Have you assessed your employees’ happiness lately? Is your organization benefiting from a happy workforce? If you’re unsure of your answers, it may be time to take a step back and truly understand what business happiness means to you, to your human capital and to your organization as a whole.
To help you on your quest for happiness, here are 7 things that you’ll want to keep in mind.
1 – Happiness can be subjective
It is important to never assume that people find happiness for the same reasons. Sure, there are certain rewards or incentives that may attract the greater part of your workforce, but you still need to take the necessary steps to understand your employees’ unique “happy” triggers.
You may be surprised to find out that some are motivated by competition while others find their happiness in teamwork; some may enjoy an open office where they can bounce ideas off other colleagues and gain their energy through the presence of others, while other employees may see this as a demotivator, preferring solitude and a quieter workspace.
And, more importantly, these sources of happiness are not always revealed in the beginning, so take the time to uncover them right away before having to discover them later on…maybe even too late!
2 – Business Happiness predicts performance
There are many studies that reveal that happy employees = higher performance. So why is this so? One could say that happy employees are likely to be more engaged, probably because they are utilising their natural strengths, and are working for an organization that is meeting their needs in some shape or form.
Open communication, involvement and implication, even opportunities to grow are also aspect of one’s work that can bring about more happiness, thus increasing performance. So not only can happiness boost performance, but it may happen that good performance increases happiness too!
3 – Business happiness affects the organization at all levels
Let us look at how happiness in one area can have a ripple effect on others within your organization. Let’s say that your customer service department is happy. Their natural tendencies to want to be of service, seek information, and have a certain resilience when faced with client complaints are strengths that prove to be essential to succeed in such a position, thus making them experience business happiness.
This can now have a positive impact on the clients they are coming into contact with, as they too are profiting from this happiness through effective and pleasant customer service.
The director of this customer service department will also have something to be happy about. His team members are natural in their roles, thus easier to motivate. There is probably less resistance, absenteeism or dissatisfaction. Perhaps the director is very results-oriented but less natural when it comes to confronting and asserting himself. With a team that is meeting objectives (good customer satisfaction) and him not needing to impose corrective action, he probably feels much more at ease in his role, and a lot less stress or nervous tension.
Finally, the organization’s reputation for its good customer service and motivated employees can only increase their chances of success and for winning the war on talent.
Now if this isn’t business happiness, I don’t know what else is!
4 – Happiness in the workplace is not always given, you must make the effort!
Although I agree with the notion that true happiness comes from within, there is still some effort required on the part of an employer, a manager or an organization to ensure that they are doing the necessary to identify and maintain these sources of happiness.
Whether it be staying up to date with new technological advances, offering better benefit packages or reward systems, or finding more effective ways to encourage and align roles to those who are built for them, know that business happiness can evolve!
Generation Y, with its technologically-savvy workers and risk-takers, is a good example of how organizations must keep up with the trends and continuously make the conscious effort to ask themselves “are we doing what we can to keep our employees happy and motivated long-term?”
If you’re asking yourself the same question and don’t know the answer, it might be time to start looking for a tool that can detect the true potential of your most valuable asset!
5 – It means not forgetting about the little things
Whether it be planning a paid lunch for your team, offering flexible work arrangements, paying public transportation passes, offering preferred parking, informal dress code, or chair massages at work (to name a few), you get the idea that it doesn’t have to be monumental to be significant.
Little tokens of your appreciation can go a long way. If an employee did an amazing job completing a project, don’t forget to acknowledge him/her. You’d be surprised how a simple “good job” can make a difference, especially with those who thrive through positive reinforcement. Remember that business happiness comes in all shapes and sizes!
6 – Business Happiness must be continuous
Once you’ve achieved it, you mustn’t just sit back and call it a day. You must continuously assess what happiness means to your employees, but also, what aspects of their work they enjoy the least.
Perhaps that new company CRM system isn’t meeting expectations with those who use it on a day-to-day basis. Maybe your staff dreams of a new office structure. The point is, without implementing ways to measure happiness, you might overlook important input from your workforce.
So offer surveys, questionnaires and brainstorming sessions. Let your team know that you want to stay informed and that their opinions… more importantly, their happiness, matters!
7 – Business happiness means thinking a little more positively
Finally, don’t forget to focus on what’s WORKING. A bit like positive psychology: we sometimes need to remind ourselves to focus on the positive, on the good, on our employees’ strengths, as opposed to what ISN’T being attained, what HASN’T been accomplished, or what leads we DIDN’T close.
This is just a simple reminder that although we could all use a little development, training, even healing, there are aspects of ourselves that show great natural talent.
Business happiness comes from uncovering such talents and making them shine.
So there you have it. To achieve business happiness, you must understand that happiness can be subjective, it can come in all shapes and sizes, and you have to put in an effort to measure and adapt happiness in order to keep your employees happy long-term. You will find that business happiness in one area can have a positive impact on others, and that it can predict performance. Finally, you must remember to focus on the good, and keep employees’ strengths in mind, too!
Have you done all you can to achieve business happiness in your organization?
You might wanna start with employee assessments!
PS: We actually just created our own LinkedIn group on Business Happiness. Why don’t you take part of the ongoing discussion?