Happiness is a skill that can be trained. So says Elga Corricelli, positive transformation consultant for businesses and advisor at LifeGate Way.
Happiness is not merely an inscrutable feeling deep within us; it is a competence, a soft skill that we can train and develop through dedicated tools and pathways. A happy person lives better, feels more fulfilled and satisfied, and is also healthier. When this happiness is cultivated in the workplace, both the family and personal sphere benefit on one side, and productivity on the other, with advantages that flow through to the organisation as a whole. This is not theory — the numbers speak for themselves: it is the science of happiness, grounded in neuroscience. A study carried out some years ago by Harvard Business Review shows that a happy, engaged team can increase sales by an average of 37 per cent, productivity by 31 per cent, and staff retention by 40 per cent.
But what exactly is happiness, and what role can it play in the business world? We discussed this with Elga Corricelli, positive transformation consultant for organisations and advisor for the People area of LifeGate Way, the LifeGate group subsidiary focused on sustainable startups. Together with Elisabetta Dallavalle and Sandro Formica, Elga Corricelli founded the Osservatorio BenEssere Felicità in Italy, the association that was the first to measure happiness in organisations, involving more than a thousand workers.
After many years in the world of communications, Elga Corricelli found herself out of alignment with the values of the organisation she was working for, feeling that she was unable to give her best. This awareness is precisely the foundation of the work of searching for happiness, and from it a new path emerged for her — first in study, then professionally.
Let's start from the basics: what is happiness?
Happiness is an emotion, but it is also a meta-competence, a soft skill, an attitude that we all have and must exercise. Thanks to international studies, particularly from the United States, we now know that 50 per cent of happiness has a genetic component, which makes up each person's natural disposition; 10 per cent depends on external factors and events; and 40 per cent depends on us. Knowing that we all have a predisposition to be happy, and that our happiness is in our own hands, is incredible news. This is what studies in positive psychology tell us, backed by neuroscience.
How can we be happier?
We need to start from an awareness of ourselves and our needs, and then work out how to meet them. In the same way, we must discover what our values are and align our actions with them. It is also important to discover and nurture our talents — these do not necessarily have to be extraordinary abilities, but can also be small skills that add value to what we do.
We can train our attitude towards positive thinking, find a purpose to devote ourselves to and to which we can make our own personal contribution, and pay attention to the positive emotions we experience every day but so often ignore — such as gratitude or kindness. We can use the power of imagination constructively, projecting ourselves with all five senses into a reality that evokes positive feelings, rather than using it to anticipate negative situations or ones that cause us anxiety. This is what is known as directed imagination, also used by athletes to improve their performance — a technique that exploits the brain's inability to distinguish between what we imagine and what we actually experience. Mindfulness is also an extremely powerful tool for recharging, living in the present, and lightening the burdens we carry. Let us bear in mind that each of us has eighty thousand thoughts a day, and more than half of them are negative.
How can we bring happiness into a company?
As we said, self-awareness — knowing oneself — is the foundation of happiness. Workers should favour an organisation that is in line with their own values and a job that allows them to apply their own talents, because in this way they will work better and be happier. Indeed, when we make a valuable contribution to our goal, to our purpose, we do more and do it better, to the point of losing all track of time.
Knowing what makes us feel good allows us to make better choices and feel more fulfilled and happy. Not only that: it also enables others to express themselves authentically and move closer to their own wellbeing. Workers must bring their own uniqueness to the team and speak the language of needs — that is, be clear about what they need in order to work at their best and without conflict. Needs and values are personal, but when you join a team it is possible to align them with those of others. We human beings are made to collaborate, to include, to exchange views and opinions, to build things together. This is why loneliness is a parameter measured by our Osservatorio, because loneliness is a feeling of abandonment, in which one finds oneself without external resources — the very opposite of happiness.
What can an organisation do to foster the team's happiness?
Organisations should aim to be positive; this is the term used for those that work in alignment with their own values and promote happiness, making possible everything we have just mentioned through active listening, accepting people as they are, and ensuring that the company's mission and values are consistent with the behaviour of its leadership. Those at the top of the organisational chart must be the first to set an example.
Promoting a system based on trust and transparency rather than control and competitiveness, one that encourages generative and collaborative dynamics aimed at the common good, also moves in the right direction. In teamwork it is essential to share, to make oneself available, to free up creativity and lateral thinking — and therefore innovation. By contrast, when we fear failure and dread the judgement of others, we hold ourselves back and do things the way we have always done them. To push ourselves beyond habit, we need an environment that trusts us.
What advice can we offer to startups?
A happy organisation is more productive, has a greater chance of success, and is more likely to be sustainable over time. Working on happiness within a company is therefore a win-win activity, beneficial from every point of view, and there is never a wrong moment to embark on it. There is no doubt, however, that if the foundations for building a positive organisation are laid right from the startup phase, there is everything to gain. So, by training our company in soft skills from the very beginning, we can build an organisation that is more aligned and more productive.
What is the relationship between happiness and health, and what are the economic consequences of this link?
Neuroscience, to which the science of happiness is closely tied, analyses how a person behaves based on the stimuli they receive and what their physiological response is. The findings show that happiness produces positive hormones such as dopamine and serotonin. These in turn mean that the person falls ill less often, in contrast to negative hormones, which place a burden on the immune system.
One of the reasons attention is being drawn to the topic of happiness at work is also the alarm raised by the World Health Organization (WHO) over the enormous number of people experiencing burnout — that is, those going through exhaustion at work. According to research by Gallup, it is a condition that as many as 28 per cent of the population has experienced frequently. People's distress also translates into a loss of profitability for companies. Gallup has also analysed the economic consequences: these amount to a total of $322 billion in lost turnover globally, and $20 million going up in smoke due to missed business for every 10,000 workers in difficulty.
Where do we stand with happiness at work in Italy?
To measure exactly this, the first BenEssere e felicità Observatory of the Ricerca felicità association was established. The 2021 edition involved 1,300 participants — employees or self-employed professionals — divided into baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), Generation X (1965–1980), millennials (1981–1996) and Generation Z (from 1997 onwards).
The results show that Italians are on average satisfied with their work, with some inevitable differences depending on gender, age and region of residence. For example, women are more dissatisfied than men regarding career opportunities (44 per cent versus 35 per cent), and the north-east is less happy than the south. Baby boomers are happier than Generation Z, while Generation X is very concerned about the future. The dissatisfaction among younger people is also linked to the philosophy that has been dubbed YOLO (you only live once): they are not content simply to receive a salary at the end of the month, but care about making a valuable contribution to the organisation. Cutting across the entire population surveyed, a lack of alignment in values between workers and companies emerges, accompanied by a perception of limited orientation towards the future.
The 2022 edition of the Observatory will be available in a few weeks and will also explore other dimensions, such as the happiness rate among entrepreneurs, the motivations that drive people to change jobs, and the relationship between happiness and sustainability.
