Happiness @ Work
Only 13% of Canadians report that they feel engaged at work and 50% report being unhappy in their jobs. This needs to change since we spend approximately 90,000 hours at work during our lifetime! Happiness isn’t just about feeling good every moment of the day. That is unrealistic! But we do need to feel that our work matters, we are valued and that we work with good people.
Researchers have been studying happiness in the workplace for more than 20 years. Studies show that happiness increases every positive business outcome. For example, people who look forward to Mondays are more productive and creative, take fewer sick days and experience less burn-out. They are happy at work because they have found a way to have meaning and purpose, are highly engaged and have good relationships with their colleagues.
The science of positive psychology or human flourishing uses many simple (and free!) evidence-based interventions that can help people feel more engaged at work, discover their meaning and purpose, develop better working relationships which results in increased well-being.
I am excited to combine my 22 years' of experience as an adult educator, trainer and writer with my studies in positive psychology and positive education to help people learn and apply interventions to increase their happiness. I have a soft spot for working with educators. My own personal experience with professional burn-out in 2015 led me to reflect on my own self-care and adopt positive psychology interventions which I now share with educators.
Services
Happy Audit
A Happiness Audit helps employees and companies to assess what they already do well now but identifies areas for improvement to increase happiness at work.
Happy Employees = Happy Customers = Successful Businesses
Character Strengths @ Work
Our character strengths are unique just like finger prints. There are 24 character strengths such as leadership, teamwork, curiosity, love of learning, zest, judgement, kindness and humour. When we use our character strengths at work, we feel more engaged and have a better understanding of our colleagues.
ME @ Work
M = Meaning E + Engagement
Finding meaning and purpose, and ways to feel more engaged and energized make us happier at work. Find out how to create more Meaning and Engagement at work.
Why Women need to Care about Self-Care
Self-care is more than just a mani-pedi! It is a conscious decision to care about our own well-being so we are better equipped to take care of others. This workshop is highly interactive and practical.
Teacher Well-being Workshops
After 20 years of classroom teaching, I experienced burn-out. The chronic use of empathy and depletion of emotional resources are strongly associated with exhaustion, professional burnout and/or compassion fatigue (Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001, Koenig, 2014). Without self-care, teachers are at risk. Self-care refers to activities that promote health, well-being, and stress relief (Brucato & Neimeyer, 2009; Jordan, 2010; Stebnicki, 2007). Teachers need to be proactive participants in their own self-care to reduce stress, build resilience, promote physical health and increase well-being.
Want to know what your strengths are? Take the FREE VIA Character Strengths Survey
We possess all 24 character strengths (like honesty, humour, kindness, hope, love, leadership) in different degrees, giving each of us a unique character profile just like fingerprints! Using our character strengths can increase our overall well-being. It takes just 15 minutes to learn about your strengths. My top strengths are 1) Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence 2) Creativity 3) Curiosity 4) Gratitude 5) Love of Learning
"Patrice is flexible and a pleasure to work with. She has a good working knowledge of Growth Mindset and knows how to get people thinking about it and applying it in their work."
Anne Marie Madziak
Coordinator and Library Consultant, Southern Ontario Library Service, Canada
"Before I embarked on my journey to China, I arranged to have coaching sessions with Patrice. The knowledge and guidance that she provided to me in such a short time had an immeasurable impact on my success here. I am so thankful for her help. I cannot recommend Patrice enough!"
Christopher Kelly
University Lecturer, China
"The Characters Strengths workshop provided by Patrice to business program participants covered a lot of information, delivered in concise chunks that were easy to absorb. The structure was clear, logical and effective. Patrice put a lot of thought and expertise into designing it. The main benefits for the participants came from doing the character strengths survey, receiving feedback and interacting with Patrice and other participants. The training helped the business program participants to understand better their strengths and how these are related with their business vision. This format raised the participants’ confidence to use their strengths in implementing their entrepreneurial vision in developing their business. Before the workshop, the participants were working on their business plan, financial projections and their self-confidence was on a roller coaster."
Victoria Bularda
Business Coach, YWCA Hamilton
"Patrice gave an outstanding presentation on workplace happiness at the Rotary Club of Stoney Creek. It was informative and she was very engaging with the audience. I would love the opportunity to hear Patrice speak again and would recommend others attend her events. Thanks Patrice for a great morning! "
Carrie Deon
Rotary Club Member
"I would like to thank you for your inspiring speech at the North York TESL Conference. I was picturing myself listening to your journey; going through separation and divorce, dealing with a child’s health issues while trying hard to support our students both in language proficiency and their emotional crises. It was a pleasure to meet you. "
Farnaz Saghafi
ESL/LINC Instructor
