We must’ve all come across Monday motivation jokes some time or the other. It’s safe to assume that many of us have found these relatable. Sometimes to an extent that we start believing that it’s a universal truth. What if we say that this can be changed? What if people start feeling enthusiastic about reporting to work every day? What if your work starts exciting you? What if you start looking forward to Mondays?
Wouldn’t it be nice?
If for a moment, all of the above queries turn true, we would call it an ideal working environment.
As easier as the term may seem from a subjective perspective, more complicated it gets when you start defining it from an objective view. So, before making premature assumptions about the same, let’s break it down and analyze the different components of a working environment in general.
A work environment constitutes physical, social, and psychological factors. The physical factors constitute location, facilities, ease of travel to the workplace, ergonomically designed physical environment, etc. The team culture, the peer to peer interaction, the employee to employer interactions, the bonding activities conducted as well as the collaborative nature of the employees defines the social nature of a firm. The kind of work, the work-life balance, the oppressive/friendly nature of the superior, one’s comfort level with the work can be considered as the determining psychological conditions of the employees within an organization.
Though all these factors are important, some of them are perceived and rated higher than others depending on the person’s personal preferences.
A recent survey conducted by a consulting firm in the US nailed down the top five drivers of job satisfaction as reported by hourly workers.
The findings come about as a surprise, as it was observed that people have rated work-life balance higher than the increased compensation. This proves to be one of the major myth busters to all those aspiring young minds who are more incentivized by monetary benefits a firm provides than anything else.
It’s interesting to note that the fundamental concept of work-life balance, is subjective. It may not necessarily be about working within the stipulated forty-hour work week, but about aligning work with life, whatever it may look like at that time.
This gives us a fair idea about the importance of employee wellness in the workplace. So what are the factors that should be considered while laying down the components of employee wellness?
Working the Danish Way
Let’s take the example of one of the highest-ranked countries, Denmark, in terms of employee happiness and satisfaction and address the problem of employee wellness. Let’s see how their worker policies set them apart.
- Reasonable Working hours
There is a general feeling among many employees that investing more working hours would prove to be a good depiction of one’s dedication and commitment towards work, and hence would lead to better feedback and maybe even incentives. Though this might work sometimes, it is also highly probable that this strategy backfires. The superiors start questioning their efficiencies and delegating powers and having put extra efforts into his work, the employee feels shattered and frustrated.
Some people wonder that Danes do not work. However, not only do Danes tend to leave work at a reasonable hour most days, but they also get five to six weeks of vacation per year, several national holidays, and up to a year of paid maternity/paternity leave. While the average American works 1,780 hours and the average South Korean 2,024 hours per year, the average Dane only works 1,408, according to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) statistics. Danes also have more leisure hours than any other OECD workers and the link between sufficient leisure and happiness is well established in the research.
- Power Distance
The hierarchical model of a firm (Centralized / Decentralized) is an important factor while evaluating a working environment. This could be explained well using the term “Power Distance”. It is a score that is given to an organization, depicting the approachability of the superiors with their teams and their employees. Hence, the lower the score, the better the communication channel within the firm.
A lower power distance depicts more freedom, openness, and more approachability of the bosses with their employees. On a research conducted over 100 countries, Danish workplaces scored as low as 18 in comparison to countries like Belgium, China, and Malaysia scoring 65, 80, and 100 respectively.
- Constant Training and Development
In this VUCA embedded environment, it is almost a compulsion for the employees to constantly upgrade and upskill themselves with the current technologies in the market to stay relevant.
Denmark, since the 1800s, has focussed on life-long education of its workers through an elaborate set of government, union, and corporate policies. This has allowed them to attend paid training programs and pick up relevant skills.
- Focus on Happiness
Many people around the world hate their current jobs and react indifferently towards it. They feel it’s normal to feel this way. It goes to the extent where Scandinavians have arbejdsglæde, the Japanese have karoshi, as defined terms which means “Death from overwork.” This is something that is completely against the work culture of Denmark. Danish workplaces have a long-standing tradition of wanting to make their employees happy. To most of the employees there, a job isn’t just a way to get paid, but to enjoy at work.
A productive workforce is the engine behind a successful business or organization. However, it isn’t something that could be hired. It has to be created. It has to be earned. There is a need to make an employee feel appreciated and respected, regardless of their role, industry, or location. There is a need to have intent towards building an ideal working environment. Afterall no successful business could thrive or last, with a demotivated workforce.
“Engaging the hearts, minds, and hands of talent is the most sustainable source of competitive advantage.” – Greg Harris, President, and CEO of Quantum Workplace
Written By
Utsav Mittal
Under the tutelage of The HR Club
IMI-New Delhi
HR Panorama 