Making Employees Happier at Work

Question from Employer:

Hello, I’m an HR Manager in a leading retail company and was wondering if happiness at work is achievable. If yes, how can I reflect that among our staff? Thank you for your help.

Answer from Bayt HR Guru:

Thank you for your message. We are glad to inform you that while happiness at work might seem out of reach, attaining it is in fact easier than you think. It all resides in our attitude towards work, how we perceive it and what we are willing to do to look at it positively instead of focusing on the bad.

As an HR manager, your main role is to ensure the wellness of the staff and their job satisfaction in order to ensure their happiness and thus increase their productivity.

Measures for making employees happier at work:

- Maintaining open channels of communication
- Recognizing loyalty and remarkable performance
- Planning out-of-office outings
- Celebrating personal and professional milestones
- Offering adequate training opportunities
- Offering promotions when applicable
- Getting employees involved in CSR activities
- Maintaining friendly yet professional management-staff relationships
- Offering fair and competitive salary and benefits packages

Happiness in figures:

You will be happy to know that we at Bayt.com recently conducted a poll on “Work Satisfaction in the MENA” (November 2012). The results below shed insight into what is holding back professionals in the region from happiness at work and what is making them happy:
- 90% of MENA employees consider themselves to be loyal to their company
- 45% are supervised ‘just right’
- 70% believe communication channels in their company are open
- 71% like the company that they work for
- 80% are proud of their employer’s brand
- 94% say that their job is meaningful to them
- 83% are challenged in their current position
- 32% would most like to change their salary; 23% would like to change their role and responsibilities, or their training and development path (20%)
- 61% do not feel that they are well compensated by their employer

Remember, that by taking the right measures and ensuring their timely implementation, not only do you make your staff happier at work but you also improve your company’s positioning as employees are the image of your brand.

Good luck!

Tags: EmployerHR Tips