Yes, there is such a thing as the Misery Index. It’s published by Bloomberg and the CATO Institute, so it must be legit, right?
The current #1 spot is held by Venezuela. In fact, they’ve held onto their status of ‘most miserable nation’ for the 4th consecutive year. Go Venezuela! That’s quite some misery. They’re joined at the top of the hierarchy of heartache by Argentina, Iran and Brazil.
The UK? We’re tucked away in the middle of the pack. Nothing to brag about but according to Bloomberg, there are 61 counties more miserable than the Brits. Mustn’t grumble.
There are some surprises at the bottom of the pyramid. The least miserable nation is Thailand (I’ve been there and, to be fair, they do sell themselves as ‘the land of smiles’). Hungary and Japan are also showing definite lack of misery.
Bloomsberg’s data is based on economic metrics which got me thinking about you and your business. I’ll spare you the stats but I promise you that happiness is good for business. Happy staff give better customer service. Happy people are more creative, have more energy, are better team players and contribute to the bottom line.
If there was a league table of happy organisations, where would yours be?
I’d go as far as saying that the happiness and wellbeing of your staff is not only your moral priority (i.e., it’s just the right thing to focus on) it is also your competitive advantage.
In a world beset by turmoil, it’s not surprising that people might have lost their way. If you need help with raising the collective mojo of your people, please get in touch. It’s what we do. In fact, it’s the only thing we do. Which is why we’re the best in the world at doing it.