Employees will take breaks from their work, whether sanctioned or not. And frequently, they use those breaks to surf the Internet to check their social media sites, the news, sports and other areas of interest.
Now, a start-up founded by psychologists proposes to formalize those breaks and offer employees online content designed to elevate their moods and send them back to their tasks happier and more productive.
See also: 15 ways to make employees happy
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That's the business model for Upjoy, a Santa Barbara company that is targeting, among other niches, the corporate wellness marketplace.
Upjoy claims that its mood-lifting content can produce "highly significant gains in mood in only 15 minutes," according to Upjoy research director Jonathan Schooler. "UpJoy can provide employees with recharging breaks that will not only make them happier, but based on research conducted in my and others labs, also is likely to boost their productivity and creativity."
With fees starting at $1 per employee, Upjoy installs a dashboard on employee computers that delivers emotionally uplifting content to the employee during structured breaks. The dashboard "allows employers to regulate the amount of time and frequency with which employees use the program, and to set reminders," thus giving the employer a virtual window into how employees are using the service.
"UpJoy also has an employee mood tracker that shows employers reports of their worker's moods on a daily basis and how mood is impacted by UpJoy, serving as an indicator of return on investment in the program," the company said in a release.
See also: Worker satisfaction slowly improving
Upjoy studied one group of 200 employees using the product, and said their moods as a group shifted from slightly less than positive to more than positive after viewing the content for 15 minutes.
The content, which can be viewed here, ranges from cute-kid videos to puppies to beautiful beaches and an upbeat music video.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
