According to Gallup, a global analytics and advisory firm, research shows that companies with happy employees have 23% higher profitability. Here in Kenya, a 2021 report from BrighterMonday, the leading job search board, revealed that 90% of respondents believe job satisfaction increases their productivity.
Given that employee output is a key factor for profit and long-term company growth, it’s essential to ensure your organization provides a healthy work environment. This leads to engaged, happy employees who are motivated to always perform to the best of their abilities.
So, what are the actionable steps you can take to maximize productivity through a healthy and supportive workplace? The thing to consider is what does workplace happiness look like to an employee.
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What Does Workplace Happiness Mean to an Employee?
First, you need to understand what workplace happiness/employee satisfaction is from your employees’ perspective.
Workplace happiness is the positive feelings and overall job satisfaction employees experience in a role and work environment that feels right for them.
Employee satisfaction is made up of the following factors:
- Valued and Respected:
Do your employees feel their contributions matter?
Are they encouraged to share their ideas and take ownership of them?
Can they try new things without fear of extreme backlash if something doesn’t work out? - Engaged and Purposeful:
Do your employees have a clear understanding of their role and its impact?
Do they know how their day-to-day deliverables contribute to the company’s bigger picture? - Supported and Secure:
Do your employees feel they have the resources they need to thrive?
Do they feel they have a safe and structured environment to execute their ideas, regardless of the outcome? - Connected and Included:
Do your employees feel a sense of belonging and inclusion in the workplace? - Challenged and Growing:
Do your employees feel they have opportunities to expand their skills and knowledge base? - Balanced:
Does their job respect and prioritize their work-life balance?
By answering the above questions, you can be able to determine if your business is perceived as a great place to work. If the answers to some of these questions are not clear, then you might want to consider doing an anonymous survey where the employees respond to these questions.
Why Is Workplace Happiness Important, Especially in Today’s Kenyan Work Environment?
The Current Workforce
In Kenya, the majority of the current workforce is between 18 and 34 years old. This demographic is made up of digital natives who’ve grown up with the internet and a world that celebrates openness and sharing. They are ambitious, purpose-driven, and constantly see what’s possible beyond their country’s borders.
They aren’t just looking for a job, they want to build careers with meaning, consistent growth, and tangible positive impact. For this generation, a company culture that offers these things isn’t a “nice-to-have”, it’s a necessity!
The Competitive Talent Market
Kenya is a regional hub for technology, finance, and other key industries. The term “Silicon Savannah” refers to Kenya’s desirable conditions for tech companies, and this phenomenon is ever-growing. As competition gets more fierce, the demand for skilled, tech-savvy individuals will remain high. This makes it more important than ever to secure quality employees and provide an environment they’ll want to be a part of for years to come.
Additionally, Kenya was not immune to the “Great Resignation,”. First seen during the early post-COVID period, the workforce began demanding better working conditions and resigning when their requests weren’t met. In addition to that, the internet has also opened up remote work opportunities, allowing Kenyans to work for global companies.
The young, bold risk-takers in today’s workforce have endless options and aren’t willing to compromise. This makes it critical to secure and retain your employees, as the cost of replacing someone is significant, not only where recruitment and training costs are concerned but also in the loss of institutional knowledge and productivity.
The above shows why workplace happiness is so important to employees. But why should it be just as important to a business?
The Tangible Benefits of a Positive Employee Experience to a Business
Increased Productivity & Efficiency
It’s a proven fact that happy, engaged employees are more focused and motivated. This helps eliminate issues like “quiet quitting” or “bare minimum Mondays” because employees feel a personal sense of responsibility and accomplishment toward their work. It becomes an internal drive to always put their best foot forward, even without external nudges from the company.
Higher Employee Retention & Lower Turnover Costs
The cost of replacing an employee is high. It can be even higher if you hire the wrong person and then struggle with retention. Once you have a good employee, doesn’t it make sense to create an environment where they’ll be happy and thrive in their role?
If you’re currently looking to improve your hiring and employee retention, BrighterMonday Kenya is your all in one platform we offer professional recruitment services, with packages ranging from free listings, standard listing, pro-recruit, to executive recruitment. We also offer HR services that can help your business maintain a positive environment that encourages employee retention.
Enhanced Innovation & Creativity
Human creativity is something that can never be replaced or duplicated. An environment where employees feel valued and heard encourages new ideas, and sometimes, a single idea can change the entire trajectory of your business.
Improved Customer Satisfaction & Loyalty
Engaged and happy employees are more likely to deliver excellent customer service and ensure clients are always satisfied. Since employees are often the direct point of contact with clients, a fulfilled employee will always have a positive impact on a company.
Improved Customer Satisfaction & Loyalty
Engaged and happy employees are more likely to deliver excellent customer service and ensure clients are always satisfied. Since employees are often the direct point of contact with clients, a fulfilled employee will always have a positive impact on a company.
Better Financial Performance
By ensuring workplace happiness, you can eliminate hiring costs from poor retention, keep clients happy, and encourage a spirit of creativity and ownership. All of these factors directly influence a company’s financial performance, making employee happiness a necessity, not just a “nice-to-have.”
With this in mind, what are the actionable steps that can guarantee workplace happiness?
Proactive Strategies for a Happy Workplace
It’s one thing to have the mindset of creating a healthy work culture, but if it’s not backed up by action, you’ll find yourself with a talent retention problem. Here are actionable steps you can take from day one.
