How Happiness In The Workplace Can Positively Impact The Bottom Line

August 23, 2017

We’ve all seen and used that round yellow smiley face emogi, we use it in our emails, SMS and Twitter seen ‘don’t worry be happy’ on bumper stickers, heard the song and now there are numerous books on how to be happy.

So what’s all the fuss about happiness in the workplace… and how exactly does a culture of positive psychology improve the performance of an organisation?

Numerous studies have shown that when people are optimistic or happy, they do the following:
-set higher goals,
-perform better at their work/school/ sports
-search for new answers to problems
-are more willing to pitch in to help others,
-are better on managerial tasks such as leadership and communication
-are more confident with public speaking.

But it’s much more than that, it’s about life satisfaction, psychological and physical wellbeing and strength and resilience that will see you though the tough times.

Those who are content and have a strong sense of themselves, look and exude wellbeing and have a positive outlook on life. It’s understandable that people want to be around them and want to work with them. An employee in a good mood will also help elevate the moods of others — which is particularly important when that person’s role is to engage with customers, clients, patients or a work team.

And then you see someone who walks around with a defeatist attitude just waiting for bad things they predicted to happen to them. Colleagues who work alongside them get dragged down and soon work becomes something they don’t enjoy. It gets even worse because we tend to avoid unhappy people and so they find it harder to be effective… and the business suffers.

As business owners and employers, the challenge today is to engage and motivate staff in a world where they are bombarded and distracted with social media news feeds. Below are some of the best and simplest ways to create an authentically positive and supportive culture where employees feel valued and can be happy in their work environment:

-ensure they are clear on the purpose of the organisation;
-share with them your professional standards in terms of communication, attitudes and behaviours, client service and respect for clients and colleagues;
-empower them by giving them opportunities to make an impact,
-take the time to appreciate them and celebrate wins.

…and then repeat.

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