Posted on October 5th, 2011
Today my thoughts are on happiness. Every individual wants to feel it in their life. Every business wants their customers to experience it in some way. Every employee wants to find it in their work.
So I decided to do a little research on happiness at work.
Numerous studies show similar findings; that 55% of American workers are unhappy in their jobs. These same studies also show that employees who are happy have a heightened sense of engagement and are more productive.
It seems to me that organizations would want to infuse more happiness in their workplace. So, how do you do that?
Interestingly, the number one thing that makes us unhappy at work is also the number one thing that makes us happy. Are you ready for it? It is the quality of our workplace relationships.
- How well we get along with our manager and co-workers
- The level to which we feel valued by them
- How well our manager and co-workers communicate with us
Here are three action items that you and/or your team can implement to build happiness at work.
1. Choose positive thoughts. The biggest thing that blocks us from happiness is negative emotions such as pessimism, resentment, and anger. We can shift this by choosing positive emotions, such as empathy, honoring diversity and especially gratitude.
2. Call out what’s right. Recognize the strengths of your team and your accomplishments. Recognize each other. When a co-worker does something helpful, say it and share with them the impact it has on you.
3. Learn together. Stay open to new ideas. Review what you have learned from both positive and negative situations. Choose a job and/or team competency and learn about the skills associated with it. Learning together provides the perfect forum for improved communications.
You can also call on Madd-Steiny to help you build happiness on your team through our suite of products or a customized learning session just for your team/organization. Our flagship program, respectFULL teams® has proven to be effective in building the quality of workplace relationship.
Happily, Georgine
