BENEFITS FOR EMPLOYERS

 Today, executives are well aware of issues such as the high cost of an employee leaving their job. Many would say that it is rather self-evident that happier employees are better for the company. But how much better? And aside from lower costs from retaining staff, what are the actual advantages of having happy employees?

• Happiness encourages creativity. As firms increasingly find themselves in quickly changing and highly competitive markets, innovation and creativity has become the key to survival for many organisations
• Happy employees are more accurate and have better analytical abilities.
• Happy employees are better at handling adversity.
• Happy employees’ equal lower costs. Although many of us could probably guess that happy employees are healthier, Gallup’s global health study has managed to quantify the average cost of an unhappy employee: these take significantly more sick leave, staying home on average of 1.25 days more a month, equivalent to 15 extra sick days per year.
• Happy employees are better at sealing the deal. An in-depth study of negotiations in business deals showed that those employees who expressed more positive emotions prior to negotiating completed their deals more efficiently and successfully than the neutral/negatively feeling people in the same situation (Kopelman, Rosette & Thompson).
• Happy employees provide better service.
• Happy employees are more productive. There is a huge body of research confirming this.
• Happy employees stay. Again, this might seem rather self-evident. Nonetheless, the importance of your employees being happy cannot be understated.
• Happy employees can be a part of a branding strategy and boost productivity.