WORKTECH24 Tokyo,
Online
09 December 2024
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IWBI Social sustainability summit,
New York
13 December 2024
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IWBI Social sustainability summit,
New York
13 December 2024
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Serendipity and Storytelling - Key factors for Designing Great Workplaces,
Online
15 January 2025
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Designing for Dialogue: Meaningful Connections for a Flourishing Workplace,
Online
15 January 2025
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CoreNet Global UK Chapter Predictions and Resolutions 2025,
London
23 January 2025
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Wellbeing at Work Summit Middle East 2025,
Riyadh, Cairo and Dubai
04 February 2025
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Technology & Togetherness - Rethinking Technology’s Role in Relationship-Based Workplaces,
Online
12 February 2025
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June 4, 2018
Your happiness at work is not just down to your employer
by Cary Cooper and Ivan Robertson • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design
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. Google wasn’t the first to hire someone with the sole remit of enforcing employee contentment. In 1999, when Google was still a start-up, French fashion brand Kiabi hired Christine Jutard as its chief happiness officer. She was one of the first to perform the role. But once Google did it, happiness at work became a key metric and other organisations quickly adopted their approach. Three years after Meng’s appointment, fast food giant McDonald’s even promoted Ronald McDonald from brand mascot to CHO.
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