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In our last posting, we talked about some of the conditions at your workplace that influence how contented your employees are in their jobs.\u00a0 Several of those are particularly powerful and should be singled out for a little more scrutiny.\u00a0 To learn what they are, please read below.<\/p>\n
A friend of mine used to call it the \u201chum level.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s the palpable feel of energy when you walk into a workplace.\u00a0 If people are talking and laughing and generally engaged with one another, the \u201chum level\u201d is high.\u00a0 If the place is quiet as a church, nobody\u2019s talking, and everybody has their face buried in whatever task they are doing, the \u201chum level\u201d is low.<\/p>\n
Southwest Airlines\u2019 policy is to put employees (not customers) first, and one of their stated corporate goals is to make work \u201cfun.\u201d\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because when people are happy at work, they are more productive, they interact with customers more positively, and there is less turnover.\u00a0 So what causes happiness at work?\u00a0 A lot of things.\u00a0 In our previous posting, we talked about 12 factors that contribute to job satisfaction.\u00a0 But there are a couple of key components.<\/p>\n
The first key component is very simple. Do I like the people I work with, and do they like me? That doesn\u2019t mean that I\u2019m best buddies with everyone in the place. It just means that on a whole, I enjoy being with my co-workers and am comfortable that I fit in. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so critical to hire well. One vocal malcontent can poison the atmosphere for everyone.\u00a0 So do as Southwest Airlines does.\u00a0 Do what you can to put a little fun into your workplace.\u00a0 Keep your “hum level” high.<\/p>\n
The second key component is my boss . . . not necessarily the CEO, but my direct supervisor. Does he or she take an active interest in me as a person . . . my family, my interests away from work . . . or am I just another head count?\u00a0 Is my supervisor accessible and is he or she committed to helping me be successful in my work?\u00a0 If you’ve nurtured a corporate culture that says, “we’re all business and only business,” you might want to re-think the wisdom of that.\u00a0 People respond positively to supervisors who treat them as complete human beings, not just job holders.<\/p>\n
Not very long ago, happiness in the workplace wasn\u2019t discussed much in American business. After all, we\u2019re not running a playground here, right? We\u2019re here to do a job, and if that makes you unhappy, that\u2019s your problem. But as it turns out, happiness at work isn\u2019t some crazy, pie-in-the-sky notion. If it increases productivity, increases customer satisfaction, and decreases turnover, it\u2019s just good business.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In our last posting, we talked about some of the conditions at your workplace that influence how contented your employees are in their jobs.\u00a0 Several of those are particularly powerful and should be singled out for a little more scrutiny.\u00a0 To learn what they are, please read below. A friend of mine used to<\/p>\n