It was in the early ’90s – when global hypercolor T-shirts were all the rage – that supermarkets started trialling the use of fragrances in their air conditioners to keep their shoppers placated.
The idea never really took off, but fresh smells in the office space could start doing the rounds once again if the results of the government’s happiness census are used to keep the nation smiling.
David Cameron is calling on the Office for National Statistics to create a happiness map for the UK and find out what keeps people going during their nine-to-five.
One of the questions on the new survey is ‘What things in life matter most to you?’
According to the Daily Mail, one of the answers was “the smell of a freshly opened jar of coffee”.
Other answers included, “feeling rewarded for the work I do” and “having enough money to meet my needs and some of my wants”.
It seems that while piping the smell of a fresh bakery into the office may be unsustainable, the happiness census may give business owners some interesting ideas for boosting morale amongst their employees.
