa.org JULY - AUGUST 2011 37 36 JULY - AUGUST 2011 www.chausa.org HEALTH PROGRESS Elliott’s workshop is replete with nize negative self-talk or automatic simism, participants are shown how practical exercises that teach skills in thoughts that trigger negative emo- to change their thought patterns to such sessions as “Increasing Happi- tions. As they master the recognition be more optimistic and, therefore, ness,” “High Quality Conflict,” “Life of negative thoughts, people then learn increase their happiness. Planning” and “Grudge Busting” and how to reconfigure them into more Express gratitude. Gratitude is help participants apply the newly productive thoughts and actions. For more than just a means to make some- gained skills to their work and personal example, making a mistake can trig- one feel good. Through its expression, lives.6 ger the automatic thought, “I am a fail- we reaffirm our place and the place of The workshop begins with an over- ure.” If this kind of rigid, self-loathing others in the workplace. view of social psychologists’ research thought is left unchecked, an employee Do good. This is the most on the factors that shape happiness will experience destructive emotions abstract and challenging dimension of and debunks many of the myths that that are a barrier to productive work.7 the training. It is based upon the exten- surround our common expectations. Reformat negative automatic sive cross-cultural research of psy- For example, Elliott notes that despite thoughts. Instead of “I am a failure,” chologists Christopher Peterson and what our culture seems to encourage, the thought could be reformatted as Martin Seligman who found six vir- tues of living a good life, basic values It is just possible that this hospital in the middle at the core of many different societies throughout history. They are wisdom, of the U.S. might show the way to dramatically courage, humanity, justice, temperance and transcendence.8 Elliott tells par- change the way we think about the world of work. ticipants that doing good throughout one’s life, not just at work, is a critical research shows happiness is not found “Darn. I messed up. Let me step back source of happiness. through the accumulation of wealth, and figure out how this happened so nor does health and attractiveness lead it doesn’t happen again,” or “An error. Certainly, living a virtuous life is a to the good life. Work that is meaning- This is something I can learn a lot from. daunting task, but imagine the positive ful and challenging can increase happi- I’m grateful my boss is understanding. social consequences if the majority of ness, but research indicates the highest He knows I’ll surprise him with the companies would challenge employ- correlation comes from quality rela- quality of fix I’ll come up with any time ees to live such a life. Moreover, doing tionships with friends and family. I make a mistake.” good is clearly in alignment with the Because he can assure participants This last example was taken directly culture one would hope for in a Cath- that psychological research and exper- from the workshop manual. Clearly, olic health care organization. Though imentally tested techniques back the such rethinking requires substantial Elliott did not consciously integrate “happiness program,” Elliott says he trust in management. With that in mind, mission into the workshop, for he was has experienced less doubt and resis- I conducted in-depth interviews with focused on creating an environment tance than many might expect. Employ- several employees. I found that Saint to reduce turnover, as time passed ees who do not feel comfortable in the Francis Medical Center middle manag- the fit between virtue and Saint Fran- workshop’s group setting can have one- ers and hospital employees perceive that ces Medical Center’s mission became on-one sessions tailored to meet their top management want to help them do apparent. needs. the best job possible, and they see their Elliott’s “In Search of Joy” work- supervisors as supporters who truly do shop embeds some primary assump- WORKPLACE GUIDEPOSTS care for each individual. Employees said tions from the psychology of happiness Elliott’s workshop covers these points: they enjoy very positive interactions research that should be made explicit. Act happy. Common sense, as throughout the chain of command, and First, personal well-being at work well as research, demonstrates that that institutional trust existed before clearly is connected to one’s life away happiness is contagious. When we are the “happiness program.” from work. around happy individuals, we tend Change your perspective. This In the past, the adage was “when to become happier ourselves. When is related to reformatting negative you come to work, you should leave employees act happy the workplace is thoughts. How we see the world is not your troubles at the door.” We may filled with happiness. immutable; we can change. In this part hide or even repress our negative Think happy. Some useful tools of the workshop, Elliott uses research emotions, but negativity remains and can help people learn to process infor- to document the differences between is a potential threat to productivity. As mation differently. Keeping a “thought optimists and pessimists. After list- indicated in the workshop, our think- journal” helps an individual recog- ing the benefits of optimism over pes- ing leads to emotions, which in turn, 38 JULY - AUGUST 2011 www.chausa.org HEALTH PROGRESS MAKING IT WORK AT WORK shape our actions. it deserves. At Saint Francis Medical bility entry on the ledger, the question Employers and employees may have Center, as is the case at most Ameri- becomes — why isn’t enhancing hap- long held the belief that external mat- can workplaces, the culture is more of piness a normal part of all workplaces? ters are private and not the concern of a synthesis of management goals and the workplace, but happy workers are employee needs or desires.

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