Some employers view their relationship
with workers as purely transactional: The company pays employees for
their services, and staff members are responsible for getting their work
done. Happiness doesn’t even enter into the equation, but we now know
this is a mistake.
A slew of research has found that employee happiness
has a dramatic effect on performance. A study published in
the University of Warwick’s Economic Research Institute
Journal revealed, “human happiness has large and positive causal effects
on productivity… Positive emotions appear to invigorate human beings,
while negative emotions have the opposite effect.”
So how can companies promote workplace
happiness? Here are five best practices companies can use to promote
employee happiness in the workplace:
1.Give people choices. People
like to have a say in shaping their workday and controlling their own
destiny. Daniel Pink, author of the New York Times bestselling
book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, drew on four
decades of scientific research to discover that autonomy is one of the
three pillars of the “motivation formula.”
Autonomy means giving employees control
over when they work, where they work, and what they work on. It means
allowing for self-determination and flexibility, and focusing on
results, rather than face-time. Choice and autonomy are proven to be
powerful drivers of employee motivation and performance.
“We found that knowledge workers whose
companies allow them to help decide when, where, and how they work were
more likely to be satisfied with their jobs, performed better, and
viewed their company as more innovative than competitors that didn’t
offer such choices,” wrote Diane Hoskins in the Harvard Business Review.
2.Help people achieve emotional wellness. The
World Health Organization found that the cost of stress to American
businesses is as much as $300 billion. And its estimated
that two-thirds of visits to the doctor’s office are for stress-related
conditions. These visits cause costs to soar in the form of decreased
productivity and absenteeism.
Stressed employees do not perform at
their peak level, and it doesn’t matter whether the stress is directly
related to work. For example, money trouble is one of the most powerful
sources of stress out there. The American Psychological Association reports five
out of the eight top sources of stress in America are financial. If an
employee is worried about their personal finances, that stress will be
reflected in their work.
As an employer, it is your best interest
to help your employees achieve emotional wellness. It’s important that
employees don’t feel overburdened or overwhelmed by their work. They
need time to unwind, at or away from the office. And since socialization
and exercise are known stress reducers, you can promote emotional
wellness by encouraging employees to engage in these activities. In
addition, many successful organizations provide confidential counseling
services through a third-party.
3.Cultivate purpose and meaning. One of the other pillars to employee satisfaction and happiness is purpose. Harvard Professor Rosabeth Kanter wrote
that people want to work for companies where they feel that they’re
making a meaningful difference in the world. People who believe in what
they are doing are happier, more motivated, and more productive.
Employers can cultivate purpose in the
workplace by writing a meaningful mission statement and placing it
around the office. This will help remind employees on a regular basis
why they are there and why they do what they do.
The next step is to ensure that employee
goals align with the organizational goals, which is best done through
one-on-one meetings where individuals can share their thoughts with
their managers, and feel that their voice gets heard. Managers can also
instill a sense of purpose by giving every employee the opportunity to
use their strengths.
4.Spread happiness. Putting
someone in charge of spreading happiness — appointing a “happiness
evangelist” — can be an incredibly effective way to foster a cultural
change. Most leaders have a hefty amount on their plate, and don’t have a
lot of bandwidth to dedicate to “softer” issues like how people are
feeling. Moreover, they are probably not trained to do so.
A happiness evangelist (or in Google’s
case, the Jolly Good Fellow) is responsible for creating an environment
where people feel valued and happy. They can spearhead initiatives to
improve workplace satisfaction, like catered lunch, regular happy hours,
or work-from-home Fridays, as well weed out sources of dissatisfaction.
This person ensures that employee happiness remains a priority and
prevents issues from festering to the point where performance is
compromised.
5.Reward and recognize. It
is human nature to respond positively to recognition and rewards. An
analysis from Gallup that spanned 10,000 business units found that “the
act of recognizing desired behavior increases the repetition of the
desired behavior, and therefore productivity.” Employee recognition
leads to greater employee satisfaction and enjoyment of work, better
teamwork, higher retention, lower negative effects from absenteeism and
stress, and even higher loyalty and satisfaction scores from customers.
Incentivizing employees and celebrating
success makes employees feel valued and boosts confidence. It helps them
feel a sense of accomplishment, which is a powerful motivator, and
reinforces their sense of meaning and joy in their work. Rewards and
recognition can take many forms, including from gift cards, time off,
public recognition at a weekly company meeting, and of course,
promotions. In any case, they inspire employees to do their best.
The impact of happy employees on an
organization is dramatic. A Russell Investment Group study found that
stocks for companies on the Fortune 100 “Best Companies to Work For”
list significantly outperformed the average. Caring about employee
happiness isn't just the “right” thing to do, it is the smart business
thing to do.
