Jenn Lim, CEO of Delivering Happiness and Author of 'Beyond Happiness,' joins ChedHER to discuss how employers can create a culture of happiness and humanity, and ways to align your personal purpose with your work.

chedHER

How to Align Your Purpose With Your Work

our next guest is on a mission to teach others how to create workplace cultures that lead with happiness and humanity joining us now is jenn lim ceo of delivering happiness and best selling author of beyond happiness, we can definitely use some happiness tips. This friday jen So first question is, what does this type of workplace actually look like? Well, you know, that question is really interesting because it's a bit different, it's shifted and it's been more urgent to acknowledge um, what that is now versus 2020 Bc before Covid and I think the biggest thing that workplaces need to do is acknowledge that people just really want to feel heard and understood, so having the kind of work environment where we can have open dialogue and really approaching these changes that we're all going through and even hard decisions like, you know, we have layoffs and hiring freezes with a sense of vulnerability but also a sense of values and if you can instill that in everything you do then then you have a workplace is closer to happiness and humanity Yeah, it kind of reminds me of a common conversation we have on cheddar about gender parity and how it actually benefits companies, it's not just the right thing to do. So can you talk with us about how happy employees actually benefit an organization beyond just, you know, having a great environment to work in Yeah, you know what's cool about that is that we've known for several years that happier employees produce, you know, more productivity, more, higher engagement um you have better retention but I think we have to go beyond that now because it's not just those things. We're looking for happier employees also bring a sense of purpose to workplace. So I call it the double R. O. I. It's not just return on investments. When you prioritize and investment people, they invest in you too, but they're also creating a ripple of impact. So when individuals actually living a sense of purpose, they're helping the organization not just be more profitable but live their higher purpose as well together. Yeah, I love that word purpose and something you also mentioned was bc before, Covid. Why exactly do you think people are demanding changes to company culture right now, is it because we had time to kind of look at all of the issues at hand when it comes to our workplace during the pandemic? I think that's a huge part of it. I mean everyone got 2020 and we had a huge amount of time to actually look at, wait, do I really want to live my life from the moment I wake up to the time to go to sleep this way. So of course, like for us to adapt to those changes, we have people wanting to have higher wages or more flexibility. But as you pointed out, I think the biggest thing people are looking for are searching for a sense of purpose and how to be able to bring that in a way that the changes and the things that we had to endure. We're still processing it. So how can we actually show up in a way that's living more meaningfully in our everyday basis? Yeah. And speaking of processing things, Jen, I really want to talk with you about mental health. This new survey finds 81% of employees would prefer to work for companies that provide support for mental health concerns, but many feel their mental well being is not being prioritized. How can we change this stigma? Yeah, and I love that you bring this up because this issue just is coming up more and more and it needs to be addressed. And so I think one of the big things is that to build on your, your stat, what's interesting is that 80% about 80% of Ceos think that they're prioritizing well being for their people, but the reality is that only about 50 ish of employees percent, employees actually feel like they're being prioritized for them. So that's a huge gap, like that's 30%. So what do we do as leaders to address mental health is number one provide a sense of psychological safety. So basically allow people to share what they're feeling internally, not just about work, but also make sure that they're not going to be penalized or fired all those things and then actually make programs meaningful, not just getting, you know, like calm app or headspace app subscription and call it a day is actually making more meaningful programs, like hiring third party coaches actually to bring in and to actually address these mental health issues, both for ceos and for everyone in between. I'm glad that you mentioned a lot of those tips, especially because we know these are not unfounded stigmas, it's a very real concern for a lot of employees out there who maybe don't work at a company who is necessarily on the same page or as progressive when it comes to mental health. So do you have any advice for employees who maybe want to advocate for themselves on a professional level? Is there a way that's appropriate to do that in the workplace when it comes to your mental health? Totally. And I think this is one of the key issues of why we're seeing this great resignation regret because people aren't necessarily doing the most important work and that's not the work for the paycheck, it's the work within and by being able to understand who you are, not just your strengths, but also your shadows your highs and your lows, then you get a better sense of where you are as individual and be able to control more of what you, you know, how you really react and receive this world and then bringing it to your boss, your manager, etcetera and saying, you know what, I want to be best for us for this company, for my team. And if I'm not at my best, I'm not gonna be there. So how can we support each other in making sure that our collective mental health well being is, is good and solid enough so that we can actually endure all these shifts and changes together with a connected feeling. So glad to get your perspective on this really important topic. That's jen lin ceo of delivering happiness and author of Beyond happiness, Hope you have a great friday.