Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. All too often the pursuit of happiness has been equated with the pursuit of money or a better job (a.k.a. money). Even Will Smith’s latest movie “The Pursuit of Happiness” which I think he should win an Oscar for has an underlying theme of real happiness, but the plot is surrounded by his quest for a job that pays more than his no salary sales job.
The focus of Kashdan’s class that day was the distinction between feeling good, which according to positive psychologists only creates a hunger for more pleasure — they call this syndrome the hedonic treadmill — and doing good, which can lead to lasting happiness. ((Max, D.T. January 7, 2007. “Happiness 101.” Retrieved from NYTimes.com on January 8, 2007.))
In HR, we’re not really concerned about happiness. We talk about things like employee satisfaction and engagement. After all, why would work make anyone “happy?” As we have talked about, the generations are changing. Work is becoming less important and an individual’s pursuit of whatever makes them tick is steadily climbing.
What is tricky is that if work does not provide this level of personal happiness, and work is becoming less important for a growing portion of the population, what does that mean for productivity, innovation, and professional growth? Or is this just the evolution of society that we get so far, and then people pursue more important goal through other means because they can?
5 responses to “Happiness vs. Engagement”
Happiness vs. Engagement In HR , we’re not really concerned about happiness. We talk about things like employee satisfaction and engagement. After all, why would work make anyone “happy?” As we have talked about, the generations are changing. … [
[…] from NYTimes.com on January 8, 2007. [back] By systematicHR Tags: engagement E-mail | PDF | Save | Blog this! | Related stories: […]
[…] systematicHR: Happiness vs. Engagement “What is tricky is that if work does not provide this level of personal happiness, and work is becoming less important for a growing portion of the population, what does that mean for productivity, innovation, and professional growth? Or is this just the evolution of society that we get so far, and then people pursue more important goal through other means because they can?” […]
This topic has been asked for a lot of times. From job interviews to beauty pageants, this question is never absent. Although the answer of customer satisfaction spells real happiness for a working person it remains doubtful. It has been an IDEAL answer. But in REALITY most people will still say it’s having lots and lots of money so you can give tip to a restaurant worker who will then, in return, feel happy. It’s still defined as the capacity to earn money so you can give bonuses and incentives to your employees. Now this is complicated. Why should the world revolve around money?
If I feel good and I have interest to do work. Then this work give you happiness. You don’t want to follow to happiness. It is coming automatically…