The Benefits of a Happy Workforce
Here at Bamboo Nine, we know the importance of a happy workforce, which is why we always try to ensure our employees are content, happy and enjoying their job roles. Given that those of us who work full-time spend more than one third of our waking hours working (and that’s not including commute time), being happy at work can have a huge effect on our life. If we are happy at work, it makes sense that it will create a positive impact on other areas of our lives.
One of the most important lessons that companies are learning this year is that encouraging a positive work environment and a happy workforce is reaping enormous benefits for everyone. In recent years, businesses have become increasingly interested in the happiness of the individual and fostering happiness in the workplace. While I would love to say that people genuinely care about the happiness of their workforce (and it’s likely they do!), happiness also has unlimited benefits, boosting everything from retention rates to productivity. Let’s look at some of the benefits of a happy workforce below.
Happiness Reduces Stress
Occasionally, work can be stressful. There may be deadlines, limited time to complete a project or an overwhelming amount of work that all cause stress to take over. A work environment that is stressful can bring about a lack of productivity. If stress is reduced, it will result in happier, more content, individuals who will work far more productively. Happiness can help to reduce stress, allowing for space to process other ideas, emotions and thoughts.
Happiness Encourages Creativity
A happy person is a creative person. As I mentioned above, happiness helps to reduce stress and therefore, it can increase creativity as it allows our brains to focus on something other than stress – raising our mental flexibility. If you have a happy workforce who enjoy being at work, they will tend to display more creativity and be able to overcome more challenges, positively impacting those around them and the business they work for. Innovation is the secret to success for any business and happy employees help to create inspirational and creative solutions your business needs to succeed.
A Happy Workforce is a Productive One
A happy workforce is encouraged to be productive and work more efficiently. A lack of productivity in an office is often caused by stress and discontentment. This can result in stressed-out and distracted employees who are watching the clock, counting the minutes to home time. Happiness, however, promotes productivity and helps issues become quickly resolved. Simply by eliminating stress and worry can lead to an instant boost in productivity. One way to do this would be to invest time with each individual employee, learning their goals and aspirations for their own professional journey and helping them feel valued and cared for.
Happiness Makes You Healthier
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that happy people are less stressed. However, it is their reduced stress levels that gives them an edge when it comes to health.
“People who are happier in their daily lives have healthier levels of key body chemicals than those who muster few positive feelings, a new study suggests. This means happier people may have healthier hearts and cardiovascular systems, possibly cutting their risk of diseases like diabetes.” – New Scientist
Studies have compared stress-out, depressed employees to happy and content ones, discovering that happy employees have less trips to the doctors. The obvious benefit of a healthy workforce is that they are absent less often and are more motivated to stay in work and they tend to recover from sickness faster. An additional benefit is that companies pay out a reduced amount of sick pay to their employees because they are all so happy! Yes, it sounds crazy but it really is that simple.
A Positive Work Environment Encourages Risk-Taking
In business, you can’t always play it safe – especially if you want to succeed. Business is about risk-taking and happy employees are more likely to take calculated risks, while unhappy employees are more likely to play it safe. A supportive work environment encourages your team to learn from their mistakes rather than fear them. Mistakes can be a powerful learning tool that can lead to unforeseen success. Workers who are afraid to make mistakes will miss important learning opportunities.
People Like to Work with Happy People
When you are recruiting, potential employees love to be introduced to a team of people who clearly enjoy what they do. A happy work environment speaks to newcomers, visitors and potential employees, yielding enormous benefits for your company such as good recommendations, positive visibility and people desperately wanting to work for you. As a happy workforce generally gets along well, encouraging company loyalty and strong team building that is vital to the success of your business. The more you work hard to promote a happy workforce, the more you and your employees will reap the benefits.
Final Words
It is widely accepted that happiness is good for our health and wellbeing, but it is becoming increasingly accepted that promoting happiness within the workforce allows for unlimited potential. By creating a positive, safe and healthy environment for your employees, you will see the success of your business grow exponentially.
Here at Bamboo Nine, we are passionate about promoting a happy and healthy workforce who treat each other like family. The atmosphere in our office is one of companionship and we aim to continually support each other. We are keen to keep our workforce happy and content in their individual roles, as a happy workforce has numerous benefits (as we have already discussed).
If you would like more information about what we do at Bamboo Nine, or if you would like to know our tips for promoting happiness in the workplace, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us today. We always love hearing from you and are happy to answer any questions you may have!