Happy employees don’t jump ship

From hiring a Chief Happiness Officer to introducing ping pong tables, the pursuit of happiness by employers continues to evolve in the workplace.

Image: shutterstock.com

When Google promoted a software engineer named Chade-Meng Tan to the role of “Jolly Good Fellow”, his career – and the entire culture of Silicon Valley – took a sharp turn.

Meng, a cheerful employee valued for his motivational qualities, went from developing mobile search tools to spreading happiness across the organisation. Happiness became his job.

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Cary Cooper and Ivan Robertson
About the Author
Cary L. Cooper is 50th Anniversary Professor of Organisational Psychology and Health at Manchester Business School, and visiting professor at Lancaster University. Ivan Robertson is a Founding Director of Robertson Cooper Ltd – a leading provider of psychological well-being and engagement solutions to organizations and Emeritus Professor of Work & Organizational Psychology at The University of Manchester.