You can’t be a TOP performer if you are not happy

Oxford researchers De Neve and Ward, writing in their recent HBR Press book, Why Workplace Wellbeing Matters, observe that most of us spend a third of our waking lives at work and yet whether work is making us happy rarely gets serious attention. Research from Alight's 2025 Employee Mindset Study adds a striking data point to that question, 85% of workers have access to a wellness programme, yet only a third use it.

Are workplaces responsible for our happiness and wellbeing? 

From what I have seen, workplaces that look to force wellbeing on people have mixed success.  No doubt there are a range of reasons for this, however my hypothesis is that the corporate wellbeing programmes are often seen as Care Washing. Where real world expectations on people are at odds with the mantras and content of the, no doubt well intentioned wellbeing programmes. 

What happiness actually means

A part of our wellbeing be it professionally or personally is our perceived level of happiness.  I use the word perceived as it’s only really us that can determine what makes us truly happy.  When coaching people the question of happiness is something people will often only have a superficial view of.  It’s common that many of the drivers of happiness are external, possessions, people, events.  They all matter, however, we are susceptible to unhappiness when these things don’t go the way we’d like.  And when we are unhappy we leave ourselves vulnerable to not performing at our best.

I’d argue you can't sustainably perform at your best if you're not happy. Not because happiness makes you work harder, but because unhappiness is a drain on the cognitive and emotional resources that performance requires. Our performance foundations are stronger when we are looking after ourselves. I call this PRIMEing ourselves for success.  Where PRIMEä is a mnemonic that stands for:

·      Physically looking after ourselves,

·      ensuring we are well Rested,

·      managing our Intake (the foods we eat and the drinks we drink),

·      giving enough attention to managing our Mind and emotions

·      being aware of our Energy. 

When these five areas are being managed well, I’ve never met anyone whose happiness doesn’t increase and as a result their ability to deal with what comes their way.  Then their performance improves along with the results they would like to see.

Getting specific about happiness

Most people are unclear about what happiness actually means to them. They're chasing a vague feeling rather than something specific and achievable. A bit like having a vague destination on a journey.  OK to a point, however, there comes a time when the specifics matter.  Getting beyond the vague and really thinking about what it means for us to be happy is time well invested.  As an example, living in alignment with our values is one route to move beyond the vague. And yet when asking people what their values are, a common response is I’ve never really thought about them. Being more deliberate about what happiness actually means and then designing a sustainable approach to living like that is something I’ve never seen anyone regret.  I include myself in this and know that just like the majority of people I fall short of what makes me happy when I am not paying enough attention to it.

The happiness delay trap

Many people are delaying happiness. This is another common situation I see.  "I'll be happy when...".  This sets us up with a gap that is unbridgeable. When delaying happiness we fuel ourselves with feelgood neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, which increase as we pursue the thing we want.  When achieving the thing, we quickly adapt to it being the norm and therefore the happiness is often short lived.  We are left with a hole as those feelgood feelings dissipate.  We want them back, so we then set ourselves up with another thing to pursue.  And so the cycle begins again. In 1971 psychologists Brickman and Campbell coined the phrase the hedonic treadmill to describe this situation where we are running to standstill.  Shifting our focus on inward can provide sources of happiness that are not reliant on some future plans or success.  This is not to say those things are not important.  They are.  However, if our happiness is delayed for them we are likely to be disappointed.  To conclude this section I’ll leave you with a stat from a Deloitte study in which 89% of C-suite executives surveyed reported that improving their well-being is a top priority for them. This makes me thoughtful about what priority happiness and wellbeing have been earlier in their careers before they reached the C-Suite.

Designing the conditions for happiness

Happiness needs the right conditions.  Despite what toxic positivity might suggest, I don’t think you can just decide to be happy. Or if you can this risks suppressing a whole lot of other emotions which will only come back stronger. Once we have our view of what happiness means to us we can begin designing and implementing the conditions that make it more likely. Shaping our environment is a critical component of this.  Being clear on what we can control, influence and need to accept are critical.  Of course being clear is not enough.  We then need to take action. 

Making happiness a priority

And this brings me back to the beginning of this article.  I’d argue taking action on our happiness is not something to outsource to a corporate wellbeing programme, another person or physical thing. If we really want to be a TOP performer then, doing that from a place of solid foundations with an environment designed for you, by you are essential components to that everyday happiness that we need if we are to successfully deal with what comes our way.  Why delay making this a priority like those C-Suite executives?