The International Week of Happiness at Work is an initiative which originated in the Netherlands in 2018 and has since been celebrated annually on the final week of September. It encourages employers and employees to reflect on their happiness levels in the workplace and whether they could be improved.

The initiative is vague by design. Described as a “Do It Yourself Movement”, employers and employees are left to use their discretion in how they best choose to prioritise happiness in the workplace. Some ideas of how this can be done include:

• inviting an expert to give an inspirational talk;
• organising a discussion amongst colleagues on potential ways to improve happiness within the workplace;
• initiating a policy by which colleagues have lunch together for the week, as opposed to at their desks;
• organising a team event or a team lunch; or
• writing up a team manifesto on how to keep happiness levels high in the long term.

The minds behind International Week of Happiness at Work believe that the benefits of celebrating workplace happiness are twofold. For the employee, it is suggested that happy employees feel more social, healthy and are generally more successful than unhappy employees. This in turn benefits employers, as happy employees tend to be more productive, flexible, resilient, creative and collaborative than unhappy employees. Research further suggests that happy employees are less likely to call in sick or feel burned out.

The Happiness at Work team has created a manifesto by which signatories commit to do what they can to make themselves, their team and their organisation happier. Individuals and firms are encouraged to sign themselves up to the manifesto and share this with others, claiming “the more companies who join, the happier we all get”.

As per the name, International Week of Happiness at Work has taken workplace happiness across borders. Other countries celebrating this initiative between 25 and 29 September include Canada, Finland, Indonesia, Kuwait, Peru and Singapore, to name but a few. There is also an international Happiness at Work Unconference held during the week, which is a participant-driven event with no pre-determined agenda. The aim is again to emphasise the importance of workplace happiness.

So, with Happiness at Work Week around the corner, it is down to employers and employees alike to consider how they may put a spotlight on its message. With large organisations, including Virgin and the NHS, publicly supporting the initiative, it seems that the focus on employee happiness is becoming a more valuable consideration for employers. We have seen in recent years the corporate world focus on the importance of employee mental health, and the Happiness at Work initiative builds on this. With the organisers' argument that International Week of Happiness at Work brings tangible success, perhaps October will be the most productive month of all.