Happiness at Work Is the Ability to Be Oneself: How Belonging, Authenticity, and Psychological Safety Drive Performance

At SHRM 2026, the panel “HR Executive Insights: Architecting the Future of the Global Frontline Workforce” brought together some of the most influential HR leaders in the world for a conversation that cut straight to the core of modern leadership.

I approached Bettina A. Deynes, Global Chief Human Resources Officer of Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest cruise company, immediately after the panel. Continuing the thread from each executive in this series, I asked her one question: What is happiness at work?

Her answer was immediate, personal, and profound.

“Happiness at work is the ability to be oneself, to know that you’re going to be able to be part of a community where you feel like you belong, where you can do your best work, when you can connect with people that aim to have the same goals and achieve the same success.”

Read that one more time. In a single sentence, Bettina identified the four pillars that decades of research have proven drive human thriving:

* Authenticity — the ability to be oneself

* Belonging — being part of a community

* Peak performance — doing your best work

* Shared purpose — connecting with people who share the same goals

Later she added, “happiness often grows when we take a moment to recognize and appreciate what we already have—gratitude truly has a way of brightening even the simplest moments.”

This isn’t corporate optimism. This is an executive who leads People Strategy for over 200,000 employees across 9 cruise line brands, sailing to over 700 ports around the world; distilling what makes people actually happy at work into its purest form.

Who Is Bettina A. Deynes?