Mark Kaplan

Many argue that Corporate Culture is not in what is written but in how decisions are made. The decisions of each individual, the decisions of line managers, the decisions of the C suite, and even the decisions of supply chains, stakeholders, and customers are all important. Everyone is part of the Corporate Culture because there are endless feedback loops. The decisions about how everyone is to be treated and the Mission are in every communication.

I recently purchased some upgrade wheels for my road bike from an online warehouse. I went through their information and was happy with my selection. It was my mistake that I ordered the incorrect hub for the rear wheel so I could not put it on my bike. I communicated to the bike shop and their reaction of helpfulness and several possibilities to solve the situation gave me a great feeling about my first-time purchase with this organization.

I summarized that these people were friendly, energized, and motivated to satisfy customers. It tells me they are looking at the long run with expectations I will return for more purchases. It even made me feel that it would be a great place to work. I think their Mission was accomplished.

The Mission

These behaviors of the bike shop are the results of executing a Mission with everyone in the loop included. The customer is at the end point but clearly defined in the Mission. Good products, good service, excellent delivery, accessable and helpful communications, and customer satisfaction are not only great for the customer, but the prospects for the company to be prosperous, and the opportunity for the workers to be proud.

As companies scale, the attitude of the Founders is more difficult to perpetuate. Many an expert has said that when a company grows beyond 150 employees, the culture of excellence is challenged. How do businesses perpetuate the Mission to create great customer service when the workers are in different cities/countries, work from home, have flexible hours, work for subsidiaries, and have so many different job functions?

Happiness and Corporate Culture

Businesses can create a culture of happiness. Work life balance seems to be a major concern for workers, but it becomes moot when workers are feeling satisfaction in their lives. This can occur even if workers are engaged for long hours and trying weeks. Work life balance is the total feeling of being purposeful and feeling your life has meaning.

A business has to have a Mission that is meaningful and inclusive. A business has to respect the individual as though they are the purpose of the Mission. A Mission to produce great products or services regardless of the human carnage it might create will have difficulty sustaining a homogeneous delivery of satisfaction to everyone involved.

What are the components of happiness that engender workers to the Mission? Happiness is the result of the brain’s stimulation of specific neurotransmitters and hormones. Everything we do in life is driven by a pursuit to feel the effects of these happiness brain chemicals. Both positive and negative behaviors deliver them. When we are not experiencing the effects of these happiness brain chemicals, our brain defaults to stimulating cortisol, a worry hormone or worse, adrenaline, an anxiety hormone.

So, the simple question would be how does a business allow workers to experience happiness? Happiness is driven by survival opportunities. Early man was seduced by Nature to follow certain practices we would think were natural.

The scientific truth is that man doesn’t survive without drives stimulated by the brain. Sex would seem to be natural, but we wouldn’t engage if it did not stimulate happiness. Without drives, we wouldn't be born with the appropriate behaviors for survival.

The need to learn, find mates, build community, and contribute to the bigger picture are necessary survival behaviors that are rewarded and induced by hormones and neurotransmitters. Survival is perpetuated by biological drives. The advertising media often interferes with what should be our goals.

The Behaviors of Happiness

What are some modern behaviors that stimulate the happiness chemicals dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin? Some good starting behaviors are learning, creating, contributing, health, and exercise. If you are a CEO or in charge of Human Resources, could you create a culture that encourages these behaviors?

Businesses should consider how they can incorporate these opportunities into the work schedules or educational programs of workers. These are the behaviors that satisfy the individual's need for survival opportunities. These are the behaviors that stimulate happiness brain chemicals. This is how the individual becomes integrated into the Mission when it includes his needs.

Would having workers in alignment with the Mission, not worried by work life balance, while enjoying being healthy and fit improve profits? Would it improve competitiveness? Maybe. If you could ensure improved profits and competitiveness, what would be a good price to pay?

Some businesses have superior cultures that contribute to their success. A superior culture is an indication workers are getting their needs met, but even more important, they are feeling purposeful. They are feeling engaged and that they are being afforded opportunities to improve who they are. These are all qualities of happiness.

Specific behaviors of happiness can be learning, creating, and contribution. They can be inculcated into daily routines by giving workers the opportunity to learn, some autonomy, and awareness of how they are contributing to both the Mission and customer experience. Promotions can be rewards based on performance, but the performance is driven by the worker’s own ambition.

Hard Work and Life Balance

Loyalty and retention can be improved if the worker has opportunity and feels his fate is his to determine. If the worker wants to work 100 hour weeks to improve his opportunities out of choice rather than fear, then work life balance will be a smaller concern. The worker has to decide by his own values which activities or lifestyle is most rewarding.

Maybe the hard charging worker can be given options like four-day weeks where he can work as long as he wants for four days and then gets recovery time. Maybe recovery is gained with four weeks of vacation time. Maybe the worker can be stimulated with free time to work on his own projects, which has been successful in many big organizations.

Surveys show that more than 50% of workers leave vacation time on the table and a high percentage come back more tired than when they left because they check in every day. Is this a productive culture? Workers are worried they will lose their jobs or fall too far behind if they vacation or don't keep up while they are supposed to be regenerating.

How do these fears play out on their personal lives when they are working? Consideration of the balances to create both high productivity and high worker satisfaction can be worthwhile. Can they coincide? These discussions might require a vision of what gets a business to its goals and sustains the success.

Coach for Happiness

Happiness can be coached. In this media rich world where advertising often takes control of our desires, many people are confused about how to find happiness. Science is comfortable that it has the answers and education about this knowledge can be enlightening.

Setting out the happiness behaviors with creating keystone habits can transform workers into enjoying their daily experiences. Each day they may say, “Wow, that was a good day?” We can experience good days one after another. If working is part of experiencing the good day, a business will enjoy tremendous benefits.

Create a culture of happiness and it will not seem like a painful exercise, but one in which you will ask what took you so long.