Insights Archive
One of the greatest things about modern society is our increasing acceptance of talking about our emotions. Here's my insights to measuring happiness at a systemic level.
On the Record: Why Employees Need a Voice
For real change to happen, we need good feedback. But anonymous responses can only get you so far. Here’s a look at why you should seek to build a psychologically safe space to foster a true employee voice.
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Why asking your people about returning after they’ve come back to the office makes the most sense for everyone
Every company that went remote during the pandemic has to grapple with returning to the office. However, asking your people to make a long-term decision about going back before they’ve actually set foot in the office is bound to produce skewed results. Here’s how you can get to know how your people really feel.
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How to scale while keeping your company culture intact
Many companies are looking to scale up as they emerge from the COVID pandemic. Yet, one of the biggest concerns they have is being able to scale with their culture intact. It’s entirely possible with a team-first focus, rather than a top-down approach.
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Wellbeing – the ultimate (pandemic) shock absorber
The 9th World Happiness Report acts as an excellent benchmark for our wellbeing data. And, Friday Pulse clients have fared significantly better than their peers during the pandemic. Here’s a detailed look at how this happened.
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What to do when one size doesn’t fit all
Many CEOS have recently made the news because they expressed that working from home is an aberration and not the new normal. I completely disagree. Even after the pandemic, people will still want flexible working conditions. Here’s how I believe companies can create a culture that can support and meet the needs of their people.
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The Workplace Trends that Matter in 2021
2021 has felt a lot like 2020, but that doesn’t mean it will be the same year. I took a look at some of the top workplace culture trends for 2021. I found, we’ll need flexibility to stay agile and survive the trials the year will bring, but we can win out in the end.
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2020 was tough — here’s what you and your organization can learn from it
2020 has been a tough year. Yet, it’s taught us some powerful lessons about self-care and trusting the people within our organizations. Here’s a look at what I think we should take from 2020 as we head into 2021.
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FridayOne: The Happiness Test for Everyone
With pandemic fatigue and burnout on the horizon, it’s important to take a step back and take care of yourself. To help, I’ve created FridayOne — an individual Happiness Test — to help you reflect on how happy you are at work. This five-minute test gives you a personalised report packed with insights and tips.
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Why times of crisis are an opportunity for positive change
Times are tough. We are emotionally exhausted because the current crisis has turned into something chronic. But even when things are bad an opportunity exists for us to enact positive change.
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Happiness and the Function of Emotions: An Interview at the Global Happiness at Work Summit
This week was the 2020 Global Happiness at Work Summit, and I was proud to be a sponsor of the event. Sarah Metcalfe from the WooHoo Partnership and I sat down (virtually, of course) in a wide-ranging interview where we discussed the meaning of being happy at work, resilience in COVID-19, and the function of […]
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Breaking the Habit: A Four-day Workweek?
COVID-19 forced many of us to work remotely and as lockdown conditions continued, work-life balance eroded. My team and I at Friday Pulse have always passionate about improving the world of work and, today, we’re practising what we preach by focusing on our own wellbeing – and moving to a four-day workweek.
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To Survive the Crisis, Think Creatively
90% of executives believe that COVID-19 has changed how their businesses will operate across the next five years. Companies are now looking for innovative solutions to survive. But innovation can’t come from nowhere — it must be fostered in positive environments, and if you innovate the way you take care of your people, creativity will follow.
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Surviving burnout: a guide for leaders
The pandemic has created a fertile environment for burnout in everyone. While not having anywhere to go on holiday makes taking time off difficult, it’s an incredibly important part of staving off burnout. Leaders can protect their teams by establishing clear boundaries and listening to their people.
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The next normal requires employee empowerment
Workplaces are now very different places. Businesses have to be sensitive to the way their employees frame risk as they make decisions on how quickly they open. By looking at your employees through The Five Ways to Happiness at Work, you can empower your people during this time of increased and continued anxiety.
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Why Everything Must Work at the Team Level
Teams are the instruments of change in a company. Changes in their microcultures are more likely to shape your company's culture than anything else. In today's COVID-19 world, flexible team sizes are a must, and small teams are how companies will be able to climb the resilience curve.
