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If you think being a business owner is challenging, wait till you see things from the perspective of an employee. Work can be hard, and dealing with stress is an added challenge, especially when finding a work-life balance.
As a result, employee happiness has increasingly become a vital aspect of business success. When employees are happy, organisations thrive. This is why fostering a positive work culture that’s fun and inspiring is the path of having happy employees in your business.
1. Improved productivity
Compensation alone isn’t good enough to make employees productive in your business. People who enjoy their work are far more efficient at their jobs than those who don’t. Having a positive work culture in your business makes a person’s brain work better and also means lesser sick days. As a result, their overall performance improves significantly, which is essential for the success of your business.Â
Among the benefits of happy employees is that they generally become better at what they do because they have a better outlook at doing their jobs. In addition, happier employees work harder, work better together in teams, and are generally more productive for these reasons:
- Happy employees care more. Workers who enjoy what they do, care more about the tasks at hand and the business in general. This affinity makes them more driven to work hard for the company and make it achieve its goals.
Happiness increases productivity because it leads to higher engagement, making employees more present to fulfil a customer’s needs. - Reduced Stress. Stress is a normal part of work and life, but too much of it can have dire effects on morale and productivity. In the US, 36% of workers suffer from workplace stress, costing businesses $30 Billion a year in lost workdays.
To avoid this counter-productivity in your business, provide a venue for your team to talk through any problems and help them find solutions. Making an effort to reach out to your employees in this manner offers satisfaction that is appreciated and can help boost performance for your business. - Happiness is contagious. The multiplying nature of happiness is something that should be nurtured in your business. Having this positive culture can influence employees and teams to grow along with the business.
Employees who find joy in their work become role models for others to follow. A considerable part of working toward a shared vision, as stated in the 5E Scale Engine, is to Empower your team to attain uncommon results. This can only be done when your team is happy and support one another.
2. Happiness encourages creativity
In today’s changing and competitive markets, innovation and creativity have become the lifeblood of any business. Being happy helps creativity as it frees up space and raises mental flexibility, thus increasing the chance of creating something powerful that can help your business in its journey of scaling up.
- Happy employees take more risks. Happy workers are inspired enough to think outside the box to develop creative solutions your organization needs. These calculated risks involve finding the right opportunities and timing, which more engaged, happier employees notice.
- Happy employees create a supportive environment. Happy employees encourage everyone to learn from mistakes rather than fear them. Unhappy employees are more likely to play it safe, but mistakes can be powerful learning tools to develop and succeed.
3. Happy employees have more accuracy and better analytical abilities
A happy and engaged workforce is the single greatest advantage in the modern economy. Happiness raises accuracy outcomes on tasks by 19% and allows workers to have better analytical abilities. Research suggests that people in a good mood take in more information and processes them more efficiently if they’re in a good mood. One of the benefits of happy employees is making better and more accurate decisions that can only help the company achieve its goals.
Overall, happy employees strive to be masters of their own craft, especially if bonuses and rewards are at stake. Empowering employees means you let them enjoy autonomy and accomplish mastery. Your employees will be more independent and work harder to reach their goals. Read more about empowering employees in the 5E Scale Engine process that guides new businesses from start to finish.
4. Increased confidence
Among the benefits of happy employees is the rise of confidence among team members in your business. Happy and empowered workers are more confident at their tasks and are more willing to take on more demanding projects. They have more enthusiasm and commitment to achieving success, which relates to better overall results for your business.
This mindset is best exemplified by business owners, who must first have the necessary confidence, so employees feel empowered too. Building a highly effective and confident workforce in your business can amplify a business leader’s personal efforts. Building confidence with this positive culture can lead to essential habits that employees can gain from, such as:
- Stating intentions to finish tasks. By voicing out goals, your employees can gain confidence since they hold themselves accountable. Speaking and owning up to tasks helps build credibility and gain more respect in the office.Â
- Turn criticism into motivation. Personal attacks often happen to everyone, especially in a business. Happy employees are confident enough to dismiss anger or resentment and see it as an opportunity to grow instead.Â
- Walk with pep. How one moves around in your office can determine one’s mood. As a business owner, if you add a little pep and energy, it allows your employees to gain more confidence and inspire them to create a positive reaction.
