Maybe I lack school spirit, but I don’t get the focus on workplace happiness. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying morale isn’t important, but I think the notion that happy workers produce better widgets and make the office a place of wonder and delight is overstated.
I’m not alone in my view. In the Harvard Business Review, organizational behavior experts André Spicer of Cass Business School in London and Carl Cederström of Stockholm University, argue that the fuss about employee happiness is hyped and perhaps silly:
Firms spend money on happiness coaches, team-building exercises, gameplays, funsultants, and Chief Happiness Officers (yes, you’ll find one of those at Google). These activities and titles may appear jovial, or even bizarre, but companies are taking them extremely seriously.
