It’s pretty well established that happy employees are good employees, as they’re usually more engaged, more productive, less likely to quit, and so on. What’s more, in customer-facing roles, they’re also more likely to deliver good customer service, but does that all come at a cost?
That was the question posed by research from the University of Georgia, with the study showing that being happy and helpful takes effort, which if not careful can erode the energy required to do our job well. This, in turn, can prompt us to zone out, or “quiet quit”, to take care of our mental wellbeing.
Mood transitions
The researchers focus on the transitions between bad and good moods throughout the day. They argue that much of the academic literature misses this emotional journey and instead just focuses on ensuring employees are happy (and productive).
“Our entire literature is built on this idea that we want people to have positive emotions all the time,” they explain. “That’s the overarching goal that’s put out there, but it ignores the state any one employee is in at any given time. Some employees start the day in a positive place, others come into work in a bad mood.”
The researchers found that the more we have to adjust our mood in order to be happy, the more emotionally drained we’ll be at the end of the day, which in turn means we have less energy to tackle challenging tasks, or indeed stay on task to begin with. So, despite being happy, it’s far from a good situation.
“At work, that means you’re more likely to be short with co-workers or peruse the internet rather than do your work,” the authors continue. “Even if you’re feeling good and ending your day on a high note, you’re not going to be ready to perform your best.”
Regulating mood
The researchers surveyed a number of workers from a range of sectors, including real estate and retail, with each volunteer asked to rate their mood five times each day for 10 days. Their performance was also measured at the end of each day.
By comparing responses across days, the researchers were able to gauge the changes in mood and performance against each individual’s baseline. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the workers who had the biggest change in their daily moods were most depleted at the end of the day, and also most likely to report various bad work behaviors.
“[The emotional journey we looked at] was the process of altering an emotional state, so it could be things that happen to you or a change you make on purpose,” the researchers explain. “Like you’re in a bad mood, and then something great happens to you at work and that changes your emotional state. Or it can be a conscious process where you tell yourself that you need to get in a good mood.”
Stressed out
The research highlights that having to regulate our mood takes a significant toll on our emotional reserves, which can leave us feeling not only exhausted but also stressed.
“I think that a lot of times we might assume that ending the day on a high note would be a good thing, but what we found is that starting from that low point and getting to that high point depletes the resources you have left in the day,” the researchers explain.
If this happens over a prolonged period of time, then it can easily result in burnout. The authors urge managers to do more to accept employees whatever mood they’re in and not try to force happiness as this can backfire spectacularly.
“We want people to be in a good place, but we want them to come in to work in a good place,” the researchers conclude. “If something bad just happened to you at work, I think the work that’s required to get you to a better place may not be worth it.”
