Silver Bullet for Employee Happiness
The most important question in the twenty-first-century people operations may well be how to impactfully contribute to the enhancement of employee happiness. Stop and think about this for a minute — do you even really know how to define “employee happiness” in the first place? No matter how you define employee happiness, and there are abundant definitions of this vital concept, if you’re planning to make a change, you should know what employee happiness means at your company. It’s as simple as that; what you can’t define, you can’t drastically improve or manage.
This is not an entirely new question. Ever since the Industrial Revolution burst, new professions emerged, and the role of human resources became more and more crucial. There is always something humans can do better than machines, which is treasurable and triggers the development of a healthy work environment. This is the number one priority for nearly all tech companies of our time. Happy employees are more satisfied with their job and tend to be more productive and stick around longer.
Building an amazing culture is a hot topic on the agenda nowadays, and it proved to be a competitive advantage. It is the cornerstone of the tech industry.
Working as an HR Manager for many years, I can see that innovation has inspired people to want more. Technological advancement accelerates the growth of professionals; high-technology changes have a critical impact on new leadership and management skills of individuals. In this modern world, to keep employees motivated, so they don’t lose sight of what they enjoy about their job is crucial.
One of the biggest challenges for managers is to learn how to motivate people. Motivation plays a vital role in the success of the company. Encouraging your people and allowing them to be part of the decision-making process makes the magic happen — it helps increase the quality of the products and the services provided to your customers.
Today, millennial employees are extremely demanding. They say, “I want to understand what we as a team are building and how my day-to-day work connects with the mission of the company.”
Over time, some employees gain so much expertise that they want to give more to the company and the teams. Hence, making these employees work on a single project/product might be like putting them in a cage. Such employees often tell me, “I don’t want to be a hero of a single project; I would like to contribute to the development of the company’s mission as a whole.”
Of course, people are interested in being well or fairly paid, but what really matters to them is to be sure that they are connecting their work to the values and the mission the company has.
The Glacial Pace of Change
We all know that a high salary and competitive bonuses are the most powerful incentives for recruiting and retaining top talent. But if your employees feel fairly paid what they are worth, then there are no interconnections between total compensation and employee happiness. It’s a common mistake to assume that salary is the absolute motivator for most employees. The salary definitely has a big impact on a candidate’s decision when accepting the job offer, but again let’s not fool ourselves, if an employee hates your company culture, then there’s nothing that’s going to make them stick around for the long term.
Many scholars nowadays are envisioning the rise of the revolutionary new approach — humanism; this thinking path brings us closer to the following three main-bones of employee happiness:
- Do your people believe that they spend their precious life on something that matters? People want a sense of meaning as they spend most of their time at work. And here actually starts the most important thing- as they get hold of that sense, they begin to deliver value to the company by using their skills with enjoyment.
- Do your people feel they grow, learn, and progress? You should start thinking about this as early as you hire people. You should always ask yourself if you are going to be able to provide this person with the kind of growth he/she wanted to see.
- Do your people have an impression of getting recognized? Here a lot is about acknowledgment, respect, and trust. Every interaction with another human is an opportunity to show that you value them and care about them.
These three mutually interconnected and complementary directions lead to the three general components of employee happiness — IMPACT, GROWTH & CARE.
What matters the most is to hire the best people and retain the best people. And this approach leads to the building of a successful business where people work and create.
Time is of great importance, and I believe that we should change our views on the concept of employee happiness as we aim to build an amazing culture.
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