How To Keep Your Employees Happy

When thinking of effective ways to boost productivity, one area that is often overlooked is employee happiness. But, should it be? 

Bearing in mind that studies have shown happy employees to be 12% more productive and happiness leads to a 52% reduction in employee turnover, keeping those that work for your business feeling good is nothing to be smirked at. 

So, what can you do to ensure that happiness forms part of your employment and not just an option? 

Let us answer that question by looking at how you can implement the 4 pillars to workplace happiness. They are Purpose, Engagement, Resilience, and Kindness or P.E.R.K. 

Provide Purpose

Having a clear reason to get up in the morning is vital to our personal happiness. It’s intrinsically linked towards this is our attitude to work. The 2017 World Happiness Report highlights that those who work and have a sense of purpose in the workplace are far happier than those that don’t.

This means that if you are serious about improving employee morale, you need to be serious about providing your employees with a purpose.

But, how can you do this?

One key factor in making your companies core values front and centre of your business. This can be achieved when they are regularly discussed and businesses make policies in line with them, such as being an equal opportunity employer.

When in line with the personal values of your employees and thus made a priority by all, this will have a knock-on effect on your employees’ happiness.  

Engage With Your Employees

One of the biggest dangers to employee happiness is a perceived distance between those in positions of authority and their staff.

Managers can avoid this by regularly communicating with employees and sharing knowledge readily. In these interactions, be mindful to create a fun-loving environment and use language that inspires positive emotions. 

But engagement at work isn’t limited to how well we interact with each other. It is also related to our vigour towards, dedication to, and absorption in work activities. So, what can you do to boost this important element to employee happiness? 

Aim to create an environment that people can enter a state of flow easily. 

A company achieves flow by eliminating distractions and allowing people to work with some autonomy, leading to self-determined employees.  

Develop a Culture of Resilience 

The ability to handle adversity with grace, recover from setbacks, and face challenges are unassuming but important elements of employee happiness. 

It’s a given that things will not always go to plan. But, if you know that management will react in a way that accepts that reality, this leads to employment security in the minds of workers. 

Resilience is also greatly helped when you have a good work-life balance. Remember that insufficient vacation taking harms resilience, happiness, and other desirable business outcomes, so be sure to encourage your staff to take what they are entitled to.

This applies to management also, so take the lead in placing value on time off and this will help those working for you to gain vital perspective. 

Show Kindness 

Positive emotions are always more positive than negative ones. So, which positive emotions should you emphasize if you want to have a happier workplace?

Gratitude and empathy are two that can go a long way in a workforce. By saying thank you, acknowledging the efforts they make, and being specific when giving commendation can go a long way to making them feel better even on a biological level.  

In addition, you can show empathy by nodding, eye contact, and paraphrasing what they say to us. These little gestures are all signals that you’re attuned to and interested in what they have to say, resulting in employees that are emotionally connected to you. 

Happiness At Work For All

As we have seen through the 4 key elements, it doesn’t take much to impact the happiness of employees. But the consequences of taking action to ensure a happy workplace are priceless. 

If you are serious about boosting your employee experience then reach out to us today. Our expertise has helped numerous amounts of clients and we would love to help you too.

Roman Kučák, CEO