The Hidden Power of Employee Happiness: Happiness Achieves Employee Excellence

There is a very large industry made up of consultants, motivators, seminars, and programs that offer ways to improve employee productivity. There is a massive number of books written that deal with employee engagement and performance. Even with all these resources available, there are still far too many companies that do not get the best performance out of their employees. It seems that there are employees everywhere who are unhappy and live life with constant depression. They need a job and an income, so they stick with it. It doesn’t have to be that way. Working with more than 125 companies as an employee, consultant, and on temporary assignment, it has become obvious to me that one of the most important factors concerning a company’s success is how that company values their employees. Companies that value their employees and express their appreciation have a much better opportunity to succeed. Management with many of today’s companies follow a “you have to do it because I say so” set of rules. Punishment for rule violations is touted as the best motivator. Management may feel a sense of control, but invariably the results are often high turnover, low productivity, and deficient customer service. I have learned that as human beings, we are consistently influenced by our emotions. Both happiness and unhappiness are often the results of emotional reactions to circumstances. No one I know likes to be unhappy. Since people prefer to be happy they want to stay where they find happiness. Happiness promotes excellence and when a company creates a happiness culture that results in a happy workplace the opportunities for company and employee success can become transformational.