Maintaining a happy, engaged team, cannot be achieved by championing employee happiness just one week a year. There is actually a lot of science behind achieving happiness, and how it impacts human behaviour, that should be understood first.
According to Fredrickson’s Broaden and Build theory, for example, positive emotions such as gratitude and joy promote creative and optimistic behaviours. Over time, these positive emotions also encourage people to develop their own ‘well-being resources’, or reserves, which can be tapped into during more challenging times to restore mental wellbeing and boost resilience.
It’s therefore important that employers create ‘micro-moments’ of positive emotions, on an individual basis with their entire workforce, and prioritise engagement year-round, to show that they care about their people. They must use ongoing engagement tactics and programmes to build up their well-being resources through consistent moments of positivity. In doing so, employees will reciprocate the happiness their employer provides them at work, in the form of commitment and the inspiration to do better (otherwise known as engagement).
Here are 12 Rules of Engagement* that employers can follow to achieve a happier workforce.
- Make it personal – ensure you understand each individual on your team, how they work best, and what their unique needs, abilities and aspirations are. This will allow you to tailor your approach and ensure your engagement efforts resonate.
- Make money a non-issue – companies that are committed to supporting their employees’ long-term financial goals are often repaid with great loyalty. Competitive salaries are a great place to start, but financial wellbeing benefits and generous reward and recognition platforms also contribute to financial security.
- Help them thrive – If employees feel burned out, chances are they are not going to act as happy advocates of your business. Ensuring you are adequately staffed increases the likelihood of a healthy work-life balance and protects the holistic wellbeing (work, health, and personal life) of your workforce.
- Realise their potential – investing in your employees’ learning can significantly boost engagement and demonstrate that you care about them and their development. Providing training that aligns with their unique interests and goals enhances their commitment to their company.
- Foster belonging – embracing diversity and promoting inclusivity creates a culture and work environment where employees feel happy and a sense of belonging.
- Have transparent leadership – engaging in active listening sessions, valuing diverse perspectives and being open and honest about the company’s vision and future gives employees a sense of purpose within their organisation.
- Give it meaning – aligning employees’ values with their company’s mission and values is essential to forming strong, happy bonds. Regular reminders of how their contributions impact the company’s mission will also provide a sense of purpose among employees.
- See their future – people are motivated to work hard now in order to achieve a future goal or ambition they have for the long-term. Taking time to understand each employee’s goals and ambitions, and working with them on a plan to achieve them, will result in better loyalty over the long-term and better engagement in the meantime.
- Magnify their success – regularly recognising and appreciating employees’ hard work and achievements creates micro-moments of happiness with them, as well as fostering a positive and supportive workplace.
- Unite the team – employees are more likely to work hard if they feel they are part of a team that shares this same sense of drive. With hybrid and remote work now commonplace for many organisations, creating regular opportunities for employees to come together, form social connections, and create team bonds, has never been more important.
- Let them lead – being able to voice opinions at work is important, but having the autonomy and trust from an employer to action these ideas, is another. It’s important that employees feel supported in bringing their good ideas to life, so that they are happy and inspired by the contribution they make to the business.
- Challenge them – people are ambitious and are generally eager to achieve something incredible in their lifetime. As an employer, challenging your employees to work with you on an important project, that’s outside of their comfort zone, will provide them with a great sense of achievement and reinforce a sense of purpose in what they do.
*Guidance from BI WORLDWIDE
