Happiness at Work in Challenging Times

Anita Brick: Hi, this is Anita Brick, and welcome to CareerCast at Chicago Booth, to help you advance in your career. Today we're delighted to be speaking with Jessica Pryce-Jones. She is CEO of iOpener, which is a UK-based consulting firm. And yes, you do some really remarkable things. You take the whole concept, which could be a little ephemeral, of happiness at work and really create very practical solutions.

Jessica had a career in banking and in consulting. Her work in coaching senior executives has culminated in a book called The Practical Guide to Achieving Happiness at Work, which will be published in 2010.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: Can I interrupt you there? Because I had a message from Wiley in the States saying that they don't like the title of the book.

Anita Brick: Oh, OK.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: It’s now going to be called Happiness at Work: Maximizing Your Psychological Capital for Success, which actually I do think is a much better title.

Anita Brick: Much more marketing cachet. I mean, this is kind of an ephemeral subject, although I would say it's near and dear to many people's hearts. We had a program in Singapore last night on this topic, and it was standing room only. What got you into starting your study? And I know you do a lot of research around happiness at work.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: Funnily enough, it was a throwaway comment by one of my business partners, Philippa Chapman, because we were sitting down and we were thinking, why does what we do work? And she was saying, fundamentally, you know, all we're really doing is giving people tools and techniques, and that makes them happier in their jobs. And I saw something in that.

And another comment two weeks later made me follow it up and think, I need to find out some research. And there wasn't that much there at the time. This was in 2003, and that was the beginning of the whole journey.

Anita Brick: Well, I mean, I know you are based in the UK, but are you seeing this as a universal concept, or do you think it's tied to any particular region?

Jessica Pryce-Jones: I think that happiness is a fundamental human driver, and we spend so much of our time at work. You probably spend, in your life, between 90 to 100,000 hours. That's a lot of time. If you're prepared to say no, I don't want to be happy in that very valuable time of yours, I think you'd be an extraordinary person. I think it applies to everybody in every job, no matter where you are, in which culture you're from.

Anita Brick: Now, one of the alums asked the question, how does happiness at work translate into personal happiness? I mean, to me, it would seem that they're highly correlated.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: Of course they are. And you get what's called a spillover effect—that if you're not happy at work, you know, you'll go home, you'll talk to anybody, friends, family about what's going on in your job. And similarly, if things are tough at home, there's the spillover into your working life. Of course, they're very highly correlated. Absolutely.

Anita Brick: So all right, so let's get practical. I know you started off doing qualitative research so that you could see what the key issues were and formulated an assessment—which, actually, people listening to this, you can go into Jess’s bio, and there is a link to the assessment, which you are welcome to take. And I know a report will be generated and sent to you.

I know there are five key elements to happiness at work. Start us off and tell us what those are.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: Well, the first key elements to happiness at work are contribution. And the good news is most people turn out wanting to do a great job at work. Then there’s conviction: believing in what you're doing; culture: working in the right place for you; commitment: you know you want to stick with it; and confidence in what you do. So it's not difficult.

Those five Cs and all of them are underpinned by three really important factors: pride, trust, and recognition.

Anita Brick: Do most people—what you've seen in terms of the measurements that you've taken, are most people above the median? Are they below the median? What are you finding on the different dimensions?

Jessica Pryce-Jones: There isn’t really a general answer, but let me give you this: on a scale of 1 to 7, we find that most people come in, the average is 5.2, the median is 5.2. OK, the good news is most people are pretty happy. We have a predisposition to being happy, which is a great thing. So you can tell if you're not happy, you're coming in 2 or 3, things must be pretty rough for you.

Anita Brick: OK, so how do you measure this? Someone asks the question, of course. YouThis is Booth. So someone said happiness seems to be—a weekend student—seems to be such a soft area. How do you measure happiness?

Jessica Pryce-Jones: To get the original measure, we did it in an anthropological way. Instead of going to the data and literature, we said, OK, what is it that makes people happy at work? We ran a bunch of focus groups and then did about 70 interviews, one-to-one interviews to get the raw data. And then we had about 100 statements that people had given us.

So we made a questionnaire out of that, and we came up with only 26 that are really fundamentally important. And they boil down to those five factors. The five Cs that I've talked to you about. So we have done very rigorous data analysis and research to get to what we understand happiness at work to be.

