Is Your Team Happy? Why it Matters to You and Your Company

The definition of a successful organization is evolving – rather than focusing only on profits to determine success, forward-thinking companies are now expanding the definition of success to include the wellbeing and happiness of their employees, customers, and leadership.

There are a variety of studies that show this focus on happiness and wellbeing increases employee engagement, productivity, sales, and profitability. Additionally, happier employees tend to get sick less often, recover faster when they do, and experience lower burnout rates. Further, positive organizations tend to render happier customers, which contribute to organization’s bottom line.

All that sounds great, but is it your job to make your team happy?  No.  A resounding NO.

But it IS your job to help your employees do their best and be their best.  We generally focus on helping them develop technical skills or by ensuring they have the right resources and tools or by providing special project opportunities to gain skills or visibility; which are all good and necessary.

However, this is not enough in today’s work environment.

Today’s employees expect even more from their manager and their company. They expect to be seen, respected and treated like a whole person that has a life outside of work. They want to work for a company with values aligned to theirs. They want a company that cares about their overall wellbeing in addition to providing what they need to be successful in both their professional and personal lives.

The 2018 Global Talent Trends survey found that one in two employees would like to see a greater focus on well-being at their company. And the more recent 2020 report calls out that "The 2020s will be all about putting people first.”

How can you, as a manager, provide what your team is looking for? 

You can add a wellbeing-based approach to developing your team, in addition to the more traditional skills-based approach.

Here’s what that might look like…provide opportunities for your team to be exposed to the concepts and tools of positive psychology and the science of happiness.

Studies have shown that these concepts and tools DO increase happiness; and they are not complex or difficult, they just need to be done on a consistent basis.  What are some of these amazing tools?  Here are 5 that can make a difference for you and your team.

1. Write down three new things you are grateful for each day in a word document, on the back of a napkin or in an on-line app. Research shows this will significantly improve your optimism even 6 months later, and raises your success rates significantly.

2. Write for 2 minutes a day describing one positive experience you had over the past 24 hours. This is a strategy to help transform you from a task-based thinker, to a meaning-based thinker who scans the world for meaning instead of endless to-dos. This dramatically increases work happiness.

3. Exercise for 10 minutes a day. This trains your brain to believe your behavior matters, which causes a cascade of success throughout the rest of the day.

4. Meditate for 2 minutes, focusing on your breath going in and out. This will help you undo the negative effects of multitasking. Research shows you get multiple tasks done faster if you do them one at a time. It also decreases stress and raises happiness.

5. Write one, quick email first thing in the morning thanking or praising a member on your team. This significantly increases your feeling of social support, which in a study conducted at Harvard was the largest predictor of happiness for students.

These are but a few ways that you can help your team increase their happiness and wellbeing. 

But these are quick fixes that won’t necessarily result in lasting change.

Alternatively, you can invest in a hands-on program that will teach you and your team the core concepts from positive psychology and the science of happiness and lead you through a step-by-step process to incorporate these concepts and tools into your lives resulting in lasting change.

At Full Circle Coaching + Consulting we incorporate these and other tools and concepts from positive psychology and the science of happiness into out signature 8-week program ‘Happy in Place.’  This program melds eastern wisdom with western logic and teaches practical and tangible skills that create a positive mindset, increase emotional intelligence and support the development and retention of happier team members. 

You can’t make your team happier, but you CAN provide them the tools, resources and support to effect lasting change in their lives.  This will address what they are looking for from you and produce better results for the team and the organization.

Contact us today (yvette@yvettecosta.com) to find out how we can work together to provide your team with what they want and expect and how you can reap the rewards of a happier team.  www.yvettecosta.com.