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The Science of Happiness: Connecting – Why Relationships at Work Matter
I’m always talking about the science of happiness and how it can make our work lives better. In this series on The Five Ways to Happiness at Work, I sit down with my dear friend and colleague Dr. Jody Aked. With the help of Friday Pulse, we’ll be diving into each of The Five Ways. With Connect being the most important component, we talk about how teams can create real friendships in the workplace.
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The Future of Employee Engagement: The Case for The Happiness KPI™
Employee engagement is a stagnant idea. And while “How have you felt at work this week?” may feel like an awkward question to ask employees, talking about people’s emotional experience of work — their happiness — and measuring it in the workplace can lead to improved team morale, greater resilience, more innovation and greater productivity.
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Boredom is a job killer and why we need an “interest” stimulus
Boredom is not only a joy killer. It’s a job killer. But when we think about why people leave jobs, we often focus on stress, not boredom. Here’s why we need an ‘interest’ stimulus.
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International Day of Happiness 2021 – why workplace happiness is good for everyone
International Day of Happiness in the middle of a pandemic seems a bit odd, but the line between work and home has never been more blurred. That’s why happiness at work is important to your happiness at home.
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The Fundamental Flaws of the eNPS & why the Happiness KPI is the answer
There's now some reason to be optimistic, and many employers are beginning to look beyond pandemic conditions and hoping to accelerate their growth. To achieve this, leaders need to ensure they have the right people. And, while the eNPS (employee Net Promoter Score) can help track whether teams are working well together, it is not a headline indicator of employee experience and it should not be how companies think of wellbeing.
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The Bluest of Blue Mondays
As managers continue to play an essential role in determining how well their organizations navigate the ongoing pandemic, we provide some practical, positive advice for beating the Blue Monday ‘blues’ this year.
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Remembering Tony Hsieh (1973-2020)
It was with great sadness that we heard that the former CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieh, died last week. Tony was a pioneer in the employee happiness and wellbeing space and firmly believed it was essential to business success. Because of our aligned interests, Tony was an early friend and supporter of both me and my business, Friday Pulse. At this time, I want to offer my condolences to his loved ones and friends, and share some thoughts about the impact Tony had on me.
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There’s a vaccine on the way—we just need resilience till it gets here
A vaccine is on the horizon! While that’s the best news we’ve had in a while, it’s offset by the sobering number of cases surging around the world. We’re entering a new wave of lockdowns and we know how to build the resilience necessary to survive. Here’s how we do it.
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What does World Mental Health Day mean for leaders?
As World Mental Health Day approaches, it’s my firm belief that leaders need to pay attention to their team’s mental health and take active steps to preventing burnout. Here’s how they can do it.
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Should I Stay or Should I Go…Back to the Office?
Team relationships and friendships at work have eroded because of the current COVID-19 pandemic. As we’re thinking about returning to the workplace, leaders need to address how to make deliberate efforts to encourage positive social interaction amongst teams, while rethinking how the office fits into their business.
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How the size of an organisation impacts employee happiness
In the months since my piece on the curve of resilience, many businesses have started to bounce back. Now is the time to envision what your recovery will look like. My challenge to you is not just to rebuild, but to make your organisation structure something better than it was before.
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Being fair in redundancy
I once talked to my father about how difficult it was to make someone redundant. As a former CEO himself, I thought he could relate. He looked me in the eye and said, “No, son. It’s a clear decision that is difficult to implement.” If done wrong, letting someone go has the potential to hurt your company in more ways than one. Here’s how to do it right.
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The five workplace culture trends of 2020 revisited
In January, I shared what I thought would be the big workplace culture trends for 2020. A lot has happened since then. So, how did the predictions hold up?
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How psychological safety is a haven against racism
There is no place for racism, prejudice or hatred in the world – let alone the business world. It is against all the principles of emotional and mental wellbeing that I have tried to uphold in my research and work.
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OK is the new normal (and that’s not OK)
Where once the average response to “How have you felt at work this week?” was happy, the new normal is now OK. The cost of a workforce becoming just “OK” about work can be high but connecting with your team in better ways may be a feasible solution.
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