Do you still feel paying more will ensure more productive employees? Well, it’s time to revisit this age old myth. A study by University of Warwick found that happier employees are 12% more productive while unhappy employees are 10% less productive. They found that human happiness has a huge positive effect on productivity. 

Employee happiness is a crucial ingredient for organizational success. Organizations which adopted this mindset and make efforts to enhance the happiness of their employees in the workplace are reaping the benefits.

Take a look at these few statistics that prove this claim.

·         Companies with happy employees outperform competition by 20%

·         Happy employees are 12% more productive

·         Happy salespeople produce 37% greater sales

·         Employees who report being happy at work take 10X fewer sick days than unhappy employees

·         The stock prices of “Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work for” rose 14% per year from 1998 to 2005, while companies not on the list only reported a 6% increase.

 

Happiness in the workplace – what does it actually mean?

Workplace happiness is not just about smiling faces, friendly gestures and cracking jokes with co-workers and supervisors.

It is about the need to know that one matters and that one has an impact in the bigger picture. It is about the need to know that one is making progress.  It is about looking at the positives in negative situations.

This sounds easy but the truth is most employees don’t feel happy at work because they don’t feel valued at all.

According to Shawn Achor, the author of Happiness Advantage and a positive psychology expert, “happiness is the joy we feel striving for our potential”. While job security and financial stability are important for job satisfaction but people to need to feel they are continually growing and moving forward to remain engaged and productive.

Shawn Achor argues that when people are feeling happy and positive, their brain works much better. At those times, they tend to be more creative, better at solving problems and are more effective collaborators with their peers.

Thus, the reward for organization is definite – happier employees, higher productivity, more collaboration, enhanced efficiency and creativity, thus greater profits.

How to get started?

Most leaders want to build happier workplaces but they fail in doing so because they aren’t sure where to begin and how to go about achieving this. Some redesign the workplaces to make the walls colourful and others start by putting fridges with free snacks. These are all superficial and unauthentic ways of building high-performing work culture based on happiness.

Begin by making a commitment to employee’s wellbeing, placing more value on individual learning and development, empowering staff to take ownership for their career growth, allowing downtime for reflection and fun, understanding the real motivators and building them in the system.

The onus of happiness lies not just with the management but also with the individual employees. Training in happiness at work and life is a great way to help your employees learn about simple practical ways like meditation, helping others, showing gratitude etc.

The efforts from both management and individuals go a long in boosting the happiness at work.

Happiness at work is not a fad; it’s a trend that’s here to stay.

 

Having the right HR software to manage your HR functions is critical in managing your staff hapiness. Why not consider this tool for your business?