How to let everyone be happy in your company?

Happiness is an essential element in life. That’s why it is vital to be happy at work.

Life is full of uncertainty, no one can expect there would be such a year before the pandemic, and no one can anticipate the exact day when we don’t need to wear the mask. No one will have complete control in front of death, but how to live every day depends on you. If we live long unhappily, it is a disaster; but how long we can live is not a matter if we are happy. Therefore, happiness is so important.

We always find sadness, frustration, and anger at work. People might complain about why I am not being promoted. People might think I am underpaid but have an exhausting job; people might also be discouraged and feel I need more to learn further. And with unhappiness, we tend to react in the way we live. We might be easily frustrated in conversation with others, and we might be easily depressed when a specific thing is not happening as we expected. And then, people quit their company, and ultimately, resigning becomes a trend that everyone wants to leave that meaningless workplace.

Once you are going to resign, you might feel relieved. But at the same time, you might also think it is a waste of time. Why have I dragged myself that long in a place where I don’t grow and am unhappy? To be more extreme, you might think you are not wasting time. You are wasting your life.

How to let everyone be happy in your company? It is not a particular question, only requiring our boss and senior leaders to consider it. It is a relevant question for everyone; in other words,?it is everyone’s responsibility. And I will suggest you say three “I love”!

1. I love to do what I am doing!

I am not saying your paycheck is not essential, but let’s try to put this aside and see what you are doing. What is the purpose of the job? Who is the one you are working for? What is the value you can create via this job? What I would like to challenge is not your answer to the question, but have you ever thought about it? Or should I say, do you keep reviewing the explanation to these crucial questions?

Job or task is at an operational and concrete level, describing what you are doing. But just looking at this level is boring. You will not be motivated to do it more; do it better. Like what I am doing now, I am writing up an article. “It is boring!” As an extrovert, how can I enjoy sitting down, not communicating with another, and just writing? Honestly, I will quickly fall asleep. But I keep on imagining your face. When you read it and empathize with your headache, I will be energized by the workplace problem you encounter. I think that I am not “writing” (as said on a concrete level, this describes what I am doing). I am “communicating” or even “influencing” others via different forms.

I got energized! What is this great energizer to me? Not the job but the meaning and purpose of the job. Remember, no one is responsible for motivating you all the time. We have to be very clear that salary boosts energy. But this motivator might only be functioning one or a couple of days in a month. However, if you understand what to do and why you are doing it, you don’t need any motivator.

2. I love to interact with everyone I can meet at the workplace, whether I need to cooperate closely with them or not.

We are human beings, and we are social animals. There are two defaults on our body no matter who we are: “you will be tired” and “you will get inspiration from others’. I know communication is critical at the workplace, but I also know that many people are hesitant to communicate much with those who are not that close. Because “I am busy” (or I realize that everyone is busy), or “I just don’t know him/her.”

Build a habit of having the best concentration at work. And the best way to do this is to set up a 60 mins goal setting all the time. Whether that is a meeting, paperwork, or physical work, you don’t need to complete a task fully, but at least you have to keep in mind that for the upcoming 60 mins, you have to focus on the expected outcome. Then shut your mouth and concentrate as much as possible. After that, you so much deserve to have a “break.” Yes, it is break time. Spend 15 minutes walking around your workplace and talking with someone you are not often interacting with. Or if you are concerned the other people’s working conditions, you have to be wise to take your time at the pantry, resting place, or anywhere people are not supposed to be that concentrated.

Then how to talk with someone that I don’t know well? The only solution you can apply is to tune yourself with the right mindset and skillset. Attitude-wise, you have to understand that no one will automatically be the “friend.” Also, things can always be incremental. You don’t need to aim to build a profound relationship with someone just in a shot. You can only “challenge” yourself by saying hi to a person. A simple greeting and then, for the time being, people will build a fundamental impression of you and someone when you meet them out of your desk during break time. It will smoothen the way to start your real conversation with them. For the skillset wise, come on, let’s say it out together “hey, how are you? My name is Alvin!” and then the next question is, “how are these days? Busy and fulfilling? (close-end question first), and then the next question can be “any specific focus or challenge of your current job?” (change to open-end questions to make yourself elaborate further, riding on the information provided by them). You might also try to choose the right timing, early morning when people are yet to be that busy, or around the off hour when people tend to slow down their work to have that “15-minute” chit-chat. Remember, I am not asking you to stay there long to bother others because I suggest you better utilize your break time.

Why is it important? Trust-building can be made incremental. We cannot show caring if we don’t know each other or anyone outside our critical working context. As said earlier, we are social animals supposed to live and interact with each other. Once we can build the necessary rapport and understand a person more in their context, we will inspire and support each other.

Having many “friends” at the workplace makes your work more interesting, and you will be able to enjoy more happiness at work. When we have more happy people at our company, many staff members under the same organization will get influenced to become more comfortable. A happy person can make people happy; a passionate person can inspire people to be passionate, and only an energetic person can energize others.

3. I love to tell my friends how much I love my job and the people I work with.

This sounds not very practical, but it is called self-affirmation. You don’t need to put your judgment “eye-glasses” on, whether I am telling a lie or the so-called “love” is too high or low. Going back to the sentence I wrote on point three. You can see that “I love”.. means it is present tense. I don’t need to judge that it is lovable or the actual level of bonding of the people I work with. I am just putting all the things to be one-way. I simply love no matter what. Once you try, then the magic will happen.

The one who listens to you will either be astonished or pleased. When your friend shows you an astonishing face, surprising that there is a person in the world who loves the job and people so much, you will feel good about yourself and with more reinforcement to yourself because of what you are proud of. In the time being, your love for your work and the love towards those you work with will feel it and love you back!

We don’t always feel happy, but we can be happy forever. “Be” is a verb that is 100% controlled by you whether you do or not. Decide to be happy and influence others; it is the magic formula to create a happy workplace. We shouldn’t wait for the so-called best timing in our life. We shouldn’t wait for someone to take the lead to do anything. It is not the responsibility of bosses, HR, or others to make a happy workplace for yourself and others. It is merely everyone’s responsibility!

Alvin LEUNG