Are you still living in the era where you think that solely paying incentives and bonuses will keep your employees happy at work? If yes, read this post further to understand the importance of happiness and what drives individuals beyond financial gains to keep them happy.

Employee happiness creates a positive atmosphere and this inevitably encourages them to improve their personal well-being. Highly engaged employees bring positive energy to the workplace as well as in his/her local community and social circle.

The link between employee happiness and productivity is not new, employee happiness counts for a lot. Being happy is not just feeling happy at the workplace, it is about feeling happy in what you do. It is obvious that how we feel at work affects other areas of our lives. If it makes us happy it can create a positive impact on our surroundings as well.

Happiness provides satisfaction in the workplace. When employees are happy it gives them a sense of satisfaction and belongingness. They also love doing their daily tasks and put their best effort into their work without it being a burden. As such there are numerous effects of being happy at work, we have listed some of them below:

• Happiness helps to succeed in all areas of life
• Happy employees have better physical and mental health
• Happy employees are more altruistic
• Happy employees are kinder
• Happiness opens a mind and gives more energy
• Happy employees have better human relationships
• Happiness helps in increasing life longevity
• Happy employees are more resilient

Making employees happy is not rocket science. Study after study has shown that happy employees are a direct correlation with the success of an organization. Below are some examples which help an organization to generate happiness:

The importance of wellness programs should be focused on bringing positivity and a healthy lifestyle for all employees. With the help of the right education, motivation, skills/tools, and a bit of support, every organization can implement a meaningful wellness program. At Penthara Technologies we are providing a basic health insurance program along with preventive healthcare services from our healthcare partner ekincare. Some of the benefits include yearly health checkups, unlimited doctor consultation, and access to a one-on-one personalized stress therapy program. Our healthcare partner also enables us to implement preventive healthcare maintenance for all our employees. It also helps in providing a platform where we can run various challenges, such as pushup challenge, Healthy meal challenge, Steps challenge, and many more.

Mental Health at work matters, no matter where you are. When you are facing mental health issues, your overall health gets affected. People are often reluctant to discuss mental health problems, especially at work. Eliminating mental health issues such as depression and anxiety would increase employee happiness. Organizations can deal with mental health issues by building a culture that prioritizes psychological well-being, it will help employees who are struggling to feel safe, and it also encourages them to improve their mental health. One of the ways you can evaluate the mental health of your employees is by sending small surveys and getting their feedback on how they are feeling regularly. At Penthara Technologies, we have implemented a small application that collects various mood levels for every employee at the end of the week. We ask for a score from 1 to 5 for feelings such as happiness, sadness, gratitude, frustration etc. This way we maintain a log of these scores by week for all our employees and can calculate an overall happiness score for our company.

Employees who get fair treatment in their workplace trust their employers and enjoy their work with more dedication. When employees feel that they are treated fairly, the relationship becomes strong, trust increases, and they enjoy their work. At Penthara Technologies, we have spent a great amount of time and emphasized creating a highly inclusive culture and developed fair and flexible policies for our employee-centric approach.

Candid feedback is crucial for the entire organization to remain aligned with the organizational goals and improve relationships with the employees. Candid feedback helps in adjusting and improving current and future actions & behavior. This is one of the best ways to elevate employee morale and create a more positive and happier work environment. If employees feel free to share what they think about the organization, management, and other employees, they are more likely to be happy and engaged with an organization.

Being approachable is the foundation of building a good relationship with employees. We believe in the approachable culture at Penthara Technologies, where we break down barriers between employer and employee so that we can create an environment of trust. We do not have a culture of any hierarchy in our management.

Apart from salary and perks, the most important aspect of job satisfaction is to be valued at work. It helps in creating strong workplace culture. When employees are doing good in an organization, it is important to acknowledge their work impartially to make sure their efforts are celebrated appropriately. One can implement recognition programs that can help in implementing a culture that knows how to value their employees appropriately.

Work-Life Balance is beneficial for employees as well as for the organization. If there is a good balance between work and personal life, it leads to improved mental health. A healthy work-life balance is not only important for health and relationships, but it can also improve employee’s productivity, and ultimately performance. We expect our employees to be as productive as possible and give their best during the 8 hours that they commit every day to our company.  Beyond those 8 hours, they should practice disconnecting completely from their work and enjoy time for other commitments.

It is of utmost importance to engage employees in an organization to achieve job satisfaction. This always helps in better communication and team building. Engaged employees are happier, both at work and in their personal lives. We conduct weekly fun activities so that we can have some time off from work and relax. This also helps in building better relationships and bonds among our employees.

For this article, we will leave you with some inspiring quotes related to happiness. We hope that every organization can think and implement measures for their employee’s happiness.

"There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved." —George Sand 

"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort." —Franklin D. Roosevelt 

"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." —The Dalai Lama

"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier." —Mother Theresa

"Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties." —Helen Keller