Why is the Chief Happiness Officer role becoming more popular?

In this blog I will be discussing what a Chief Happiness Officer is and why the role is becoming more popular amongst workplaces. It may seem like a made-up title or perhaps not much of an important job but in recent times happiness officers have been helping companies bloom.

In essence the chief happiness officer is a HR Manager with a certain qualification and certain beliefs in that happy employees are more productive and perform better. A few responsibilities that a happiness officer role entails include; motivating employees, engaging workers, and doing all that they can to help raise company performance levels. Almost all of the HR processes that take place in a workplace can be redefined to make sure everyone working has a good experience and are happy.

Pushing for happiness-driven workplaces should be a top priority for any company as the happier the employee is, the better job they will do in return. Using a happiness-oriented approach towards such sectors as; succession management, recognition, recruitment, performance management, retirement, and career planning can benefit companies in a big way, especially in the long run.

Respect

I know it sounds silly to say but treating every human being as a person who matters in work can go a long way. Every employee has the right to be treated as customers do in the matter of actions, respect, the way they are spoken to, and promises made to them. It’s not a lot to ask to treat your fellow co-worker with common respect and dignity.

In a recent article, Nina Ramsey pointed out that globally, only forty-four percent of workers say that they feel valued by their employer. This is surprising as respect is an essential part of creating a healthy work environment and you would expect more employees to actually feel valued in their place of work.

Listen to employees

Your business must ensure that the basics are covered. Making sure your employees actually get paid on time and in full without any admin struggles to overcome is crucial in order for your business to grow and ensure your worker’s happiness is all in order.

Your company should also give its employees a voice as everyone is unique and everyone needs to be heard. Guidelines, proper channels, and action paths can help ensure responses to employee needs and ideas are listened to. May it be an email or a call after feedback has been given or an interview has been conducted, your employees need to know that you are listening to them. Most reports or write-ups on employee engagement will tell you that values are important.

Making sure your company values are on show and are being demonstrated as of course, employees will all tell you that having values in the workplace are important.

Company values bind together your brand and your culture, anytime there is a conflict or a decision to be made your starting mark should be your company values. Businesses have to state their values and constantly re-state them, for this to happen you have to hire people based on your values.

Set them free

Offering your employees their own freedom can enforce a sense of happiness! Having your employees manage their own time and have the freedom to personalise their workspace can be a huge positive for people to join a company and actually thrive and enjoy their job. Allowing people to implement their own ideas into their work should be the norm for employees. For example, if a job was to offer flexibility like that most workers would jump on that opportunity straight away, of course if it was a suitable position.

Supporting and nourishing the growth of your employees can help with overall happiness too. By pushing employees to try out different roles and to see what they are good at can help push growth with employees tenfold. This approach can also help train employees to be able to handle all aspects of the business.

A positive step

To answer my question at the start, “why is the chief happiness officer role becoming more popular?” Well, it’s because people need it! I can’t tell you the amount of people I’ve met who hate their job and feel like they aren’t respected in work. It’s time for this to change, it is a big positive this role is becoming more normal and being utilised more. It is a fact that a person who likes their job, feels respected, and is listened to in their workplace is going to do a far better job than the person who has no respect given to them and doesn’t like their workplace. I think bringing this role into more workplaces will be a positive!

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