Happy Employee

Imagine for a moment that while lying in bed on a Monday morning you feel, ‘YES! I get to go to work this week!’ Imagine what it would mean for your company, if this is how most employees felt most days.

Is it possible to be happy at work? Can we go to work and be energised, have fun, do great work, enjoy the people we work with, wow our customers, be proud of what we do, and look forward to our Monday mornings as much as some people long for Friday afternoons. Can we create workplaces where this level of happiness is the norm, not the exception?

Or must we simply accept that work is unpleasant and tough and that is why we get paid to do it. If you feel like this very often, then maybe you should think about moving on to another organisation. But lots of people find themselves in the situation where therre not ready to move jobs just yet - perhaps because they’ve only been in the role a short time, or because they want to gain more experience.

So if you find yourself in the situation where youre in a job that is okay but not brilliant, or that you really need to see through for a period of time, what can you do to make it more interesting and - dare we say it -more fun?

Here are some suggestions:

Positive Thinking

Focus on the positives. What do you really like about your job? (Come on, there must be something)? How could you incorporate more of those positive things into your working day? Remind yourself of the other positive aspects of your work - your friends and colleagues, for instance.

Challenge Yourself

Find new challenges. One of the reasons that we can get restless in our job is, quite simply, boredom. Think about ways in which you could make your role more interesting. Perhaps you could volunteer to mentor new staff, or spend some time every week shadowing people in other departments to get a broader perspective on the business? Discuss your ideas with your manager.

Flexible Working Hours

Is there scope for you to work more flexibly? Working from home one day a week, for example, could give you more variety. This is not an excuse to get up late and lie around watching daytime TV. You’ll need to be able to show some output for your time away from the office! Discuss the options with your manager.

Learn Something New

If you feel you’re not being stimulated enough mentally, consider doing some training or a course that is work-related: it will give you new insights, help to keep you fresh, and will be a useful addition to your CV when you are ready to move on.

Network

Network more. If meeting new people is not already part of your role, find ways to incorporate it. Meeting people and getting fresh perspectives can help you to keep yourself interested and interesting. If there don’t seem to be many networking opportunities where you are, create some! Organize a team outing, or arrange for you and your colleagues to meet up with staff from another part of the company.

Have Some Fun

Inject a bit of fun into your workplace. That could be as simple as a Breakfast Party on a Monday morning or a Working Lunch on Friday afternoon. Or it could be a more structured social event. Your work colleagues don’t have to be your bosom buddies, but you’ll enjoy your working day much more if there’s a bit of banter and humour around. Just because your work is a serious business doesn’t mean you can’t have fun while you do it!

Improve Your Social Life

Make an effort to do more interesting things outside of work. If your working week consists of getting up in the morning, going to work, coming home, having dinner, slumping in front of the TV and then going to bed, your job is going to have a disproportionate impact on your overall mood. Try to fit a couple of social engagements into your week - a dancing class or an art exhibition, perhaps, or just a catch-up with friends you haven’t seen for a while. Having something to look forward to during the week will help to make it more bearable.

Prioritise Your Workload

Get used to prioritizing your workload - negotiate extensions to deadlines if necessary, and make yourself leave the office on time at least two times a week. Most of us have periods when we’re extra-busy and end up working long hours, but if this is happening to you routinely, you need to get out of that rut.

Anyone can be happy at work, and they should be, because happy companies have:

·       Higher productivity as happy people achieve better results.

·       Higher quality as happy employees care about quality.

·       Lower absenteeism as people actually want to go to work.

·       Less stress and burnout as happy people are less prone to stress.

·       The best people want to work for happy companies.

·       Higher sales as happy people are the best sales people.

·       Higher customer satisfaction as happy employees is the best basis for good service.

·       More creativity and innovation as happy people are more creative.

·       More adaptability as happy people are much more adaptive and open to change.

·       Better stock performance and higher profits for all of the above reasons.

Simply put: Happy companies are more efficient and make more money. And they make people happy, which is of course a goal in itself. And happiness at work is not rocket science. It doesn't come on its own and every organisation, leader, manager and employee should be involved in creating a happy workplace.