How to create happiness in the workplace

Leaders might argue they are not ice cream – they cannot make everyone happy. But the reality is that job dissatisfaction is not a common occurrence and, in the end, hurts your bottom line.

A study by Harvard Business Review?found that “engagement at work – which is associated with feeling valued, secure, supported, and respected – is generally negatively associated with a high-stress, cut-throat culture.”

The research found that disengaged workers have:

·?????37% higher absenteeism

·?????49% more accidents

·?????60% more errors and defects

READ: Are your employees simply showing up?

?A survey by Partners In Leadership?found that when employees are happy at work:

·?????85% take more initiative

·?????73% are better collaborators

·?????48% care more about their work

?An engaged employee (the minority) is emotionally invested and committed, adding value to their team and the organisation by offering their talent, energy, and time. They are loyal and emotionally committed, in roles where they excel and invest enthusiastically in their responsibilities. They are most likely to become leaders and generally stay longer with their employer.

Those not engaged which is most of the workforce, are relatively happy and satisfied but do the bare minimum and are not invested in their work or the company. Productivity and the company’s bottom line are not driving forces for them, and their paycheck is their incentive to work.

Actively disengaged employees are toxic creating an environment of negativity and general unhappiness about their work and the organisation. In many instances, they are well positioned with a unique skillset using their influence to sabotage a healthy work culture.

The point is clear: effective leaders understand the link between happiness, productivity and engagement, and facilitate cultivating happy employees who are more creative, productive, less absent from work, and less likely to quit.

WATCH: How to motivate yourself

Facilitating happiness at work

Organisations must rely on the energy, commitment and engagement of their workforce in order to survive. Naturally, the workplace cannot control a person’s individual make-up: their genes, personality, mindset, or their internal happiness barometer. But leaders play a critical role in how these employees engage with their work.

Scientists have found that these three things make people happy:?

• Meaning - feeling like what you do matters
• Engagement - feeling interested in your activities and being connected to others
• Pleasure - doing things you enjoy

?READ: What does happiness look like?

?Let’s explore each.

?Provide meaning at work

• Know and explain the organisation’s values, purpose, and culture. More importantly, management needs to live these proclaimed values
• Be transparent and honest including strategy and big-picture vision. This will assist employees to feel a sense of belonging and create meaning and fulfillment in their work
• Create a career pathway and support with personal and professional growth opportunities
• Reward your highest performers with incentives, for example incremental leave days
• Show appreciation and always say ‘thank you’. For some it might be a quick email to praise exceptional work, and for others a personal handshake
• Recognise and reward frequently
• Offer benefits and perks which is meaningful and beyond the basic and not necessarily monetary, such as flexibility
• Host regular team building events where employees can engage together with fun, games and problem-solving

Encourage engagement at work

• Provide psychological safety by ensuring employees are heard, and seen and know that they matter
• Build trust by refraining from micromanaging
• Use feedback as mentoring, instead of performance management. Regularly give recognition, praise, and constructive criticism
• Provide the necessary resources, training and mentorship
• Ensure everyone is the correct role and aligned to the company’s goals

??"There is little success where there is little laughter." - Andrew Carnegie

Make office hours pleasurable

• Do not tolerate toxic dynamics
• Encourage informal communication and create spaces and opportunities for these such as a coffee bar or table tennis table for lunch break fun
• Create a comfortable working space that is aesthetically pleasing with enough light, space and greenery, and clutter-free communal spaces
• Create think-tank spaces where employees can brainstorm, share ideas or rehearse a pitch
• Encourage and enable work-life balance

Although most leaders would say their employees are their greatest asset, the reality is that the majority of the workforce is not fully engaged in their work, adding minimal value. Change this around by first ensuring your own personal happiness as a leader and leading by example. ?The cultural shift, if starting from within will create a ripple effect across the organization and to each desk.