Understanding how people wish to feel at work.

Ongoing research - June 2022

Along with the poll on our website, we asked over 18’000 employees from 35 different countries which emotions they wish to feel most frequently at work. And we asked them how often they, actually, get to experience them at work.

What we found: Our preliminary results show that people differ considerably in how they wish to feel at work - and in how often they, actually, get to experience these feelings at work. In countries in which employees experience their desired emotions regularly at work – what we call “emotional fit” – people tend to be happier with life and less inclined to engage in maladaptive coping processes.  

Why it matters: Organizations often engage in happiness initiatives that adopt a one-size-fits-all strategy - but our research shows that organizations need to embrace human diversity also in terms of emotional needs. Moving towards a more fine-grained understanding of what employees actually want to feel at work supports organizations in crafting psychological and physical environments that better fit with their employees' needs. 

What next: To build more emotionally inclusive workplaces, leaders should start asking their employees what they wish to feel at work and then give employees the autonomy that's needed to experience these very feelings.

If you need support in these endeavors, touch base with us to explore our partnership opportunities.  

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