Anita Brick: An EMBA student said—this question may seem too wide, but what is happiness at work? And so maybe you can give us an example of someone that you think is the quintessential happy person at work, and then his or her question was, isn't it linked to a person's state of mind rather than the work environment?

Jessica Pryce-Jones: Absolutely. Let me just tell you a little bit about the theory that we came up with, because you want people—when you're developing something, you have to base it on a theory that you're trying to prove or disprove. And our theory is that happiness at work is made up of three key things for you as a person, which is what you bring to the party in terms of your genetic makeup, your talents, your skills, your strength being 50 percent.

Then the environment that you find yourself in is only 15 percent—the belonging bit—and becoming—the 35 percent that makes up your happiness at work is how you choose to react, behave, and create the situation that you're in. So that 35 percent is the most important bit, but you will find that the culture will either enable you, and you'll feel great because you fit, or you feel almost disabled by what you're experiencing because it so doesn't fit you.

And that's when it becomes kind of a huge monster. For example, I was talking to a fantastic Dane, very impressive guy, who'd been working in multinational companies, to go and work for a Chinese business and set up a global sales team. And the culture was so wrong for him as a Dane working in a Chinese business. And his fit was so bad that it really affected his contribution.

He felt he couldn't perform to his best, and that affected his confidence, and his commitment then went out the window. And so he found himself with a nine-month ... So he said that he was really suffering from the results of being in the wrong place for him, despite the fact that he was very good at creating global sales teams.

Anita Brick: Wow. So what did you advise him?

Jessica Pryce-Jones: Well, he worked out for himself that it was not the right place to be, but it had taken him to a breaking point to get there. And so I think the thing to work out is this—of course it is a mindset, but it's to recognize what the pressure points are for you. And self-awareness is an enormous part of this, because happiness for us isn't just about high moments, it's about how you mindfully manage the low moments.

When you do those well, that's when you grow and learn. And one of the key things for happiness at work is achieving your potential. And you don't achieve your potential without doing some tough stuff. So I know we're going through hard times at the moment, and people are having to face really difficult things, because when you come out of those you actually realize you really stretched yourself, you learned something and you grew as a result.

And that's key to remember.

Anita Brick: I'm totally on board with you. I believe that you can transform things, and you can use challenging times to really catapult yourself to the next level. How do you remind yourself in the moment, especially if the moment lasts for a while and seems permanent, that it is going to be an opportunity for positive growth and change as opposed to this huge austerity?

Jessica Pryce-Jones: One really interesting, interesting thing that you can do is to go back and to mindfully remember what your values are, and chances are, if you're in an organization which you selected and you chose to go there, it's because you resonate at some level with what that organization is trying to do. I would recommend people, they write down the values that they share with their organization, and they actively think through what those things are.

Maybe rank order them to make yourself think it through, and then to discuss how the tasks that you're doing fit those values. And that is something that has been shown to increase persistence, resistance, resilience, and increase enjoyment, too. It’s much better than a sugar hit.

Anita Brick: It's a good point. And I mean, there are lots of tools up on the Booth career website that you can assess your skills and values and all of those things, but what are some things that you can do to increase—on any of those five dimensions that you mentioned—to increase your happiness? If you feel like you're going to be where you are for a while, you're not miserable; it's like the culture is OK, the work is OK, but it's getting a little bit wearing. And so what can you do? What are some practical, concrete things that people listening can do to improve themselves on any of those five dimensions?

Jessica Pryce-Jones: I think one of the most important things that listeners can do is to do something which is called job crafting. And there's a wonderful woman called Amy Wrzesniewski who has come up with this as a process, and you could go and download her … I'll make sure that the link is attached for you. And what you do is you think through what are the relationships that you have that you really enjoy, and what are the tasks that you have that you really enjoy.

And you work out how you get more of what you really enjoy. So if you really enjoy talking to someone and brainstorming with that person, how are you going to get more of it? And people do this unmindfully. They're unaware of the fact that they do it. But the point is to go about this actively and mindfully so that you're aware of what you do.

And if you like, you're giving yourself some rewards for being in a difficult situation. So I really would recommend that. That is something people do.

Anita Brick: Because again, you're focusing on your strengths. I was talking to someone earlier this week who made a move to a company, and he loved the idea of moving to the company, but found that the cultural fit is not so good. He's entrepreneurial, and he works for a multinational where there are like a bazillion and three rules and processes for everything, and he's having a hard time.

