Workplace happiness is about more than just mood or how your team feel on any given day. When we talk about happiness in a work context, what we’re really talking about is the the office environment and culture of an organisation. Factors like psychological safety, relationships, autonomy and freedom all play a critical role in how secure your team feel at work, which in turn can impact how engaged they feel and how well they perform.

If you want to increase happiness in your business, you need to create a working environment in which your team members feel valued and respected, where they can be themselves, contribute effectively and where they have a healthy work-life balance, and go home fulfilled at the end of the day. 

Why is Workplace Happiness Important? 

Businesses that recognise the importance of employee engagement, well-being and happiness are much more likely to create a positive work environment in which their team members can thrive. If given the choice most of us would choose to work somewhere with a positive work environment surrounded by positive people with a ‘can do’ attitude, but other notable benefits include:

• Talent Attraction / Retention - team members who enjoy their job and get on with their colleagues are less likely to leave a company. In addition, you are also more likely to benefit from candidate referrals and can use team member testimonials to attract new recruits.

• Ambassadors - happy employees feel pride and loyalty for the businesses they work for and are advocates promoting their workplace to clients and customers. If you want great customer service then take care of your employees, it really does make a difference.

• Collaboration - companies that have high levels of employee happiness typically see better collaboration between colleagues and departments. This in turn leads to increased communication, innovation, process improvements and better work relationships.

• Engagement / Performance - team members who feel engaged by the work they do typically perform better than their less engaged peers and can have a positive influence on colleagues around them, improving performance.

Whilst the benefits for creating a workplace with high levels of employee happiness are clear, there are still companies that neglect this important issue. These tend to be organisations that favour short term results over more sustainable long-term growth. 

In challenging economic times, it’s easy for businesses to make the mistake of focusing solely on increasing or maintaining revenue at the exclusion of all else. However, whilst achieving business goals is still important, high pressure management tactics and an obsessive focus on delivering results can end up creating a negative work environment, which in turn can increase stress levels within a team and lead to overwhelm and burn out.

What Can You Do to Create a Happier Workplace? 

Tip 1 | Bring Your Team Together - with lots of teams working remotely these days, it’s more important than ever to make time to encourage collaboration and team cohesion by bringing your team together for an in-person event or meeting. Improved technology and online collaboration tools mean that more can be done online than ever before, however, face to face interactions still play a key role in fostering great work relationships which can have a big impact on team happiness. Team building activities are also a great way too get teams communicating and collaborating in a less formal setting which in turn can boost morale and engagement. For more info on the benefits of team building, check our our article '8 Reasons Team Building is Great for Employee Engagement'.

Tip 2 | Get Your Team Involved - request, listen to and action feedback from your team members. Talk about what makes your organisation a great place to work as well as potential areas for improvement. By engaging your team and getting thier views on any new initiatives they would like to see going forward, you ensure you show them they are valued and bring them along on the journey with you. By involving your employees in the process they will feel more invested in any scheme’s success, which in itself is likely to increase happiness. 

Tip 3 | Look for Signs of Burnout - Burnout can be a huge problem in the workplace not only for the affected individual but for their colleagues too. Ensure that you speak to your team regularly and take time to check in if you feel that a team member may be feeling overwhelmed or overly stressed. By addressing any issues early on, you will ensure that it doesn’t negatively impact team morale. Our article 'How To Reduce Stress & Boost Performance: Tips for Managers' is a great place to start if you're team are feeling the pressure.

At Events Made Simple we work closely with client organisations to help them bring their teams together and improve employee engagement and team cohesiveness. If you'd like our help to improve happiness within your team, get in touch!