Over the last year or so we've been digging deeper into why independent workers are consistently more happy at work than traditional employees.
Last fall in our article Why the Self-Employed Flourish we pointed out the key reasons independent workers tend to be happy and satisfied with their work:
Most independent workers have ... work that matches their strengths and interests and a job that gives them a sense of purpose ... They also tend to a have higher degrees of work control, autonomy and flexibility than traditional employees have.
Two recent studies reinforce our view that independent workers, on average, are happier than traditional employees.
The 2015 MBO Partners State of Independence survey results, which we worked on with MBO Partners, shows that most independent workers report being happier (79%) and healthier (59%) working on their own.
Our recent coworking survey, which was done in partnership with the Global Coworking Unconference Conference, also show most coworking facility members report being happier (89%) due to coworking.
This comes as no surprise, since being a coworking member improves their social live and results in less loneliness.
The combination of independent work and coworking membership clearly has a very positive impact on the happiness of most people experiencing it.
Independent work provides work autonomy, control and flexibility - all of which have been linked to work happiness.
Coworking brings an enhanced social experience, networking and opportunities to learn new skills - as well as a good place to work.
Combining these two results in very happy coworking members.
The inforgraphic below, prepared by the folks at Co+Hoots, illustrates the key findings from this research.
Improved happiness is undoubtedly the most rewarding attribute of Coworking. We've noticed at Plexpod in Kansas City that Coworkers are happy for several key reasons... 1) People want to be there and know that others feel the same. No one there doesn't want to be there; unlike many corporate cultures. 2) Working in a space with other likeminded entrepreneurial people creates much synergy. There is always someone around to interact with. And always as much or as little as you choose to. 3) Working for different companies eliminates the false sense of teamwork that is often propagated in office culture. No reason to pretend you're on a team when you're not. The tendency is to focus on people and never on corporate culture.
Posted by: Plexpod | July 09, 2015 at 05:30 AM