Making our employees happy in our company will have direct benefits on the annual results. We tell you what you need to do to achieve an optimal working environment.
According to a study by the University of Warwick, a happy employee is 12% more productive, while an unhappy one is 10% less.
There is no definitive formula for a happy employee, as each employee is unique. However, there are certain variables that, when well applied to our employees, will help our company and its ecosystem to be a happy place to work.
Internal communication is fundamental in order to create empathy and to know how employees value a company.
The best way to find out if your employees are happy or not is to ask them. This way you can identify possible internal problems and eradicate them before it is too late.
Many companies use tools such as Typeform to develop short surveys and send them to their employees at the end of the week in order to identify possible improvements. In these tests they ask basic questions such as:
- How was your week?
- Have you had a lot of work?
- Would you highlight anything from this week?
Employee feedback is the most important feedback in a company. We must take their ideas and concerns into account. This is essential to make them feel valued and, in the process, improve our internal processes.
Remember that their happiness has a direct impact on their productivity and, therefore, on the company's overall results. A happy environment benefits everyone.
In addition to surveys, continuous and open communication is essential. There are internal chat tools, such as the Google in Gmail o Slack, which help to improve communication between employees.
Giving power and responsibility to an employee helps keep their motivation high. It gives them a reason to keep striving and gives meaning to their day-to-day work, giving them a direction to follow so they don't wander around the company.
But it is not enough just to delegate responsibilities, you will also have to establish objectives to be achieved in a limited period of time (monthly, quarterly, yearly...).
It is advisable that the achievement of these objectives should be rewarded. In this way, both the company and the employee will benefit: the employee feels fulfilled with his or her work, gets a reward that will have an impact on his or her happiness, and the company will be able to increase productivity and, therefore, improve the financial result.
In the vast majority of cases, career paths take us to places we might not have thought of in the past. There is the possibility that our professional dreams may be cut short and we may end up working in positions that we do not consider our vocation.
However, this situation can be well managed if we help our employees understand that each position has interesting elements that can help their self-fulfilment.
Help your employees with their training. Encourage them to sign up for courses, workshops or conferences to broaden the knowledge they can use in their day-to-day work. Continuous learning makes employees feel more useful and capable within a company and, therefore, more comfortable in it.
There is no doubt that celebrating makes us happy, and there are many reasons to celebrate. Successes, new clients, the completion of projects,... Take advantage of this to get your team together in the company cafeteria or in the bar around the corner. Wherever you are.
We must involve all staff in this positive state. It is important that everyone feels that they are part of the successes achieved, that they have done their bit to achieve important goals for the company.
This will undoubtedly help to alleviate tensions and foster a pleasant environment where a good working atmosphere should be the main focus.
Finally, As Margarita Álvarez states, The master key to fostering an optimal environment is to «look for what makes you enjoy your work. Focus on the positive». And in this respect, we as a company have a lot to contribute.
