Leading Happy Workplaces
Did you know that “happy” employees are 12% more productive than the average “content” employee? What’s more is that they are 22% more productive at work than “unhappy” employees. The bottom line here is that a workplace full of truly happy employees is bound to provide an organisation with much more success in the long run.
Article: https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/5-simple-steps-that-create-a-happy-workplace-.html
However, you can’t try to make your employees happy just so that YOU come on out top at the end. It must come from a genuine place, not a selfish place. Here are three points to keep in mind:
- You must WANT to make your employees happy for the good of everyone, not just yourself.
- Your actions must match your words. You can’t say all of the right things but never actually follow through or show them how you care. If you’re all talk and no show, your employees will recognise right away that you don’t actually care about their well-being or happiness.
- Lastly, consistency is crucial to creating a happy workplace environment. Caring only for a short while isn’t going to do anybody any good. To create an overall happy workplace environment, it takes complete genuinity, presence of mind, and dedication.
How, as a CEO, executive, manager, or anyone in a leadership position, can you work toward increasing your employees’ happiness in the workplace?
While you might sometimes feel like your workplace is full of a bunch of unhappy and pessimistic employees, the truth is that happiness in workplaces actually starts from the top. In other words – although you may not be able to change a person who is just downright miserable – CEOs and people in management positions typically have a lot more control over the happiness factor within the workplace than employees do.
One great example of a CEO who thoroughly understands this concept is that of Southwest Airlines’ Herb Kelleher. He explains that in any business where people enjoy working and being at work, you can be sure to find a CEO or leadership team that genuinely cares about its employees and puts employee happiness at the top of their priority list. Conversely, if you have a CEO or leadership team that cares about their own success, money-making options and the like, more than their employees’, you will find much less employee happiness, and ironically, much less business success.
Article: https://positivesharing.com/2016/04/10-things-the-ceo-can-do/
Now let’s get back to that important question: How, as a CEO, executive, manager, or anyone in a leadership position, can you work toward increasing your employees’ happiness in the workplace? There are tons of ways, really. Here a just a few to begin practising with your team of employees:
- Allow the flexibility for employees to create a healthy work-life balance
- Celebrate and reward accomplishments and success
- Empower your employees
- Display random acts of kindness
- Listen to and act upon employee concerns
- Give employees one-on-one time
- Allow breaks from the everyday work routine on occasion
- Hire happy personalities right from the start
- Don’t be afraid to show care and compassion
- Relate to your employees on a personal level
- Focus on the positives, but acknowledge and help to fix the negatives
If you’re interested in creating and leading a truly happy workplace environment, consider attending the Humanity in Business Conference, Leading Happy Workplaces, with Merv Neal as a guest speaker.
In Merv’s interactive and humorous session, he will share the results of the research study that he conducted with Deakin University to determine the psychological impact of laughter on people in business. The outcomes of his study were truly astounding. He will also share the 7 areas of Holistic Health, and how laughter has an incredibly positive impact on each of them. Merv’s presentation always concludes with some laughter exercises for the audience to experience first-hand.
The Leading Happy Workplaces Conference is being held in Sydney on September 6th, from 9:00am to 5:35pm.
