How to Be Happy at Work – Ask Yourself 3 Questions Every Two Years

Are you happy at work? A 2019 study conducted by CNBC of 8600 professionals across multiple industries showed that 85% of American professionals are somewhat or very satisfied at work. Ironically, the same study also shared that “30% have seriously considered quitting their job in the last three months.”

One thing is for certain – how to be happy at work is richly nuanced. While there are common categories for what defines happiness or satisfaction at work, your criteria for happiness at work can be quite different from someone else’s on the same team. The criteria for happiness can also change over time as you progress in life stages and in your career.

Ten Common Categories for What Drives Happiness or Satisfaction at Work.

1. Learning potential – How much are you able to learn new skills from your job or others?
2. Leadership – Do you respect the leaders of the company? Do you respect your immediate leader? Do you have a leader that supports you?
3. Culture/work environment – Do you work with competent colleagues? Do you like going to work? Can you bring your whole self to work? Do you like and respect many of your colleagues?
4. Recognition – Are you valued at work? Do you get recognized sufficiently for your contribution?
5. Impact / Contribution – Do you know why your work matters? What impact can you make on the job?
6. Autonomy – Are you able to drive your own planning or are you micromanaged at work? Does your manager trust you?
7. Meaning – Does your work align strongly with your values? Is your work just a pay check or is it meaningful in a non-monetary way?
8. Pay – Are you paid at market value?
9. Opportunity for Advancement – Are there great opportunities for advancement in your career? Do you know your path to the next level and what you need to do to get there?
10. Work / Life balance – Does your work afford you the appropriate level of work level balance at this stage of your life?

Every two years, you should evaluate whether you’re happy at work. This is because what made you satisfied at work two years ago may no longer be true today. Many aspects may have changed since – For example, the nature of your work, your work environment, as well as the criteria of what makes you happy at work.

To Be Happier at Work, Ask Yourself Three Questions Every Two Years

Question 1: What is your top criteria for being happy/satisfied at work?

Most people don’t weigh all 10 areas equally. In fact, I recommend you select only the top 5 to judge whether you’re happy at work. My top five right now are #1, #2, #3, #5, and #6. What’s yours?

Question 2: Based on these criteria, how happy are you with your current job? What’s missing if anything? This again is highly subjective. For example, one person may be happy with 25% learning on the job while another person may be expecting to learn something new every week. Depending on how you define the level of learning you want for your career, you could be perhaps happy while another person with the same job and learning opportunity may not be.

Question 3: If you’re somewhat unhappy or completely unhappy, what should you do next? This doesn’t automatically translate to finding and changing jobs. There are still many things you can do in your current job. You can proactively propose to take on new assignments to increase your impact or ask to be sponsored for new learning opportunities etc.

For me personally, I ask myself these questions every two years to make sure I know what still matters to me. As a way to address questions for myself, I usually proactively network and may even interview for jobs every two years. It helps me keep a pulse on the market and understand my market value. If anything interesting arises, I can also hone my interview skills. It doesn’t matter whether I take a job offer or stay at the same company. As I take action for my career every two years, I usually become happier at work as I know I considered my options proactively.

What are your top 5 criteria for satisfaction at work?