Are your EMPL?YEES truly HAPPY?

Compiled By: Sandeep Raghunath
About Sandeep: He is the Head of Human Resources at EarlySalary, with 10+ years of international experience in HR across industries.

It is, of course, a challenge to manage a workplace with an abundance of demotivated employees. A happy workforce elevates not only team efficiency but also speeds up productive results faster. As a boss, I recognize that a team may not always voice their concerns to me directly. So how does one ascertain if they are truly happy? And what can we do to elevate team motivation?

Employee’s Input

If employees willingly volunteer to go the extra mile on tasks, or consistently exceed expectations on output, it’s a reasonable indication that they feel useful, value the work they do and seek to deliver beyond their scope. It is, therefore, reasonable to understand that they are likely happy with their job. Keeping track of this can be vital – the more people volunteering to deliver beyond expectations, the greater is the overall employee happiness of the firm.

Work & After-Work Engagements

To me, participation in meetings, actively asking for assistance, or providing creative solutions to problems are some obvious signs of employee satisfaction. Stretched further, they can also indicate that your team can envision a long-term future with the organization and values its growth.

Outside of work though, there remain a significant number of professionals not particularly keen on colleagues or even be reminded of work after their scheduled working hours are complete. If there are indeed healthy participation numbers in team events or parties, especially without pressure from upper management, this is a good sign of positive mental health, bonding and overall high satisfaction level within teams. Employees wanting to engage with their colleagues and connect with them on a personal level can have a significantly positive impact on productivity and work environments.

Having said that, it is vital to conduct such events on a regular basis. These serve to further boost team cohesiveness and morale.

Custom Roles

It is rare for an employee to find their perfect position. Such roles are most often created. If your employee is taking out time and effort to personalize their roles, it’s an indicator that they feel valued in the company and want to see it grow.

Workers work better in a calm and supportive environment. Providing opportunities to employees to tweak their responsibilities can assure them of having a significant role in the company. This both increases their job satisfaction, keeps the employees happy, and helps you retain valuable talent!

Ensuring Employee Happiness

Financial Well being

Like many leaders, myself included would concur, It is critical to ensure that your employee’s primary focus remains their work output, both qualitatively and quantitatively. This isn’t an employee’s responsibility alone, as the modern workforce of today does seek such support from their employer. Concerns like children’s schooling, or family health can be a source of considerable stress. Hence, it is critical to provide the most financial support – whether in terms of emergency funds, or educative programs – to employees.

Medical schemes, insurance for the family, etc. are some low hanging fruits in the context of these goals. It is when these stressors are addressed that the employees are better positioned to focus their undivided attention at work.

A Supportive Environment

Ensuring an environment where teams can be open about their challenges is essential to a happy workplace. This allows issues to receive remedies sooner and boosts efficiency. A sufficiently motivated worker can even reciprocate and regard the organization as one of their own and go out of their way to assist whenever required. This may be exhibited even in small gestures, such as when they conserve resources at the office.

It is, after all, the prerogative of HR professionals to continually assess the nature of the relationship between employees and the organization. Employees that are meaningfully not only add value to the enterprise but also contribute to lower attrition while the organization remains a positive force in their careers.
Performance reviews, regular feedback, and an HR function that seeks to evolve and adapt are, in my opinion, some essentials for a motivated and dedicated workforce. Taking employee viewpoints into consideration and making an effort to evolve over the long term is another critical factor in employee happiness.
It’s a win-win.