So that's very good advice, because at least focusing on the strengths, you get a little bit of a hit, even if it's not your whole day, that kind of propels you through your day.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: Yes, and I'm sure that there will be a project out there for him that he could do where he would exercise his entrepreneurial skills. He might have to go and find it. It may not come to him. I'm a firm believer that if you look for something, you do get it.

Anita Brick: It's interesting. At some level, people may say, well, yeah, in a good environment, that's true. What are some things you think you can do to increase the chances that you're even going to, number one, notice that that project is out there; and number two, present yourself in a way that you are viewed as a good fit for it?

Jessica Pryce-Jones: I think in the current challenging environment, one of the things that is most useful to do is to network upwards. In order to do that, it's good to think about what you can give other people which is valuable to them, and easy for you to give. What can you trade? Because one of the first rules of life is reciprocity.

So if you do something for me, I will feel bound to do something for you.

Anita Brick: Yeah.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: And what could you do for somebody which is valuable for them and that you hunt them out and offer. And that way, you get yourself noticed and you get yourself into the swim of a different arena. So volunteering for something, offering to do something I think is extremely important right now.

Anita Brick: You know, a good point. It seemed like this time there was an abundance of questions like some of the ones we've already gotten from the Executive MBA students. Another one had asked the question: he is in a role, and he took over leadership from a much older colleague. And here's what he's about. He said, my colleague is 20 years my senior and I actually used to work for him.

This has created tension and brought out the worst in him. I tried to communicate how this new reporting could benefit him, but it hasn't worked. We're now trying to get him to move to another geography. I imagine other folks may be wrestling with similar circumstances, especially as older workers now need to stay in the workforce longer because of deteriorating savings.

So if someone is in a situation where they really don't want it to be unhappy, but things have changed and people are upset or frustrated or disappointed, what are some things that this person can do as a manager to reset the environment so that it's more collaborative and happier, not just for himself, but obviously for this very disappointed older coworker?

Jessica Pryce-Jones: I think with the very disappointed older coworker, I would really suggest having a fierce conversation—a conversation which may not be comfortable for him to have, but to recognize the emotion in it and to tackle head-on the disappointment, the frustration. Maybe there's a touch of humiliation in there, which always makes people fire up more, and to go for that as a conversation and to have it, to put it on the table, and to recognize that that's the first hurdle to de-heat the situation, to cool it down.

And then to offer—as a manager, to say, I want to make you look good in this, and how can we work towards making you look good? And the implication being that you're not going to look good if you're behaving in a way that is clearly getting in everybody else's way.

Anita Brick: Good point. I mean, if you're trying to kind of ship him off to another geographic location, he's no longer an asset. He's going to be viewed as a liability and could get the axe.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: And I think that's called passing the hot potato. And we see that in a lot of organizations in the public sector in the UK, those kind of people become very difficult to manage. So I would suggest that this is something for a manager. It's a really fantastic learning opportunity to learn how to deal with those situations. And if you can't do it by yourself, go and find a mentor.

I've been stunned and amazed, but I've been talking to some fantastic people as I'm writing this book, and every single CEO that I've been talking to has voluntarily brought up the subject of mentors, and they've all had two or three. So if you haven't got a mentor to help you right now, go get one, because it's, again, about how you get visible.

And when you take someone's advice, they really love you for it. And it makes you happy, because you know how to react, and it makes them happy because they're passing something on. It's a legacy.

Anita Brick: People ask about that a lot: “I really need to find a mentor.” From the conversations you've been having with these people, were there any takeaways about how they identified and got a mentor?

Jessica Pryce-Jones: The best way of finding a mentor … is to find somebody who is like you and who you aspire to be like. And if you tell someone, I really admire you and I aspire to be like you, most people, I'm flattered, they will immediately then say, yes, of course, I'll be your mentor when asked.

So don't pick someone who is not like you, and who doesn't know what you're having to go through. Because then it won’t be very easy for them to empathize with you, and it won't be very easy for them to offer you useful advice. So I think that's a really hot tip that I've found in the conversations I've been having: pick someone who is like you and who you like.

Anita Brick: That's a very good point, because I think sometimes people are looking to fill in skills and they're looking for a different perspective. It doesn't work out for the very reason that you mentioned. So thank you. Thank you for saying that.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: Also, think about: could I stand to be in the car for three hours with this person? If I can’t, then don't take them because you won't want to follow their advice.

