Creating workplace happiness

workplace happiness

In this article, our Senior HR Consultant, Daniel Williams, discusses workplace happiness and how employers can create an enjoyable workplace that can contribute to the happiness of employees.

Happiness at work is the feeling and sensation that an employee is really enjoying themselves whilst working. Traditionally, happiness has been seen as a by-product of positive outcomes at work, yet has not been necessarily spoken about in terms of business advantages.

 

Simply put – Happy employees make productive employees. If it is so simple, what is the solution?

 

Statistically, employees who are engaged perform better than those who are not. But surprisingly, few organisations are harnessing the potential of happiness’s link to engagement. Happiness and successful engagement affect levels of presenteeism, absenteeism, and even innovation.

 

Happiness is an internal emotional state of feelings of joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment. While happiness has many different definitions, it is often described as involving positive emotions and life satisfaction. As an employer, it can be your duty or due diligence to ensure employees are meeting these definitions of happiness, for wellbeing purposes. It’s clear that employee engagement is vital for organisational health, and yet too often underappreciated by leaders. It’s also clear that engagement is easier to promote when companies prioritise employee happiness and authentic human connection.

 

There are several lessons learned that we can use to create an enjoyable workplace and eventually result in happiness:

 

Management is Teambuilding, not Control

 

When managers build and sustain strong teams, it is seen in the outcomes and they generally seem to be happier people. Customers and clients then receive their service and products on time and in a positive environment. Control is not required because good work is being completed. Negative inputs such as sense checks and corrective actions are not used. But, this does differ depending on the management style of the leader.

 

Employees are Adults

 

Young adults and teenagers are still deemed as adults. However, the processes we have built can overwhelm or treat employees in a childlike state. They are members of society and sometimes need to have the freedom to work in a way that suits them; this could be due to family arrangements, disabilities, or even lifestyles. If we consider companies such as Google, they have creative days that allow the employee to do what they want in their allotted time, by starting the day assuming good work will be done, it will get done.

 

The Truth Comes Out

 

Companies need to be able to handle the truth. Giving feedback can be hard to give and receive – especially as Brits. If we look at the processes we have as a business, is feedback really fed back? If we consider the annual reviews, is one day going to reflect the achievements and accomplishments of that one meeting. We should look at revamping the annual review and have honest conversations with our colleagues, if they did a good job tell them. If they did not do a good job, share with them the expectation and guide them through.

 

Live Your Values

 

Company values are not created out of thin air. Companies have them for a purpose. Values are also not a one-off intervention or a tick box exercise. If the values do not match what you are practicing or making your employees happy then it may be time to rethink your values. Values need to be management-led. If employees follow the values and the leadership does not, this creates a disconnect and animosity between the two.

 

Transparency on Direction

 

All employees should understand the direction the business is heading. We now live in a world where working remotely is the norm and collaboration is key to business success. However, if we do not teach and show our employees how the business is performing and how it works, are they just another cog in the machine? This creates an atmosphere of hidden agendas and secrets, and employees will not feel fully collaborative. The best thing to do is teach others what we do, what to avoid, what we measure, and how we can drive towards the same target.

 

Meaningful Work

 

People do not want to do something if there is no value to it, therefore we strive for meaningful work. As humans we want to do well and also don’t want to do the same for a long period of time Therefore for our own sanity, endeavour for variety. Hence why we have robots taking up thankless tasks that humans do not necessarily want to do. In order to have happy workers, we should give them great places to work and praise them for doing a job well done.

 

The more we embrace these changes and strive for workplace happiness the more productive and at ease we will be. We spend most of our lives at work – make it a happy one.

 

If you have any further questions or queries about the content above or would like to request a demo for oneHR, please don’t hesitate to contact the oneHR team today.

E: contact@onehrsoftware.com

Twitter: @oneHR_

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