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Blog > A Happiness Campaign Will Improve Work Performance
Organizations are committed to producing good quality work as quickly and as efficiently as possible and regularly look for ways by which they can maximize their employees work performance in order to achieve this goal. Organizations may be tempted to treat their employees the same way early factory owners treated their workers: as cogs in a machine. The reasons for such thinking vary; some may argue organizations have limited resources, financial or otherwise, to address complex employer/employee relationship dynamics. Such relationships and the accompanying social interactions may have historically been well defined, but with the rise of increasingly skilled employees, times are changing and employees know their worth, consequently expecting more from their employers. Employees are voicing the expectation of being treated like skilled individuals who want to work for organizations known for treating their employees with respect, provide the proper emotional tools for the job, and support the individual more holistically. Regardless of how an employer responds to those expectations, there is a potentially lasting consequence for the organization. Pursuing a happiness campaign will improve an organization’s employee recruitment, engagement, and retention, which will result in better productivity, return on investment, and recruitment.
Highly engaged employees are an employer’s goal. What every leader truly desires is a workforce who is as invested in the organization’s core mandate as the leader is. This is amongst the best ways to truly produce results. Where can a leader find such invested individuals? Ones who share the leader’s vision and work hard to achieve it? With a happiness campaign, a leader can find these individuals currently within their employ. Achor (2011) claimed that happy people perform better at their tasks in comparison to when they are in any other emotional state because being positive floods the brain with dopamine which activate the learning centres of the brain, thus affecting one’s ability to adapt to their environment in various ways. Employees who are capable of adapting to the challenges of their jobs demonstrate a high level of engagement. Additionally, Seppala and Cameron’s findings (2015) highlight that long term cost amongst unhappy employees is high for an organization because unhappy employees disengage from their work which results in high staff turnover. The consequences of one emotion may seem inconsequential if employers continue to view the work that is demanded of their employees as simple and straight forward, but this is not the reality of the 21st century. Work environments are often complex and dynamic, and employees need to be prepared to adapt to the various demands of their jobs. Employers can support their employees but creating an environment where the learning centres of the brain are activated allowing employees to remain engaged with their work and produce high quality work.
Employees who are supported in producing high quality work will remain loyal to their organization. Seppala and Cameron (2015) spoke of how keeping employees engaged results in better staff retention. They claimed unhappy work environments correlate with high voluntary turnover because disengaged employees lack loyalty. However, to retain highly productive employees, employers must demonstrate a genuine concern for their employees, highlighting the importance of the work being done, and forgiving mistakes. Fostering environments where employers are socially connected to their employees, assist employees with their tasks, and support employees in their lives are how an organization can show employees they care. The approach put forward by Seppala and Cameron requires relatively little financial investment from an organization and has the added benefit of emphasizing virtues often applauded by many organizations: respect and integrity. Conversely the return on such little financial investment is of tremendous financial gain to any organization. According to Seppala and Cameron, the willingness of an organization to invest in fostering positive, nurturing work environments where employees want to keep using their talents and skills are inexpensive when compared to the cost of staff turnover.
Organizations who successfully retain happy employees receive the added benefit of obtaining a positive public reputation which in turn benefits their recruitment pool. Recruiters will commonly focus on providing job perks such as working from home, office gyms, and flex time, but research has shown the greatest predictor of employee wellbeing is engagement stemming from happiness. Achor argued that researching happiness is important because happiness is the predominant link to success as is evidenced in his research which found that 75 percent of success in one’s employment is predicted by one’s overall happiness. Engagement is not driven by products provided to staff by their employer, but by the employer genuinely seeking the happiness of their employees (Seppala and Cameron, 2015). Not only will engaged workers increase their productivity, profitability, and the value of the company over time, but all these factors add up to a significant increase in applicants. One could argue the point made by Mauss, Tamir, Anderson, and Savino (2011) who concluded that making happiness its own pursuit often has counteractive effects because focusing on happiness and failing to achieve an ideal “happiness” goal can become detrimental to one’s psychological health. However the point made by these researchers further support the claims made by Seppala and Cameron: employee happiness is not about what’s provided to employees, but about how their employer demonstrates their value to the organization. The result of engaged employees according to Seppala and Cameron are that “businesses with highly engaged employees enjoyed 100% more job applications” (p.2). Investing in a happiness campaign and fostering an environment of engaged employees who are productive and choose to stay with their employer shines a spotlight on an organization, helping to bring in more engaged, productive talent.
Overall the research supports the need for employers to pursue a “happiness” campaign. Happy employees are far more likely to remain engaged in their work and produce better results to the benefit of any organization. Engagement is created when employees feel that they bring value to their organizations and that their employer appreciates their value. Furthermore once engaged, employees are more likely to stay within an organization thus eliminating costly staff turnover. In addition to improved performance from employees, organizations that invested in staff happiness see better recruitment. While a “happiness” campaign may seem like something too costly for an organization to invest in, the consequences of taking such a leap are of tremendous financial benefit with relatively little financial investment if organizations focus on a positive work culture.
References
Achor, S. (2011, May). Shawn Achor: The happy secret to better work [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work
Mauss, I. B., Tamir, M., Anderson, C. L., & Savino, N. S. (2011, August). Can seeking happiness make people happy? Paradoxical effects of valuing happiness. Emotion, 11(4), 807-815. doi:10.1037/a0022010
Seppala, E. & Cameron, K. (2015, December 1). Proof that positive work cultures are more productive. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/
Spicer, A., & Cederström, C. (2015, July 21). The research we’ve ignored about happiness at work. Harvard Business Review, Retrieved from https://hbr.org/
Blog > A Happiness Campaign Will Improve Work Performance
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