How to Create a Happy Workplace: Here's 5 Tested Methods

Have you heard of the famous sayings, 'Happy employees create happy customers' or ' Happy employees are a company's best ambassadors'? Do you know what it means?

While they may sound different from one another, both of these sayings focus on the importance of keeping employees happy and their impact on the growth and success of an organisation.

Employees are the backbone of the organisation, and how they feel has a direct impact on their engagement and performance levels, directly contributing to productivity, retention in the company, and overall organisational growth.  

Employees Leave When They Are Not Happy

Gallup research shows that employee engagement has hit its lowest in a decade among young workers and women, making this category the most unhappy people at work. It is also found that 50% of the global workforce choose quiet quitting, whereas only 18% prefer loud quitting, which is where they openly share their state of unhappiness at an office or workplace.

Today, social media trends like #QuietQuitting and #ActYourWage has easily reached over 1.2 billion views. This virality has made it quite obvious that the workforce is still continuing to feel the effects of an unhappy workplace caused by chronic stress and burnout despite the increasing awareness of workplace wellness and work-life balance.

These findings mean only one thing: health and happiness at work are not afterthoughts that should come after attractive compensation, benefits, and perks. Instead, they are driving and crucial forces that influence an employee to decide whether to stay in a job or leave.

This is why many employees today prefer to know about the work culture before deciding to join a company, regardless of a competitive package. This shift is driven by various factors, including a desire for work-life balance, personal growth opportunities, and a positive and happy work environment.

This article will help organisations navigate this emerging workplace challenge by revealing 5 tested methods on how to create a happy workplace. 

1. Prioritise Flexibility

The outbreak of the pandemic has given us all a reality check on 'remote work culture.' It has made the corporate world see the workplace through a different lens and the benefits it can reap. Today, many organisations are enjoying the flexibility of remote work, which has positive effects on productivity levels, attraction of potential talent, and low turnover rate.

Greater flexibility, whether in the form of start time, shift-sharing, or remote working options, has been found to improve productivity and work-life balance. A 2023 study by the International Labor Organization confirmed this correlation, which emphasises a key change that organisations looking at how to create a happy workplace should consider.

Not to mention, among the many flexibility, on average, 82% of employees say that the ability to work from anywhere makes them particularly happier.  

2. Encourage Workplace Friendship

On average, a person spends 81,396 hours at work during his career. Imagine all that time without positive social interaction? While technology has made communication and networking easy, it has also made socialising much more difficult and people feel more disconnected. Online meetings are increasing at a higher range since the pandemic. While all these platforms can make us feel hyper-connected, the truth is we're lonelier than ever. Today, only three in 10 workers have a best friend at work.

Having a friend at work has a greater impact on important outcomes like increasing the chances of recommending their workplace, having less intent to leave, and improving overall job satisfaction.

It gives employees a sense of belonging and is almost like a vessel for de-stressing and communicating in free time. It is like getting fresh air or taking some time for creative discussions.

This is why we can see many examples of employees who could get better compensation elsewhere choosing to stay at a current job because they like their 'peers' or boss and feel more connected at the office.

Redefining the sense of togetherness within a workplace can improve connections and meaningful bonds between peers or colleagues. When there is a mutual relationship of trust and concern, the sky's the limit in terms of productivity, commitment, and even fostering a happier workplace.  

3. Minimise Micromanaging

Let's face it, nobody likes to be micromanaged, and this is no different for office employees. On average, at least 79% of employees have experienced micromanagement in their workplaces.

The happiest workplaces are where employees are allowed to work on their own phase as long as they meet the end goals. It is one where leaders and superiors trust the subordinates with a task and to meet its specific goals.

Constantly checking on progress and micromanaging can do more harm than good. It can keep employees in a constant state of alert and pressure, leading to errors, delays, and stress contributing to deteriorating productivity levels.

Studies have confirmed this impact, where micromanagement has been found to result in the following outcomes leading to an unhappy workplace:

• 71% said micromanagement interfered with their job performance

• 85% reported their morale was negatively impacted

• 69% considered changing jobs due to micromanagement

• 36% actually changed jobs

  
  

  4. Promote Wellness

There is increased awareness of employee wellness in the workplace and its direct impact on organisational growth.

Findings have confirmed this correlation, where companies that have adapted effective wellness programs have seen 67% increase in employee satisfaction, 63% increase in financial stability and growth, and 50% decrease in employee absenteeism - all emphasising the link between employee-wellbeing and its influence in creating a happy workplace that is productive.

However, the problem with many organisations is that they either don't have an effective wellness program that resonates with the workforce, or there is no consistency in promoting employee wellness.

This results in fostering a culture where employees feel less engaged, burnout, and stressed, limiting the capacity to create a happy workplace. One best way to understand employees with this regard is to have surveys regarding their mental and physical well-being at work. Try to get their suggestions on what a perfect wellness program or culture at your office should look like.

Asking employees if they will recommend the company to their networks is also another great way to assess the wellness initiatives in the workplace.

By taking care of the health, both physical and mental of employees, companies may notice reduced sick days and callouts for self care days. They may also notice lower stress levels in the office directly translating to a more thriving workplace with higher retention rates.  

5. Offer Consistent Praise and Recognition

Today's workforce is not merely attracted to higher and attractive compensations. In fact, it is not also the primary factor they look for when joining a company. While monetary benefits can help with motivation and engagement to some extent, not all prefer this.

Organisations trying to understand how to create a happy workplace should focus on consistent praise and recognition. Imagine working somewhere, where your efforts are not voalised through appreciation and recognition, but just bonuses?

It reduces the feeling of belongingness, and in worse cases, it can grow a sense of isolation forcing employees to leave an office.

It is found that on average,

• 29% of employees haven't received recognition for their work in over a year, if at all.

• 80% of employees say that would work harder if they felt appreciated by their superiors

• Having well-designed and effective employee recognition programs reduce turnover rates by 31%.

• Employees who are recognized accordingly for their performance are almost six times more likely to stay at their jobs than those who aren't.

• 37% of employees say that they can improve their potential if their superiors gave them more recognition.

Regular meetings with weekly or monthly awards, and shout-outs for milestones achieved, or targets met can encourage employees to work harder, and most importantly feel like they belong to the company.  

Listen and Learn: Insights from Your Employees

A clear reflection of happy employees are their engagement metrics, customer satisfaction, and productivity levels.

Similarly, understanding reasons why employees take sick leave or leave the company can also give a better perspective on what keeps employees happy.

The HR department can use these data to understand what keeps employees happy, and those that don't.

One of the best ways to understand how to create a happy workplace for organisational success is to learn it from the employees itself. This is because what works for one company may not work for another.

Conduct surveys, or open discussions that can collect views from employees, then the HR department can analyse them and propose suitable solutions. This way the employees feel like their needs are being met and the initiatives from failing to create an impact is also lesser.