Anita Brick: Yeah. It's like that “would you want to be stuck in an airport for six hours” interview question. So let's look at it from the other side. Now an evening student said, what strategies do you recommend to quickly getting over feeling depressed after a meeting with your boss that didn't go well?

Jessica Pryce-Jones: Well, first of all, I'd take myself out and do some exercise, go get some air, go and get in a different space. Change where you're at rather than walking out, going back to sit at your desk, and thinking that didn't go so well. And when you've done that and you've had literally a breather, then to ask, why didn't I think that that went well?

Because maybe the boss doesn't have the same perception. And so it would be interesting to go back and find out and to compare notes as a first step. And then the second step is, if you don't want to do that, to think, how could I have made that work better? Where do I particularly think that didn't work for me?

And if I was to play that again, what would I like to have done? So that you can change the strategy. Something that I would say, which I've only recently learned to do in the last few years, if you think that something is not going well, just to say, I think that this could be going better, and I would like to take some time to reflect on how I could make that happen.

Anita Brick: In the moment?

Jessica Pryce-Jones: Absolutely. In the moment. Because then you're taking ownership and you're showing that you have a maturity of understanding of the situation and that you can come back to it. And so don't hesitate to say, I would like this to be going better, and I'd like to reflect on how.

Anita Brick: I got it. Another question on the unhappiness note, an alum asked the question—I’ll set it up, and then ask the question. My current theory is that the former change agents have left organizations to be entrepreneurs or consultants, leaving at the helm of many organizations. Folks who are afraid of change don't know how to lead and didn't get where they are managing change.

The result is many unhappy people in organizations who know that things need to change. But that's not the culture. What can you share to help people off that point? Oh, that's a big question.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: That is a big question. And we've seen quite a lot of this in British banks who've been going through a tough time. And I completely can see that the culture is difficult to change because there's always elephants in the room and no one saying “Hello. There's not just one, there's about five in here.” And I think that the only way to do this is you cannot do it as an individual.

You have got to create alliances and to find other people to help you do this, because alone you can't do it. It's like being a lone voice in a boardroom. If you are a lone voice in the boardroom, you're just not going to get heard. You need one other person minimum and hopefully two to be heard. So the question is, who else out there shares your thoughts?

And that means some offline honest conversation with people who you think are influential, who can make things happen. And they're always, I call them nodes. Inside an organization there are always four or five people who have lots of influence. So who are they? What do they think and how do you get them on board?

Anita Brick: Got it. So if you are a manager and maybe you don't have control over the bigger culture, but you have control over, say, your business unit or your department or your group within the department, what are some practical things that a manager can do? And this is a question from an Exec MBA student to make sure that he or she is building a steady, happy work environment.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: One of the things that is absolutely crucial to do is in goal setting, and that is when you are setting goals as a manager for your team, for your business unit, you hand them out to the group so that they set the goals and they then feel a much keener sense of control and input and ownership responsibility for making them happen.

And what tends to happen right now is that everything is sucked upwards, like into a vacuum, and owned upwards, which means a sense of control downwards is really reduced. I can't tell you how much that impacts the individual's happiness.

Anita Brick: But what if I'm the manager and I already have my goals set for me? How do I still give someone who reports to me the perception and some reality around that you have some control over the goals, when I already know what the department goals are?

Jessica Pryce-Jones: You have to let go of how that's going to happen.

Anita Brick: Got it. OK.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: And let people make those choices for themselves by when they can deliver. And of course you can challenge them about what they say they can do, and that will show you how much they've bought into it—by challenging on the how. If the what is absolutely mandated to you, you must let go of the how.

Anita Brick: Right, and you may have to negotiate the deadlines because they may be mandated, but you may have to negotiate up and down, it sounds like.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: Yeah, absolutely. And it's this really clear data showing that even if you allow people to choose the order in which they do a task, they feel less anxiety and more control.

Anita Brick: Wow. And they get happier, right?

Jessica Pryce-Jones: Absolutely.

Anita Brick: There you go. Do you have time for two more questions?

Jessica Pryce-Jones: Totally. Fire away.

Anita Brick: So we all know that the job market … people are feeling more pressure. They have more to do, less resources to do it at the moment. And hopefully that's going to change over time. But right now, that's how people feel. So what are the top three things you would advise someone who is working to manage his or her career—and part of that is to be as happy as possible because we know you're more productive.

So what are the top three practical things that you would advise someone to make sure that they start doing today?

