Happiness In The Workplace

When we think of work, we often think of deadlines, products, and ROIs. But what about happiness? At work, happiness is sometimes the last thing to cross most workers’ minds. But at Avalaunch Media, we think it’s immensely important—and we want to show you why.   To figure out why happiness is vital to today’s workplace, I sat down with Andrew Melchior, Avalaunch Media’s Vice President of Fulfillment and Founder. As a Founder, Andrew has been with Avalaunch since the beginning, has been overseeing fulfillment since 2012, and his years of experience have taught him how to cultivate happiness in the workplace.  

What is your definition of happiness in the workplace?

For me, happiness in the workplace is finding fulfillment in your daily tasks, and feeling like what you do matters. It is about coming to work and being driven. It is about employees who have positive attitudes and are able to face the day’s challenges with zeal and determination.  

Why does it matter if there is an overall happiness in the workplace?

If someone is happy, they will perform better, be more capable of completing tasks, and do their job better overall. Shawn Achor backs this up in his book “The Happiness Advantage”. Achor states that happy people increase sales by 37 percent, productivity by 31 percent, and on-task accuracy by 19 percent.   Happiness leads to creativity, which improves ideas and ingenuity. Employees who are happy and satisfied in their work will stay longer, and become loyal to a company. All of this in turn allows original ideas to flourish, keeping a company authentic.  

Can you track the value of happiness in the workplace?

Absolutely. Happiness leads to better performance overall, and an increase in ingenuity—but there is so much more. Happy employees come up with better concepts, products, and ways to communicate. All of these directly impact a business as well as the employee themselves.   Strong lines of communication make it easier to work with others, which leads to efficiency, which in turn leads to greater profit and production. A company that has happy employees will outperform those who don’t—every single time. Take a look at an infographic we created about company culture and how it leads to employee happiness. incorporate-massage-infographic-v7-local

How do you cultivate happiness?

The thing about happiness is that you cannot force someone to be happy. It’s a choice they must make for themselves. But while you cannot force it, you can provide an environment that allows people to thrive. In speaking of a Stanford University study, Forbes Contributor Adi Gaskell stated, “It found that employees who were placed on a flexibility program were both happier at work and less prone to burnout and psychological stress than their colleagues who were not on the program.” Though each company and its employees are different, Andrew’s time-tested advice can help everyone find happiness in the workplace. Each new day has the potential to be better than and more fulfilling than the last. Let’s use happiness as a way to achieve that potential.