Here’s an interesting finding from a study at the University of Warwick: happy people are 12% more productive than the average worker.
In his book Happy Hour is 9 to 5, Alexander Kjerulf gives us some ideas on how to bring more happiness into our own workplaces, so that we can ultimately get better results.
Today I read a summary of the book Happy Hour is 9 to 5.
I learned happier people are more productive people. It seems like a win-win if there ever was one.
Here is an idea and an exercise to consider this week, inspired by the book:
Idea: Happiness is a choice we can influence
Happy people are more productive people. This means that one of the drivers of success of your team is how happy they are. Happiness is a leading indicator of success.
In other areas of our business we are taught to reward the behaviours that correlate with leading indicators of success. For instance, a leading indicator in sales is the size of a pipeline, which is influenced by the number of prospect calls that get made. So, we reward salespeople who make a lot of prospect calls. Simple, right?
So why don’t we do the same for happiness levels?
Exercises:
First, the easiest way to get the behvaviour you are looking for is to model it yourself. So, for the next week, make a decision to be happy at work, and make sure your team notices.
Second, think of at least three ways you can reward your staff for being happy at work. Here’s an easy one to get you started. In your next team meeting, acknowledge at least one member of your team who brings happiness into the workplace every day. This will feel awkward, but remember…your bottom line (or bonus) depends on you getting this right.
If you want more, you can read a summary of this book here today (you’ll need to create a free account first): https://readitfor.me/read-rothbard
