Nice Co-Workers Means More than Salary

According to a new report out this week, a good salary isn't what makes us happiest about going into the office everyday. It's getting on with our co-workers that makes the job the most rewarding. The Happiness index also concluded that workers increasingly need work to be stimulating and interesting. Getting paid isn't enough of a reward. This is great news

For a long time now, I've believed that people who talk about work life balance and struggling to make it work are looking at it the wrong way. Work and Life shouldn't be completely separate because each is of huge value. Work is important to making us feel that we are contributing something to the world, adding value to something and getting rewarded for it.

The perfect situation would be a job that gives us a greater sense of self and makes us feel good at something and a home life that is stimulating and relaxing in equal measure. The people that manage to achieve this are those who work hard in both areas of their life rather than see home as a refuge from the office.

This report claims that good relationships with your co-workers is more important than salary in terms of making you feel happy at work. It can even influence people staying on at a company. (read: reduce recruitment costs) Some of the workplaces I've visited with work, the happiest firms are always the places where there is a camaraderie amongst staff and a belief in why they are all there working so hard. The least happy work environments have been those where hierarchy reigns and employees have never even met their big boss. We're all human beings and thrive on relationships. Why should work be any different?

One final interesting point to come out of the study was that the happiest worker profile in the UK was Female, over 60 years old, beauty therapist living in the North East England; The unhappiest was Male, 40-49 year old, builder living in Northern Ireland. take from that what you will but I think the fact the one job is very nurturing, all about human contact and pleasure giving speaks volumes.

Read the full report here.