Golden Oldies: Ducks in a Row: Making Employees Happy
by Miki Saxon
Poking through 11+ years of posts I find information that’s as useful now as when it was written.
Golden Oldies is a collection of the most relevant and timeless posts during that time.
Why is happy so often equated with fun, as in “if you’re having fun you’re happy.” What makes you happy? A beautiful sunset? Your kids/grandkids? A quiet walk? Time with loved ones? For most people, It takes more substance than fluff to make them happy.
Read other Golden Oldies here.
Company culture has been jerked around ever since a few pundits decided that “fun” was the primary component to having happy employees.
Worse, “fun” was equated with silly stuff, such as games, pranks and goofs.
While these things do energize some employees, they don’t do it for long and certainly not alone.
It’s well-proven that happy employees are more productive, but creating happy requires substance.
The components of long-term happiness are things such as challenging work, continued learning, opportunities to grow, clear communications, fair bosses, etc.
All of these require more thought, effort and skill from managers than installing a few foosball tables or gamifying the project.
Flickr image credit: CityLineSouvenir