Happy Caregivers Equals Happy Company
Happy workers are productive workers. So it should come as no surprise that companies are increasingly investing in training techniques that aim to enhance employee happiness.
The question is whether these initiatives are effective at achieving what they say they do.
New research published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology may have an answer. A team of scientists led by Ad Bergsma of Erasmus University, Rotterdam in the Netherlands analyzed the results of 61 happiness training studies published between 1972 and 2019. They found that the majority of these studies showed a positive effect on employees’ levels of happiness.
“Happiness training techniques seem to do what they are designed to do,” state the researchers. “Ninety-six percent of the studies showed a gain in happiness post intervention and at follow-up, and about half of the positive results were statistically significant.”
PROMOTED
Overall, the researchers estimate that such trainings increase people’s happiness by about 5% on a numerical rating scale of happiness. To put that in context, the researchers note that getting married has also been shown to raise happiness by about 5% and becoming unemployed reduces happiness by 8%.
“From this perspective, the average 5% gain in happiness after having followed a happiness training course is impressive,” state the researchers.
Source: Forbes.com