Jessica Pryce-Jones: I think that one of the most important things right now is to meet with people who are unlike you, and to talk to people that you wouldn't necessarily talk to in your daily life. Because if you're going to be in the same job for longer than you would have planned to be, and doing similar things, talking to similar clients, as long as you plan to be, how are you going to refresh yourself and grow?

And the only way to do that is to do things that you wouldn't otherwise do, and to set yourself some challenges outside that to be curious. What should you be reading? What films might you like to go and see? What networks might you like to join? And to think about some things and other arenas that will increase what I call hinterland, the bits about you that will be interesting to other people.

Sure as eggs are eggs, right now, jobs that are interesting you'll find by networking, and they will not necessarily be in your immediate sphere of influence. They may just be outside that.

Anita Brick: OK, so that's one: refresh yourself. Be curious. Do things you wouldn't normally do. What's number two?

Jessica Pryce-Jones: There's a terrible phrase that Winston Churchill used to use, which is “Keep buggering on.” And that is about your mindset. And what are you doing to make sure that you are strong, that you have the resilience that you need? Because we’ll feel it when we're in a room with you. And so how are you showing that to other people?

Because those who are the most resilient will be the people who endure and who get the opportunities. So what are you doing for yourself to manage that? And that isn’t staying longer at work, by the way. We've got very clear data in our database showing us that Americans are pretty unhappy because of long hours, and every hour that you work over 48 hours a week, it's looking like you're reducing your productivity by 1 percent.

So don't stay in the office. Go home and refresh yourself in a different way to ensure that you're resilient. That will be my second one.

Anita Brick: OK. And number three.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: And number three, take time for your friends. It's really clear that you get your best support not from coaches or counselors or anyone else like that, but from your friends. So are you getting the support that you need and who can give that to you, and when are you going to get it? How are you going to get it? Pick the phone up and call a friend.

Anita Brick: And I would also—I mean, not to interject myself, but I guess I just did—to keep that whole reciprocal flow, that exchange going on. As part of that process too.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: I couldn't agree more. Reciprocation. Yeah. If it's just take and no give, your friends won’t want to see you very much.

Anita Brick: And that's true. That's true. We all know … we all have a friend who sort of whines and complains. And now when you see that on the caller ID, the last thing you want to do is answer the phone.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: Right? And it's a great suck on your energy. I think a fourth thing would be to notice where your energy goes and what drains it, and avoid that, and what is it that adds to it.

Anita Brick: And all of that makes sense. And I think these are things you have control over too. You don't necessarily have control over the profitability of your organization, but you do have control over these because they're all things that you can do. Those are good. Thank you.

So one final question, and this is really more about you. Tell us what's the coolest thing that you've learned through your research, through all the interviews that you've done, that have actually helped you be happier at work?

Jessica Pryce-Jones: Well, one of the things that I really value is curiosity. And I realized that by going and talking to all these very wide circle of people that I've been privileged enough to to listen to their stories in their life, that has added an enormous amount to me. Listening to other people's stories has been thrilling. It's been a privilege, and it's been a really rare pleasure.

And that is something I'm definitely not going to give up, and I definitely want more of that.

Anita Brick: So curiosity is a high value for you, so having more of that makes you happier, it sounds like.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: Yes. And learning. So today I was talking to somebody who's in the British Special Forces, and he was just an amazing man. And to listen to what it's like losing men and still having to remain focused on the task, it reminds you that actually what we've got to go through now, it may be difficult for us personally, but in the grand scheme of things, it's really not that hard.

Anita Brick: Well, thank you for sharing that. Any final words of wisdom you want to share? Because this audience is a global audience.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: Any final words of wisdom?

Anita Brick: No pressure of course. Yeah.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: No pressure. Listening. Listening to the people that you're with will be like giving them a gift. So when you are with someone else, just listen and you'll learn an enormous amount.

Anita Brick: Right. Thank you so much. And please let's check back when the book comes out because it sounds like it's going to be great.

Jessica Pryce-Jones: Thank you. And thank you for the opportunity of talking to you.

Anita Brick: And two other things as you're listening to this. Please go into Jess's bio because there's a link if you want to take the Happiness at Work assessment and you can get a report back and there's no cost to you, so that would be great. And then I know, Jess, you mentioned that you would put the information about the job crafting process on your website.

So her website is www.iopener.co.uk. And thank you all for listening. This is Anita Brick with CareerCast at Chicago Booth. Keep advancing.