This March 20 is World Happiness Day and the date forces, rather than celebrating, to reflect on the conditions of well-being and satisfaction in which employees are performing their duties in companies in the midst of the pandemic.
(Read: Teleworkers, the New Players in the World of Work)
Experts point out that the terms of virtuality and isolation have passed a debt collection bill to people, so at this point they show exhaustion and dissatisfaction.
(Read: Companies Will Continue Flexible or Remote Work After Covid-19)
A survey in four cities in the country shows that 4 in 10 Colombians say they feel quite exhausted and that 7 in 10 consider switching activity if possible.
It also shows that women feel more exhausted than men. Those who most express this condition are between the ages of 25 and 35. The main causes of fatigue are inability to disconnect from technology, work more intensively and not take vacations.
Exhaustion, according to FTI Consulting, who conducted the study, is noticeable in that half-affirmation that the time is not enough to pause and stop during the day because it would be “a waste of time.”
A person spends about 90,000 hours of their life at work, which would represent about a third of their life. Hence the importance of well-being and happiness, warns LIVE 13.5 °, organizer of the First Week of Happiness from March 18 to 23 on behalf of the World Happiness Foundation.
It ensures that “employees who are overworked, stressed, underpaid, frustrated or sick cannot improve their jobs, which significantly diminishes their performance.”
And it adds that this is one of the reasons why companies like IBM, Google, Deloitte, and others have appointed Directors of Happiness and Directors of Mindfulness in their organizations.
WHAT MUST BE DONE
Deloitte published a series of tips for companies to improve the quality of life of employees when it comes to telecommuting. Among them they mention taking care of the physical and mental well-being of employees.
An organization that cares about it and focuses on the happiness of its employees must act to maintain and strengthen that status. The key to attracting and retaining happy employees is developing wellness programs and work incentives that affect motivation, commitment and productivity.
For Camilo Mejía Landucci, CEO of Buk Colombia, the concern of companies is to clearly identify the needs of their employees by betting on the well-being of work, beyond the health benefits, in an environment that gives confidence.
By increasing happiness, conflict is reduced, there are fewer work-related accidents and it is easier to tackle both personal and professional challenges. “Positive emotions ensure that employees develop a creative, flexible and optimistic mindset that helps in crisis situations and unforeseen working conditions,” says Mejía.
Rafael González, partner of 3weeks Consulting Latam, says that in the strategies to ensure employee well-being, it is imperative to provide input for neuroscientific advancements that help to understand the treatment of negative thoughts and unpleasant emotions typical of the context in which we live. around the world, such as fear, frustration, fear, insecurity.
“The value of digital culture and thus teleworking is indisputable (productivity, costs, mobility, environmental pollution …). Studies say there is a positive correlation between teleworking and well-being, but I am afraid that sometimes reality says otherwise. a big gap in the identification, attention and guidance of employees in the field of emotional, nutritional / nutritional and mental aspects This is where the great challenge of this wellness practice lies, ”he concludes.
Ways to improve
An application is intended to train people personally or as employees of a company to be happy. It’s called Munay and has had 1,200 downloads since its launch in January. It encompasses 7 areas of human relationships: the couple, the family, the friends, the community, the resources and the work.
“A happy person always wants to give the best of himself in the environment in which he is. People should not be happier to be more productive, this is using happiness as a means to an end, and happiness is an end in itself, ”said Munay CEO, Camilo Mejía Zacipa.