Are you happy at work? It may be a hard question to answer, but employee happiness can have a major effect on an organization. According to a recent study, happy employees are up to 20% more productive than their less-happy counterparts. Not only that, but the Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” experienced a stock price increase of 14% per year from 1998 to 2005, compared to a 6% increase for companies not on the list.
Employee happiness is crucial for both the team and the bottom line. But how do you ensure that your employees are empowered, engaged, and enjoying themselves?
A recent article titled 7 Keys To Make Your Employees Love Your Company outlined the top seven ways employers can boost their company’s happiness factor. And, not surprisingly, almost all of the tips have to do with knowing and valuing your people.
Here is an excerpt of three of those keys:
Know Who Your People Are
Culture is the sweet spot in which work-life integration and happiness meet. I’d venture that all the top winners of the happiness study are actually winning in culture — and happiness is the simplified way to describe the result. But their cultures are intentional and as carefully created as a small-batch espresso. They pay attention to the needs and wants of their employees, and factor in that intel. In general, being able to come to work for a major corporation that offers training, benefits and security without hiding your style and your identity is a big deal.
Pay Attention to Your CultureInterestingly, [the Comparably] list reflects how many companies aren’t addressing culture — though they are trying to address various facets of it. Or they make the initial effort to forge a culture, and then they leave it alone. But as the study also noted: “The happiest workers feel valued by their employers across multiple dimensions, from a solid mix of fair salary, great benefits, and fun perks to flexibility, good relationships with their bosses and co-workers, and mission, vision, and values they believe in.”
Again: that all adds up to an intentionally created company culture.
Don’t Be Afraid To Be Better
[One of the companies surveyed] created a “culture code” and encapsulated it in a 128-slide deck that it released to the public in 2013. It looked specifically at why people liked to work there and built on those insights. It’s also been forthright about making course corrections, continuing to iterate over time — thereby adding two stellar and appealing qualities to its culture: the transparent, bold ability to admit mistakes, and the leadership-driven commitment to fix them.
Whether you’re a team lead at a brand-new startup or the CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation, understanding and appreciating the people in your organization is the first step to building a thriving company culture that promotes employee happiness. When you bring your team to work in Sococo, you’ll get to know your teammates for who they are and develop relationships that enable you to support your employees and excel in your organizational goals. And isn’t that something to smile about?
