UpJoy Launches Web-Based Corporate Wellness Platform To Promote Positivity And Productivity In The Workplace

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., July 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- In today's workplaces, employees often take breaks by checking Facebook and other social media sites, which recent studies have shown can reduce well being due to feelings of inadequacy.  UpJoy (www.upjoy.org), a new Santa Barbara-based start-up led by the country's leading psychologists, is aiming to change that by using break time for a more positive result.  The firm created a web-based corporate wellness application designed to increase employee positivity and productivity with mood-enhancing, structured breaks during which employees watch positive imagery tailored to their preferences. 

"A body of research spanning over more than a decade in the field of positive psychology indicates that happiness elevates business and educational achievement, increasing productivity by 31%, sales by 37%, and accuracy on tasks by 19%, while also enhancing overall health and quality-of-life," commented Daniel Wetmore, director of operations at UpJoy.  "Combining this concept with studies showing that taking regular breaks can improve people's productivity is what led to the creation of UpJoy as the ultimate psychology-focused corporate wellness tool."

UpJoy provides human resource and corporate wellness managers with an automated, effective system to optimize the performance and improve employee happiness.  It works by designing individually customized feeds of images and videos based on user preferences that employees can watch during scheduled breaks.  The content also can be shared across multiple social media platforms and via email, enabling employees to bond by passing along images that improve their mood.

UpJoy has been proven to be effective in uplifting user's moods. In a study of a randomly selected sample of 200 participants, it was found that after just 15 minutes of UpJoy use, users' moods improved significantly.

View study results here: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140729/130720

Jonathan Schooler, a professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) and senior research director at UpJoy comments on the study, "The fact that UpJoy produced highly significant gains in mood in only 15 minutes suggests that it can be an indispensable tool for companies.  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."

UpJoy features a dashboard that allows employers to regulate the amount of time and frequency with which employees use the program, and to set reminders. 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 (ROI) in the program.

About UpJoy

UpJoy is a subsidiary of SelfEcho, a Santa Barbara-based start-up firm developing technology to improve wellness for the mental health profession, corporate environments and individuals.  To learn more, visit www.upjoy.org.

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SOURCE UpJoy