Other than a sense of obligation to keep your employees happy, is there an actual necessity to do so? How do happy workers actually benefit a company? This issue is something that many organisations don’t take into account, and it can lead to multiple problems.
Employee happiness isn’t hard to achieve, and the benefits it can bring to a company are numerous. If you run a business or team and you’re not making it one of your main priorities, you could even be doing damage to your company.
Let’s take a look at some of the main benefits of keeping employees happy, and some of the most efficient ways to achieve happiness in the workplace – you may not have considered some of them before.
How important is employee happiness?
One shift during the last few years is the greater emphasis that society is placing on mental health. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental wellbeing has been highly significant, and many employers are now paying more attention to how their employees are feeling.
Of course, it feels good to make people happy, especially if you’re in a position of authority to be able to do this. But employee happiness has many benefits for business, too. For example:
● Employee happiness increases productivity by 12%
● Staff retention rates in happy companies can be up to four times higher
● Amongst unhappy workers, 16% of employees are looking to leave their current role
What can a business gain from happy employees?
We’ve selected some of the most crucial benefits that result from a happier workforce:
1. Happy employees are more productive. Uplifted spirits and a lack of stress promotes natural energy, which in turn has a positive effect on the output of other staff members.
2. Staff retention rates will improve. Hiring a member of staff and integrating them into a team can be a long-winded process. Additionally, team chemistry will suffer if staff turnover is too high. Maintaining employees is key to running a business smoothly, and the most effective way to encourage people to stay ensure their happiness.
3. Bring in new happy employees through recommendations. Happy employees have a higher chance of bringing in similar workers by recommending open positions to friends and family members.
4. Happy staff members mean happy customers. Employee happiness is even more important to a business that requires client-facing roles, whether in person, over the phone or via email, as customers form opinions about a company based on their interactions with workers. Walk into a store full of happy staff members, and your experience is bound to be more pleasant, for example.
5. A happy workplace has a ripple effect. The term ‘collective effervescence’ refers to a situation where one or two people’s happiness has a domino effect on others around them, making those in their vicinity happier. If you can create a culture of workplace happiness, staff members at every level will benefit from it.
6. Happiness drives innovation. As well as making workers more productive, a happy, stress-free employee is able to think outside the box more clearly. This is more likely to lead to the kind of decision-making that drives a business forward, regardless of the sector.
7. You will personally be happier. The benefits are not all about company growth. If you’re in a happy workplace, you are likely to experience an improvement in your mental health, no matter the position you hold in the business.
What can I do to ensure employee happiness?
There are many ways in which employee happiness can be boosted, and they don’t have to cost a lot of time and money. Here are some tips that you can incorporate in your own workplace to improve the mental health of your employees, and help to bring in the benefits listed above:
● Ensure that people feel valued. A total of 69% of unhappy staff in a Development Academy survey stated that the main reason they were unsatisfied in their role was that they didn’t feel valued. Make sure that each member of staff communicates openly, and that employees are appropriately praised and rewarded for good work.
● Hire the right people. According to the same survey, the main reason employees like their jobs is that they’re surrounded by good people. We all know how much better it feels to turn up to work knowing that you get on with your colleagues, and it is a massive driver for employee happiness.
● Drive constant progression. Most employees are looking to progress through the ranks and learn new skills. It’s a great idea to incorporate new, fun training from time to time, and make promotions as and when you can so that employees do not feel underwhelmed in their roles.
● Team activities. To help foster collective happiness within a team, take your employees out of the workspace. An evening of food and drinks can go a long way to lifting people’s enthusiasm.
How can the results be measured?
Communicating with your staff and asking how they’re feeling is one of the most practical ways to ensure company happiness. If you require more formal data on the matter, there are several tests that you can give to your employees to monitor their mental health and wellbeing:
● Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)
● Employee Engagement and Happiness Platform
● Employee Satisfaction Index (ESI)
By gathering more information, you’ll know whether your company is doing enough to drive employee happiness.
