Happy employees to do better work

guest blog. Since the month of love has just ended, we are entering the month of happiness. And yes, the United Nations declared March 20 as International Day of Happiness in 2012.

This is a huge step in realizing the importance of happiness. At the same time, the World Happiness Report is celebrating its 10th anniversary. One hundred and fifty countries annually participate in their rankings on a measure of happiness that combines subjective questions asked of the population and some indicators considered important in the state happiness equation, such as gross domestic product and life expectancy.

We can learn a lot from this report about the factors that contribute to our happiness, if we are able to see beyond our opinions and beliefs. First of all, we can note that Canada ranked sixth in 2012. In 2021, we have slipped to fifteenth place with the United States right behind us. This is food for thought. Why do two of these wealthy countries rank after Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Israel, to name a few?

This thinking is useful individually, but also as a manager or owner of a large company. When you better understand what contributes to overall happiness, you can make conscious efforts for your own happiness and that of your team.

The link between happy employees and work performance is clear. According to a Harvard-MIT study, a happy employee is:

• 2 times less sick

• 6 times less absent

• 9 times more loyal

• 31% higher productivity

• 55% more creative

Thus, it is important to ask what could have caused the ranking to drop in this way. Did health measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic play a role?

According to the longest-running study on happiness and longevity – conducted by Harvard University over a period of 75 years – the quality of our relationships is the number one factor in longevity and happiness. However, during a pandemic, health measures have been able to divide and isolate.

Here are some important elements that we can infer from these observations:

– If we want to keep the business healthy, we have to worry about the well-being of our employees.

– We need others. Human contact is important. You have to find ways to stay connected, even from a distance, on a regular basis. It has even become a priority in the era of hybrid business models. Finding ways to create good virtual relationships will be an essential part of the happiness equation.

Cooperation is more important than competition. Segmenting people to create driving forces does not seem like a winning strategy.

If a business owner is not responsible for the happiness of his employees, he should at least ensure that he does not contribute to their unhappiness.

Even today we feel an oppressive culture of high performance. There are a lot of toxic environments where fear is used to control them.

Safe work environments – both physically and psychologically – where collaboration dominates over competition will allow people to thrive, creating a virtuous circle of growth for the individual and the company.

In addition, when we are safe, we can have better relationships with our colleagues, friends, and family, which can also contribute to our happiness, health, and longevity.

You liked this text, you may want to read the post Are you happy? After all, meIt’s hard to worry about other people’s happiness if we’re not happy ourselves.

Happy end to the month of happiness!