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HAPPINESS AT WORK IS LIKE A GOOD CAKE - IT HAS THREE TIERS

HAPPINESS AT WORK IS LIKE A GOOD CAKE - IT HAS THREE TIERS

THIS WEEK marks International Week of Happiness at Work (20-26 September) and, with work playing such a major role in our lives, it’s crucial that we experience happiness in the office as well as in our personal lives.

Looking closely at the psychology behind happiness – considering that everyone has different interpretations of joy – happiness can be narrowed down to three tiers: pleasure (a short-term moment that can have infinite benefits), passion (a medium-term activity or pursuit that provides a sense of achievement), and purpose (a long-term goal that gives you true fulfilment).

The workplace should be aiming to hit all three in order to achieve employee happiness and wellbeing. This was a founding principle for Dice directors Wayne Oakes and Raj Somal, having both experienced too many firms that didn’t prioritise, or even seem interested in, creating a positive work environment.

Wayne said:

“With everyone spending a third of their lives at work, we firmly believe that companies should be aiming to provide the three key levels of happiness for their employees. Staff wellbeing therefore forms part of our core values and shaped our wide-ranging staff benefits – all of which are geared towards improving wellbeing and team building.

“To celebrate International Week of Happiness at Work, we are therefore doing something a little different to consciously meet all three tiers of happiness.”

Tier one: pleasure

To hit the tier one pleasure level, the entire Dice team gathered in the office to celebrate with deliveries from Doughnotts and Cubed Cuts and Coffee – two great local Nottingham businesses.

“It was a great opportunity to have a team catch up and play a few rounds of pool, away from desks and screens. Plus, food treats are always popular with the team!”added Wayne.

Businesses can work to ensure that their employees experience this level of happiness by offering things such as free fruit and treats, enhanced tea and coffee facilities, team lunches or an exciting company events calendar. Often, when companies look to offer staff benefits, tier one of happiness is the first one they consider.

Tier two: passion

A lot of companies already recognise, and appreciate, staff and their passions outside of work. But many are still missing the link between how they can offer this as a tangible benefit to their staff to improve their overall happiness and wellbeing.

Wayne said:

“With Covid-19 having changed the status quo on remote and flexible working, offering this as standard is a great place to start in terms of empowering your staff to make the most of their time outside of work.

“We chose to celebrate our team's passions by giving them time off to pursue them. Offering all staff a half day off, which meant that everyone had some free time to enjoy a hobby or activity that brings them contentment, and enjoy the goodness that tier two of happiness brings.”

Other benefits that companies can offer, to help staff pursue their passions, include free gym memberships, social clubs or classes, and even paid CSR days.

Tier three: purpose

The third tier of happiness is the deepest and arguably most important. It’s not really one that can be hit with a free perk or added benefit. In order to ensure staff feel truly fulfilled at work, companies must offer rewarding roles, proper professional development and a company ethos that their staff can really get behind.

Indeed, culture is just as important as the actual day-to-day work, with Glassdoor reporting that 56% of employees rank company culture above compensation.

Wayne added:

“We firmly believe that feeling like your work has purpose is the key driver to getting out of bed each morning. We’re very fortunate to work on some incredible projects such as an exciting modular scheme in Nottinghamshire and the landmark development with Ilke Homes on the former Boots site, which we have just been appointed to.

“We’re very proud of the culture we’ve built at Dice since we established the business in 2018, offering unlimited annual leave, a flexible working policy (in place long before COVID-19 hit), an open-door approach to management, a relaxed office hub environment, a busy team social calendar, as well as a pool table and darts board in the office with a fully stocked beer and wine fridge.”

With a staff retention rate of 87%, which is above the national average, Dice is a small team that is growing fast. With more and more candidates focussing on company values and their own wellbeing, it surely won’t be long before businesses everywhere adopt the same approach of trying to hit all three tiers of happiness at work in order to attract and retain the best talent.

To find out more about Dice, please visit diceconsult.co.uk


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