5 Reasons why happy staff increases productivity

It might be a weird correlation to think of, but staff happiness and productivity actually go hand in hand. My parents always told me and my siblings to do something you enjoy because you’ll spend most of your life working, and it makes sense, would you want to waste your life away in a job that genuinely makes you feel sad inside? Heck no, that’s straight-up depressing and it’s not how I think life should be lived.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been there – I’ve hated a job, or at least it felt like it, and that could have been because my boss was less than kind, or perhaps a client made an unreasonable request. But what did I do about it? I left and found a better workplace, one that made me feel home and happy. And as I look back and reminisce about my favourite job, I realise more and more that I performed at my absolute best in that job, and it had nothing at all to do with the salary I earned – in fact, I took a pay cut to join that company.

So let’s take a look at some of the reasons why happy staff can increase productivity.

Happier staff are more loyal

Okay, I know this doesn’t sound like a direct relation to productivity, but hear me out. If you have a team who aren’t loyal to you or your organisation you’re sooner or later going to have to hire more people. Not a problem right? Wrong, it’ll take time away from you or managers doing the hiring because they’ll have to sift through CVs, conduct interviews and eventually spend time onboarding that new member, not to mention the huge cost implications involved in hiring. And that new member is naturally going to be slower to get started, it’s a new environment, integration takes time – so you’re actually losing more productivity at the beginning of a new staff member.

If you have happy staff, they’re more likely to turn up to work and do more work, they’ll find it easier and more enjoyable to go above and beyond to progress, and not to mention, impress their boss. And as they’re happy and content both in life and with their job, there won’t be any daydreaming of better jobs they could be doing. One of the best ways to increase loyalty is to offer praise to your staff, appreciation goes a rather long way.

Happiness Spreads

They say smiling (and frowning for that matter) is contagious, so doesn’t it make sense that happiness can spread around your workplace like a virus, except this is one everyone should hope to catch. It’s a circle, happy staff means happy bosses, and happy bosses result in happy staff, what a perfect way to work.

A positive attitude is definitely going to be beneficial at work, I can assure you that staff members who have a positive attitude at work will be more productive, they’re more willing to engage and support other employees. Teamwork is what it’s all about, and that works best when everyone is happy. It turns out that employees who are happy are actually more inclined to ask for help if they need it, and that is great for productivity.

Happy staff care more

Once again dare I mention my parents, but something else they taught me was to have pride in my work, and I think pride comes from inside – if you’re sad or unhappy on the inside, I reckon you’re gonna take less pride in your work and ultimately not give a damn. That doesn’t sound like a productive environment, but what does is when your staff take great pride in their work and strive to push on and do more, all stuff that happy staff do.

The staff members who are most happy at work, are more often than not the ones who are invested in the organisation and its goals. They typically are driven to help the company achieve those goals. Happiness can invoke a higher engagement, so it’s most likely that happy employees are the ones who will go out of their way to pay attention to the needs and satisfaction of your customers. These things come together to increase productivity as well as profitability, the two main parts of business.

Happier employees take more risks

You might be good, even great, at what you do but that isn’t going to help you or your business grow. You’ve got to be willing to take risks in the hope that they pay off big time, and whilst as a manager, you might do that, if your staff don’t, then it’s a completely useless exercise. You want your employees to be more creative and think outside the box, something happy employees do.

Unhappy staff members are more inclined to play it safe, whilst happier employees are willing to take the plunge and take a calculated risk. When you take the right opportunities in good time, faith and execution you can be on top, so your happy employees are more likely to notice that gap in the market and push to fill it with your organisation.

Happy Staff = Healthy Staff

It is sad to say that work-related mental disorders are on the rise, and as such have some pretty negative effects all around, for the business you lose business days from staff taking sick leave, but more importantly, it has a real impact on the individual’s wellbeing. Employees with severe depression take as much as 20 times as many sick days, and quite rightly so, they need time to recover. But as a business that can really impact productivity, so it should be a top priority for bosses to ensure they’re doing everything they can to promote a happy and healthy work environment.

On the other hand, it’s quite obvious to see that happier staff are less likely to suffer from work-related mental conditions, and thus taking less time off. It’s important to note that it’s not just mental health to be cautious of, helping to keep employees physically healthy can promote better general health and can increase happiness, which in turn increases productivity. Try out team exercises, cycle to work schemes or subsidise gym membership.

In Conclusion 

We’ve explored a few reasons why happy staff does in fact result in increased productivity, which in my opinion is just great – who doesn’t want a team full of happy people, who are engaged and super productive for your company. Strive for a positive, productive and engaging work environment.

If you’ve read this and thought to yourself that your staff perhaps aren’t that happy, there are a few important steps you need to take, and the first one simply talking to them. Don’t be scared or shy, they’re humans just like you and me, I’m sure they’ll appreciate you taking the time to care about them as a person, instead of just a resource. In addition, to have open and frank conversations, you could use a tool like Are My Staff Happy, where a simple survey is sent to all your employees and it’ll analyse their happiness, among other metrics all anonymously.