The importance of happiness

Happiness might seem to be an odd thing to be talking about on a website that is all about developing people and increasing what gets done. And yes, it is true that people are not going to be happy all of the time! However, happier people do tend to be more productive people and morale in an organisation is one way of assessing how successful the leadership of that organisation is.

Work is not easy! Managers and leaders have to make unpopular decisions sometimes which can have a big impact on the happiness of their staff. However, that impact can be minimised with the correct communications strategy and messages about why those decisions have been taken and the impact it will have on the team.

So, my challenge to all the leaders out there is: when was the last time you thought about the morale of your organisation, and what small steps could you take to improve it? It doesn’t take much to make people feel valued (or not!) and, more importantly, people that feel valued will be more committed to go the extra mile when you really need them.