Create a Culture of Recognition and Appreciation
- Award Programs: Measure employee performance through team leaders and direct output to inform programs like “Employee of the Month” or bonuses for exceptional performance.
- Simple Gestures: Verbal praise, thank-you notes, and public acknowledgment in meetings can go a long way in reinforcing that employee contributions are valued.
- Peer-to-Peer Recognition: Collaboration is key, and having employees who recognize and appreciate each other’s contributions can help form a unified team. This can be done by highlighting individual contributions in group projects, rather than only mentioning the team leader.
Ensure There Are Growth and Development Opportunities
- Learning & Development (L&D): Career growth is a key factor in employee retention. Beyond on-the-job learning, it’s also important to provide training resources. Platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and BrighterMonday Kenya offer courses that help people level up their skills and get certifications. You can also facilitate online and physical workshops or mentorship opportunities.
- Clear Career Pathway: Ensure employees have a clear understanding of opportunities for career advancement. This includes growth in their role within the company, growth in their skills, and growth in their earning potential.
- Why is this important? It makes employees feel invested in, prevents stagnation and boredom, and increases their loyalty to the company.
Promote Work-Life Balance
Gone are the days when employees were content with a strict 9 to 5, in office job. Today, a company that offers flexible work conditions is highly desired.
Adopting flexible work models, such as remote or hybrid setups, can boost morale. Commuting is taxing and costly, burning energy, time, and money.
In addition, flexible work hours are also a great option. For example, if official hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., employees could be free to leave at 3 p.m. if they show up at 7 a.m., as long as their work is done and no urgent input is needed. If this is a big leap for your business, consider researching tools that can help track productivity and attendance, for example, Slack, Bitrix, Notion, or Time Doctor, among others.
Ultimately, the benefit to your business is a reduction in burnout, improved well-being, and increased focus during work hours.
Empower Employees and Encourage Autonomy
It can be demoralizing for employees to feel their capabilities aren’t trusted. This directly affects productivity and retention. It’s important to create systems that effectively onboard employees and allow them to take ownership of their tasks and projects.
Additionally, when upper management decisions involve an employee’s work, it’s crucial to include them in the conversation. This shows you believe in their capabilities, which improves job satisfaction, reinforces a sense of responsibility and accountability, and encourages creativity.
Build Strong Leadership & Management
The quality of an employee’s experience is a direct reflection of a company’s leadership. Key factors for good leadership include:
- Effective Communication: Leaders who can clearly articulate their vision, goals, and feedback foster an efficient team. A good leader should also be able to take feedback from both upper management and team members and to course-correct when necessary.
- Empathy & Support: A good leader genuinely cares about their team’s well-being and offers support when needed.
- Coaching & Mentorship: A leader who helps employees develop and overcome challenges builds a strong team that enjoys working together.
All these factors directly influence the experience an employee will have at your company, which, in turn, directly influences their workplace happiness.
Facilitate Connection and Belonging
Incorporate team-building activities, such as social events, collaborative projects, or cross-functional initiatives. You can also ensure there is inclusion and diversity, creating an environment where everyone feels welcomed, respected, and heard, regardless of their background. These activities allow employees to interact both inside and outside of the work environment, preventing feelings of isolation and fostering social connection.
Measuring and Sustaining Workplace Happiness
- Listen Actively: Share engagement surveys, set up anonymous suggestion boxes, have an open-door policy, and conduct exit interviews.
- Act on Feedback: Take feedback seriously and implement changes where feasible to show employees their input matters.
- Commit to Continuous Improvement: There is no permanent solution to ensuring workplace happiness. It’s an ongoing process of checking in with your team and evaluating the work environment and culture.
Ultimately, the first step to ensuring workplace happiness is hiring the right people. This is where strategic internal or external/outsourcing options come into play.
Strategic Outsourcing Options
- Strategic Recruitment: Placing the right people in the right roles and companies is the first step toward workplace happiness, influencing both retention and productivity. You can choose to do it yourself or outsource recruiting to professionals. BrighterMonday Kenya offers both options, from free DIY listings to recruiting our seasoned team to find the right people for you. We are your all in one platform where hiring and retention is concerned. Check out our website to learn more or reach out for a consultation.
- Streamlined Onboarding: A smooth onboarding process, facilitated by efficient hiring, can quickly get a new employee up to speed with company procedures, helping them start generating great output sooner.
- Talent Development: You can develop your L&D processes internally or outsource where necessary. Platforms like BrighterMonday Kenya offer free courses that help employees upskill.
- HR Consulting: A proper HR setup can be the key element that recognizes subtle red flags before they lead to disengagement, burnout, or resignation. At BrighterMonday, we offer HR services that build systems to ensure workplace happiness and employee retention
- Efficient Processes: Utilize platforms that give you quality output from start to finish. For example, BrighterMonday Kenya offers free job listings to access a huge talent pool and systems to make the hiring process as efficient as possible.
Conclusion: Employee Happiness is the Ultimate Competitive Advantage
Employee happiness has a direct impact on company growth, sustainability, and profitability. It’s a necessary investment for any company’s future. A happy workforce leads to a positive work environment, productive and creative output from employees, and happy clients. Want to learn more about hiring the right people and ensuring employee retention? Reach out to us for more information.
