Please read the following case study and post your individual answer on UNIT 2 Learning Activity 2. You answer should be short and it should be around a page.

ETHICAL DILEMMA

Happiness Coaches for Employees

We know there is considerable spillover from personal unhappiness to negative emotions at work. 183 Moreover, those who experience negative emotions in life and at work are more likely to engage in counterproductive behaviours with customers, clients, or fellow employees.

Increasingly, organizations such as American Express, UBS, and KPMG are turning to happiness coaches to address this spillover from personal unhappiness to work emotions and behaviours.

Srikumar Rao is a former college professor who has the nickname the happiness guru. Rao teaches people to analyze negative emotions to prevent them from becoming overwhelming. If your job is restructured, for example, Rao suggests avoiding negative thoughts and feelings about it. Instead, he advises, tell yourself it could turn out well in the long run, and there is no way to know at present.

Beyond reframing the emotional impact of work situations, some happiness coaches attack the negative emotional spillover from life to work (and from work to life). A working mother found that a happiness talk by Shawn Actor helped her stop focusing on her stressed[1]out life and instead look for chances to smile, laugh, and be grateful.

In some cases, the claims made by happiness coaches seem a bit trite. Jim Smith, who labels himself The Executive Happiness Coach, asks: What if I told you that there are secrets nobody told you as a kidor as an adult, for that matterthat can unlock for you all sorts of positive emotional experiences? What if the only thing that gets in the way of you feeling more happiness isYOU?! What if you can change your experience of the world by shifting a few simple things in your life, and then practicing them until they become second nature?

If employees leave their experiences with a happiness coach feeling happier about their jobs and their lives, is that not better for everyone? Says one individual, Ivelisse Rivera, who felt she benefited from a happiness coach, If I assume a negative attitude and complain all the time, whoever is working with me is going to feel the same way.

But what if you cannot afford a happiness coach and your employer does not want to foot the bill? Recent research suggests a do-it-yourself opportunity to increase your good mood at home. The key is to lend a helping hand. If you help others at work, you may find that later at home, after you have had a chance to relax and reflect, your mood will be improved.

Questions

1. Do you think happiness coaches are effective? How might you assess their effectiveness?

2. Would you welcome happiness training in your workplace? Why or why not?

3. Under what circumstancesif anyis it ethically appropriate for a supervisor to suggest a happiness coach for a subordinate?