I had this Administration in front of me asking me to intervene based on humanity, rigour, high standards and creativity. And in exchange they offered me freedom, trust and autonomy. The die was cast, and Multilem’s Happiness Office Department was born. Happiness is a subject of study and lectures at the University of Harvard and is an increasingly serious matter.
The H.O. (I can’t recall any other company in Portugal that has created a department dedicated to happiness at work) relies on the search for solutions and strategies that allow to reconcile (to an even greater extent) both professional and personal life of those who work here.
I have a background in Psychology, and I follow up with publications on this matter. Universities make the most significant theoretical contributions, and these show a direct link between positive emotions and improved employee performance that leads to better results and improved relationship with their top management.
And even neuroscience and endocrinology have confirmed this. Research has already proved this direct link between thought management and the production of neurotransmitters that may be good or bad for our tissues. For instance, the production of endorphins, serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin (the famous quartet of happiness) can be manipulated, acquired and used by changing behaviours and when interacting with family, friends, colleagues and clients. On the other side, emotions like envy, rage or selfishness, guilt and vanity are direct enemies of our cardiovascular system and health because they are linked to cortisol and adrenaline production that (in these cases) is unnecessary and can be controlled.
Individual sessions at the Happiness Office address emotion and feeling management, behavioural analysis and change proposals, life project reorganization and actions that focus on soft and high skills (using what I said above).
In this scope, my duty is also to give support to people in emergency situations like, for instance, when someone feels that an anxiety peak is coming that may affect the work of teams that are regularly travelling to several countries.
The Happiness Officer also addresses the subject of finding and suggesting dynamics that develop team skills.
In this corporate world marked by a fast work pace with deadlines that are (normally) established for “next day”, in this scenario where several generations (Y, Z, Alpha!) are interacting with their specificities and ways of communicating, my professional purpose is to constantly focus in refreshing my theoretical psychology knowledge (namely, social psychology, cyberpsychology and neuroscience) and keep on developing my own model based on the respect for each other, the dignity of those who so generously trust me and the continuous investment in relationships that all professionals need for their work.
I have learned (from my masters) to recognise the importance of emotions. I have learned that fear is negative, only if we don’t know how to handle it, because fear can also be protective. I have learned that insecurities are also signs that we are aware and want to do better, that we cannot allow others to limit us. If we can take away the insecurities in front of us (like they were clouds that we are pushing with our hands), we can use them to our advantage and become stronger and more resilient. At Multilem, I learned that working on my communication is easier when there are events like the Multikids week when we welcome the children of our employees and volunteer to monitor them in activities.
Those are the days when productivity levels decrease, but empathy, communication and sharing multiply the positive results that can last for the whole year.
I have also connected Multilem to an association that rescues abandoned animals. It’s good to be part of one of the few Portuguese companies that had the conditions required to adopt an animal and take it out of a kennel. And like this, we work on skills like tolerance, team spirit or responsibility towards animals in this society that is becoming more and more technological.
Here at Multilem we communicate with true smiles and we are the daily proof that enthusiasm can move mountains!
I work with and for the people that work in one of the best Portuguese companies to work with. I work with people that lived through great changes and adapted. We are part of those who lived to see another millennium, another century, those who belong to different generations, who saw paradigms shift! I work with all these people that accept their fragilities and work for this company with pride.
I am Multilem’s Happiness Officer and I am now taking this service to other companies.
Happiness at work isn’t just big smiles. It’s investing in creating conditions, so people live their lives and have their employers giving them the opportunities and support needed to transform what happens to them.
I am part of a team of people that invest in happiness at work. I consider myself privileged because I watch each person bringing something to me and transform it.
Yes, I am happy very often and that’s because I work with companies where happiness is a serious matter.
Learn more about Multilem’s Happiness Office.