When you ask most people about what their goal in life is, most often you’ll hear them reply that they just want to be happy. But what is happiness and how can the workplace environment influence on how we feel and how does it contribute to our overall happiness?

Taking into account that, on average, over 14% of your life will be spent working, it’s important the work you carry out contributes towards to seeking that happiness that we all look for in life. If you already work in an environment with great workplace culture, then you will certainly recognise some of the qualities below but if not, here’s what you should be searching for when making your next move.

For us, here at Employees Health, there are 4 pillars that any employee should feel when working in the workplace.

  • Autonomy – Employees should feel like they have control over the work they are doing and are able to take responsibility for their own productivity, workload and organisation. 
  • Relationship – the workplace environment should be friendly and those who work in it should encourage the formation of strong working relationships as well as friendships within the workplace. 
  • Progress – Employees should feel like they are moving towards their end goal and not standing still, this will play a key part in their happiness within the workplace.
  • Meaning – it’s important for employees to feel useful and to feel like their work is making an impact to the organisation. 

A lot of the above will be part of the employee’s persona and although they are qualities that the company itself should nurture, it’s important that the employee continues to develop these characteristics within themselves as part of personal growth and development. 

So what should type of things should you be looking for the organisation to do to promote happiness within their employees?

  • Consistently provide praise and recognition – feeling unrecognised or unappreciated within the workplace has been found to be one of the main reasons why people quite their jobs. For this reason, its important that companies have, within their managerial team, a praise and recognition scheme and offer friendly and frequent meetings or contact with senior management to all of their employees.
  • Always come back to why the business started – it’s very easy for companies, especially with staff turnover and quick growth, to forget why the company started in the first place, the true mission and purpose for why everyone gets up to work everyday. Coming back to these values on a regular basis will help employees feel part of the process as well as create a more fulfilling workplace.
  • Listen to their employees needs – although initially, all prospect employees look at renumeration, bonus packages have a huge ability to draw people towards a role, especially when organisations have taken the time to listen to employees to offer what they need. This might be funded travel, childcare, eat out voucher, etc. Perks that improve quality of life should not be overlooked.
  • They throw events that allow the company to bond and get to know each other – it can’t all be work and no fun, can it? Great companies will offer days out, team building events and opportunities for everyone to work together.
  • Incentivise wellness – This one for us, at Employees Health, is what we encourage every employer to do. Often we can get into a vicious cycle of working and not “having enough time for me time” which means that employees, over time, understandably grow tired and come at risk of burnout, anxiety and other conditions. Allowing employees and encouraging them to spend time working on their individual happiness and wellbeing will benefit the organisation as a whole.

If you want to learn more about how to nurture happy and healthy employees and workplace, get in touch today. We have a wide range of wellness days, workshops and much more to provide you with the correct knowledge to help you employees with their mental health, happiness and to increase workplace loyalty.