The world is divided in happiness. What can you do for your workers, and what can we do as a community to improve happiness?
It's becoming apparent that happiness is an important subject. Previously, overall happiness was not discussed as openly and professionally, but as the world becomes more open to these kinds of discussions, the more we feel together on the issue.
The more things like happiness are discussed, the better we can make the future for ourselves and our employees. Happiness influences the way people show up in the world and the way they show up to work.
Gallup recently did a survey and found that the top 20% of people who felt happy are fulfilled by their work, have little financial stress, live in great communities, have good physical health, and have loved ones they can turn to for help.
The 20% of people who rate their lives the worst have very little of any of those things. They don’t have a quality job, their income is not enough to get by, they live in broken communities, and they are hungry or malnourished.
What are a couple of things we can do for our workers, so they feel happy?
Having a sense of community is one of the most important aspects of happiness. Expecting and accepting diversity is crucial not only for people to feel like they belong and have a sense of community but also for overall happiness. Not to mention the added benefit of accepting people's differences which brings new perspectives and creativity to any environment. Harnessing an environment of acceptance is the first step toward happiness. This sense of community and acceptance, in turn, brings innovation to a company. This potentially means more revenue and profit. Which also means employees have a sense of belonging, value, and part of something bigger. It also creates job security and the ability to pay competitive salaries. As you can see, harnessing an environment of happiness for your workers can become a full-circle picture.
Also, creating a work culture of care; the pinnacle of meeting a worker’s emotional needs is when they feel cared about. But that isn’t happening. In 2022, Gallup found that only 24% of American workers strongly agreed that their organization cared about their wellbeing. This plays into fulfilling work; the more fulfilled someone feels emotional, the more fulfilled they will feel towards their work which again leads to innovation.