8 Ways to Improve Employee Happiness and Your Bottom Line

Happy employees are three times more creative, 31% more productive, and have 37% higher sales than unhappy employees.  Check through this list to see how you might affect your employees’ happiness and your company’s bottom line.

1) Review these Gallup survey questions that help determine employee happiness and survey your employees to see how your company is meeting their needs.  Then, read the Gallup State of the American Workplace report and focus on the section, “How Employee Engagement Drives Growth.”

• I know what is expected of me at work
• I have the material and equipment I need to do my work right.
• At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
• In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
• My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
• There is someone at work who encourages my development.
• At work, my opinions seem to count.
• The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.
• My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
• I have a best friend at work.
• In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
• This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.

2)  Do not schedule staff meetings on Mondays

Many people stress on Sundays thinking about the workday ahead of them.  Help your employees get back into the week by letting them focusing on their tasks on Mondays, rather than focusing on attending meetings that may not be a productive use of their time.

3) Trust your employees

The unhappiest employees are those that are micromanaged by bosses that do not trust them to do their jobs.  If an employee isn’t meeting your expectations, document their shortcomings and, if needed, remove them from your staff.  If they are meeting their goals, let them do their jobs without standing over their shoulders.  Schedule time to meet with every employee to discuss their goals and challenges and help them prioritize their time in ways that will help ensure they’re focusing on what’s important to the company.

5)  Bring fun into the workplace

Let your employees personalize their workspace.  Rally your employees with a volunteer project.  Have a workspace decorating contest.  Have a contest where employees bring in their baby photos and everyone has to identify which baby is which co-worker. Search the internet for a few ideas and implement those that will help bring some levity and teamwork to your office.

6) Put your employees in touch with nature

Adding more natural lighting in the office, adding live plants or bringing in some artwork of nature are some things you might be able to offer.  If you’re more adventurous, you might invite employees on a lunch-time walk outside, setup some outdoor games for breaks or schedule an offsite meeting at a local park.

7) Freshen the air

Here’s another place adding plants to the office will help.  Often opening windows either isn’t possible or brings unwanted wind or humidity in the office.  Plants bring fresh oxygen into the office.  If you have a particularly dusty office, consider adding an air purifier or hiring a company to clean out the air vents.

8)  Make sure your employees are comfortable in their space

Take a walk around the office.  If you’re seeing piles on the floors, your office has a storage problem.  Talk with your employees to find out what is piling up. If they’re holding on to things that are no longer needed, encourage them to purge the clutter.

Ask your employees if they’re having any difficulties with their office equipment — computers, chairs, desks, lighting, etc.  Don’t make promises you can’t keep, but take inventory of any issues and make a plan for improvement.  And, share that plan with your employees.  If the know you’re really trying to help, they will be more patient while waiting for a solution.

ROSI Office Systems, with locations in Houston, San Antonio and Austin, Texas, can help you with your employee happiness plan by taking you through a needs analysis process and then providing you with a proposal for best-in-class office cubicle systems designed to meet your needs.  Contact ROSI Office Systems for a free consultation.