Make Your Employees Smile - They’ll Work Harder!

Happy employees help to make organisations more successful. The good news is that work can provide opportunities for many of the things that help to make people happy such as connecting with others; learning and growing skills; achieving goals and finding meaning. There are things we can all do to help make our workplaces happier and thus more productive.

Firstly, it is important to realise that there are three fundamental human needs that have to be satisfied for people to function well and be healthy psychologically. These are: autonomy (the need to have choice over our behaviour and actions), mastery (the need to feel competent) and relatedness (the need to feel connected to and cared about by others).

These needs also have an influence on how productive we are and how willing we are to help others. So, for those of you that supervise, manage or lead others, these needs have implications for how you motivate and reward people; how you design jobs and how you work yourself.

In addition to meeting basic psychological needs, work can be an important source of other elements that contribute to happiness such as positive emotions, engagement, meaning, purpose and accomplishment.

Emotions are part of being human and we don't leave them at home when we go to work. We all experience a range of different positive and negative emotions over the course of a working day. Positive emotions can actually increase our capacity to generate ideas; change the way in which we take action, and help build intellectual and social resources.

Research shows that happier workers are more liked by their colleagues, earn more money, perform better and have more fresh ideas than their less happy colleagues. They stay with their employers for longer, are more likely to contribute beyond the requirements of their job, will help their colleagues, have fewer sick days and are more punctual. Wouldn’t you like that!

There is a growing body of evidence about 'happiness' that provides a roadmap for the culture of an organisation; how you motivate, develop and reward employees; and how you select and train managers. There are ways that you can simultaneously improve the happiness and well-being of your people, make a difference in the world and achieve your performance targets.

Read about our team building Relaxation Classes and Nutrition Seminars or our In-House Massage.