A wave is rolling over corporate America, across HR departments from Google to Zappos. The emergence of the chief happiness officer (CHO), once met with stifled sniggers and confused expressions, reflects the increasing importance placed on cultivating a contented workforce to attract and retain the most sparkling talent.
Now the CHO is cropping up around the UK and Europe, with the role varying from championing customer service to a more traditional HR function.
“The CHO’s job is to spearhead different initiatives to make people happier, like celebrations, training, events and similar activities in the workplace that help people do great work and see the purpose of what they do,” says consultant Alexander Kjerulf, co-founder at WooHoo inc in Denmark. Kjerulf conducts speeches and workshops worldwide to help companies such as Lego and Ikea create happier workplaces.
Fiona Duffy, CHO of the London and Brighton-based Happy Startup School, meanwhile, sees her duties falling under the marketing umbrella. “I dedicate my time to build and retain relationships with people passionate about the Happy Startup School and our mission to change the stereotype of business, to make it less about chasing profits,” she says.
The fundamentals of happiness have their roots in basic human psychology, Kjerulf says, but different workplaces face different challenges, so the message has to be tailored. “Maybe staff are really busy and need to know how to stay happy in the face of time pressure. Maybe the company is in trouble and needs to know how to deal with a crisis. Or maybe they’ve just grown complacent and sated and need a wake-up call,” he says.
To take on this job, it comes as no surprise that being a happy person yourself is at the top of the list. A CHO “should be someone who can inspire happiness in others by their nature, and someone who is fun, likeable and has a lot of energy”, says Kjerulf. “It should also be a person who genuinely cares about the wellbeing of people in the workplace.”
Duffy agrees. “CHOs all have one thing in common: an innate ability to bring out the best in the people around them. They need to understand problems and offer up solutions that optimise for happiness, whether that’s through customer support or striving for happiness within teams.” Her job title alone has prompted plenty of compliments. “It always strikes up curiosity and conversation. It’s almost become my identity,” she says.
Personal attributes are more critical than specific qualifications, it seems. Prior to his Woohoo adventures, Kjerulf spent a decade as a consultant and entrepreneur in IT. It was only when he sold his IT consultancy, Enterprise Systems, that he decided to pursue happiness at work. Duffy, meanwhile, dived in to her current role straight after graduation as an alternative to the corporate, top-down management career path she says graduates often think is their only option. “I’ve sort of struck gold with my job at the very first hurdle leaving university,” she says.
But, like in any job, there have got to be gripes, right? Duffy struggles to think of any. “Perhaps the fear of failure? Organising any large crazy event can have its challenges but we learn to embrace failure as a learning curve in our environment,” she says. Working with the (fortunately few) clients who are reluctant to create a happier workplace is Kjerulf’s grievance. “If you don’t do something, nothing is going to change.”
Duffy reels off advice for budding CHOs: attend as many events as you can, escape the boardroom to cultivate those great ideas, and leave your ego at the door. “You can build a much stronger connection with people asking them about their family and interests before questioning them about what they do for a living,” she says. But be warned. “People are going to think you’re weird,” says Kjerulf, “especially in the UK, where there is a real mistrust of happiness. So you have to be OK with being a little ‘out there’ and have to believe in yourself and your message.”
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