5. Happy employees are more passionate about their work
People who enjoy their work are more fun to be around in the business. Choosing passionate people to surround yourself with starts from the hiring process itself, which is a key area that we focus on when we help our clients Super Scale their businesses.
Focus on finding new hires that excel in their field and also have an excellent disposition for the work they’re about to do. This allows you to build an effective team that will see your business through towards achieving your business goals. To achieve the benefits of happy employees, you need to have a team that has nearly the same dedication and excitement in the business as you do.
6. Teamwork is effortless
Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a shared vision, and is one of the core principles of the 5E Scale Engine. Successful efforts within a business come from teams, whether your business is big or smaller. And happy employees make better teams.
The difference between a group and a team doesn’t seem that big but can mean the success or failure of your business. A group can be filled with individuals having their own agenda, while a team is a collection of individuals with a shared common purpose.
Employees who enjoy their work are more able to work between teams or collaborate with others. Cross-team collaboration is an essential innovation for your business and is best exemplified by happy team members.
7. Happy employees provide a better service
Employee morale and sales in your business are directly correlated, with a Gallup poll indicate up to 147% more earnings than businesses that do not have this focus.
This is because it’s much easier to engage with happy people, making it easier for employees to close deals with customers. In addition, happy employees have the right attitude that permeates through their work through these methods:
- More Information and Enthusiasm. One of the benefits of happy employees is providing better service by giving more information with the proper enthusiasm. This can be appealing for many customers and allows them to feel at ease.
This also allows employees to pay more attention to the needs of customers. Having a positive can-do attitude makes it easier for these employees to engage with customers and do what they can to provide better service. - Better part of the workforce. Aside from assisting customers, another one of the benefits of happy employees is that they are more alert of the company’s processes and systems. They are equipped with the right attitude to function within your business to increase productivity and profitability.Â
8. Happy employees are better at closing deals
Companies with happy employees outperform the competition by 20%, with happy salespeople closing 37% more sales. One of the best benefits of happy employees is having much better employee engagement. Engaged employees show increased productivity, especially when it comes to closing the deals that your business relies upon.Â
Employees who express more positive emotions before negotiating deals close negotiations more efficiently and successfully than unhappy people. There are also other means to empower happy employees to become more effective at their job through more significant roles such as:
- As Brand Ambassadors. Happy employees who love what they do become the best brand ambassadors because they exude the joy of working for your business. They promote the business not just by doing their jobs but by engaging and showcasing the fun they have being part of your company daily.
They begin to extol the virtues of your brand and present products and services with enthusiasm. It would be best to harness that enthusiasm as it is a powerful tool that puts forward your positive culture. - As part of a Branding Strategy to Boost Sales. Empowered and appreciated employees have a much higher engagement compared to most members of your team, which means they are in tune with the needs of your customer base. They can provide valuable insight on how to initiate sales better while being positive examples themselves.
From forming simple behavioural changes such as a pleasant smile to engaging body language, happy employees are great reference points for the rest of your team and effectively boost sales for your business.
9. Happy employees mean happy customers
Any customer can tell you that they base much of their buying decisions on the overall experience. If a team member welcomes a customer with a frown, then the negative first impression is what the customer will remember your brand with. This leaves traces of discontent that no business owner would want to have piled up. When having customer-facing teams, placing the right kind of people with happier dispositions can most likely lead to more positive interactions with everyone, including your all-important customers.Â
The best kind of business knows that taking care of employees through positive workplace cultures espouses a healthy and happy environment to take care of customers. When the customers are satisfied, they come back even after making a purchase. And when customers are happy, it reflects well through more revenue. This cycle of happiness is an important aspect of business that every organization needs to maintain, and is a key focus for you as a business founder.
10. Customers recognize high job satisfaction
In today’s transparent and informed society, businesses can revel in being see as a great place to work. This can be attained through respect and reputation for having happy employees. This makes it easier for customers to advocate and support your business, knowing that your organization treats its workforce well.Â
Whether it’s how you provide employee perks or having a company team win the local basketball tournament, or simply gaining a reputation for being fair, it’s always better to be on the right side of favor. In addition, customers like supporting businesses with a reputation for doing right by their staff, which becomes a contagious adherence that is simply a win-win. Sound good yet?
11. Employees care about your business’s success
When employees are happy and feel valued by the business, they also become invested in the success of your business. They strive hard to achieve tasks knowing that this can help them attain their goals and become more compelled to the work that they do in your business.
And while it’s one of the overlooked benefits of happy employees, the more they appreciate their role, the more likely they’ll be open to collaborating with others, even across teams, to get the job done.Â
They won’t complain about putting in extra hours on a project and are more than willing to do whatever it takes to complete tasks. When employees are happy, they have greater self-confidence, are more productive, and are far more successful than unhappy ones. This joy inspires greater performance from your team members to achieve tremendous success together in the business.
12. Happy employees are healthier employees
The most important person in every business isn’t the CEO; each member of your business makes things happen every day. One of the best benefits of happy employees is the fact that they are also much healthier. Work-related stress can negatively affect the immune system of individual employees, with businesses eventually bearing the brunt of costs and lack of productivity due to absences from work.Â
When employees get along and have a positive work environment, they’re more likely to get up and walk around more often, to avoid strain and fatigue. Happy workers directly correlate to a benefit for health, as it reduces headaches and eyestrain caused by screen-based tasks or fixed positions. You don’t want tired out team members in your business!Â
Injecting happiness into your system also provides more vigour and energy, along with the excitement of coming to work every day, instead of the dread many unhappy employees feel. If you’re keen on creating a culture of workplace wellness for your employees, here are a few things you can implement in your business today:
- Put up occupational athletics activities
- Choosing Healthy Foods and Beverages for meetings, conferences, and internal events
- Initiate nutritious eating at the workplace
- Encourage physical activity breaks at work
- Mental health screening
13. Happy employees equal lower costs
Most business owners should know that unhappy employees can cost them a whole lot of money. Gallup states disengaged employees have 37% higher absenteeism, 18% lower productivity, and 15% lower profitability. When that translates to dollars, it represents 34% of an unhappy employee’s annual salary or $3,400 for every $10,000 they make.Â
The same report states that unhappy workers cost the US between $450 to $550 Billion in lost productivity each year — much of which affects small businesses. And as we’ve already established, happy employees are much healthier and suffer fewer sick days. On the other hand, unhappy employees take significantly more sick leave, equivalent to 15 extra sick days per year.
This alone should convince you to start looking at your employees as resources, not just workers or tools to get work done for your business.Â
14. Better employee retention
Happy employees are more loyal, resilient and are more likely to stay with the business for the long term. Happiness and contentment may be crucial to efficiency and effectiveness, but they are also one of the main reasons businesses retain valuable talent. Businesses benefit themselves when they create policies and approaches to employees that help keep them happy. It also increases profit through money saved.Â
Think about the additional costs you’ll have to face when hiring a new employee, such as the cost of advertising, interviewing, onboarding, and training, as well as the time needed for adjustments and errors. By keeping your employee satisfaction high, you maintain a positive impact on your business’s bottom line. Retaining quality employees is excellent not just for the obvious cost savings but also for establishing a great workplace culture that furthers your overall business effectiveness.Â
15. Harmonized work environment
Happy employees are easier to work with and want to come to work with joy. They tend to be more tolerant of other people’s mistakes, making the work environment in your business a lot more harmonious.Â
Happiness is very contagious, and when there’s pleasure in working with people they’re surrounded by every day, work becomes enjoyable. Happiness in the business nurtures mutual respect and good relationships that mean far less tension as they strive towards your business goals.Â
When the opinion of others doesn’t burden employees, they can focus on their tasks and are more empowered with more energy to do their jobs and enjoy their achievements. Promoting this positive culture between your employees can motivate them to help one another, leading your business to achieve more success.Â
Conclusion
From better attitudes, improved productivity, fewer sick days, more engagement, and more enriching connections, the benefits of happy employees mean the growth of each individual within your team. Businesses with happy employees grow faster and enjoy a happiness boom that can fuel your organisation to enjoy long-term business success.
This is just a brief guide, for more details on how you can become a more effective leader as a business founder, download our free 61-page playbook: Learn more about creating world-class teams as a business founder.
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