HAPPINESS-ORIENTED COMPANIES

One of the pillars of a Personal Well-being Society is happiness-oriented companies, which possess three key characteristics:

• Balance in their objectives

• Focus on excellence and efficiency

• Reasonable focus on employee well-being

1. BALANCE IN THEIR OBJECTIVES

Happiness-oriented companies have several objectives, seeking a certain balance among them:

• Profits and profitability. This will normally be the main goal, among other things, because without it, they could not exist.

• Customer satisfaction, as an end in itself and not merely as a means of making money.

• Employee satisfaction and well-being.

• Supplier satisfaction.

2. EXCELLENCE AND EFFICIENCY

A Personal Well-being Society requires that all or most of its components function well, including companies. Countries with a higher life satisfaction index are usually those with greater purchasing power, and vice versa. This requires a competitive business fabric.

For this reason, well-being-oriented companies strive to be effective and productive, trying to offer the highest quality at the lowest price for consumers. They are aware that by doing so, they not only benefit consumers but also contribute to a more prosperous society, with good healthcare, education, social protection, etc.

Some of the characteristics of these companies are:

• They have a Quality Management System, with procedures and quality controls.

• They effectively control expenses.

• They automate processes where possible.

• They seek continuous improvement and, if possible, innovation.

• They have a long-term vision, saving part of their profits to invest in initiatives aimed at yielding results in the medium and long term.

• They disseminate a culture of excellence among their employees, which includes the following values and guidelines:

• • Work well done, professionalism, quality, rigor, productivity, efficient use of time, effectiveness, and a sense of responsibility, all within moderation, avoiding excessive pressure, stress, and competition.

• • Ethics, honesty, transparency, reliability, and compliance, as a consequence of respect and consideration for others: customers, employees, suppliers, and the company.

• • Consistency: if we, as consumers, want and even demand good services (for example, when we need healthcare) and seek the most competitive products and services in terms of price-quality for ourselves, it is also logical that we apply these same guidelines with others when acting as producers.

• • The “golden rule of double-checking”: first, a self-review of the work performed, and subsequently, one or more reviews by other people.

Happiness-oriented companies disseminate this culture through the example of managers and veterans, training, talks, or something as simple as drafting a manual with these types of guidelines for employees to read when starting their collaboration, as well as whenever it is modified. Obviously, another fundamental way is to refine professionals each time they deviate from this modus operandi.

3. EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING

Happiness-oriented companies have a genuine interest in the well-being of their employees, trying to meet their needs and make them feel good, yet at the same time in a balanced way, considering limited resources. 

Generally, most of the productive fabric consists of small and medium-sized enterprises that do not have abundant means to provide large remunerations or work at an unproductive pace. On the contrary, for their survival and proper functioning, they must manage money and time very well. This balance avoids the extreme of an obsession with getting rich at all costs and the other extreme of excessive concern for employee well-being that could lead to a lack of competitiveness.

Some of the needs that happiness-oriented businesses strive to meet include fair remuneration, reasonable working hours and workload, respect and cordiality, recognition, fairness and honesty, an adequate work environment, decent physical conditions, and autonomy. 

Fair remuneration

A happiness-oriented organization tries to provide reasonable remuneration, at least at market conditions (unless it is truly not possible), balanced with its profit margin. It seeks to find points of balance and mutual benefit, aiming for an equitable distribution of profits between capital and workers, so that neither profit margins are excessive at the expense of low wages nor vice versa.

Reasonable working hours and workload

Furthermore, they ensure that working hours, holidays, and workload conditions are compatible with the well-being of the staff:

• Balanced working day. A maximum of 8 hours a day is reasonable, regardless of whether certain positions of responsibility require longer hours. Occasionally there are peak workloads and it is necessary to work more temporarily, but the healthy approach is to generally seek balance, so that the average daily hours do not exceed 8. When it is often necessary to work above that threshold, it means that there is a structural, not merely temporary, increase in workload, so in such cases, a well-being-oriented company hires more staff. This has the additional advantage of helping to reduce unemployment.

• Appropriate breaks to recover. In the middle of the day, it is healthy to take a long enough break to eat, rest, and be able to tackle the afternoon with energy. An hour can be a good amount, although some people may need less and others more, so some flexibility is advisable.

• Sufficient holidays to thoroughly regenerate from accumulated wear and tear. This can have a considerable impact on the quality of life of workers, as it allows them to meet needs such as resting, enjoying family, traveling, or having contact with nature. Likewise, those who wish can have time to cultivate their happiness, exercising the proven techniques for it.

• Flexibility. A happiness-oriented company is sensitive to its employees being able to live in a way that best suits their needs, aspirations, tastes, personality, or circumstantial situations, as far as possible. It facilitates them having some control over their lives and feeling free. For all these reasons, it promotes:

• • The possibility of having reduced or part-time working hours for people who, for whatever reasons, wish to work fewer hours, with a type of remuneration that ensures this modality does not entail an additional overall cost for the company. This allows combining work with maternity or paternity leave or with other activities beneficial to the person.

• • Partially flexible hours. The logical and fair approach is reciprocal flexibility on the part of the company and its employees. This implies that if someone needs to be absent at some point, they can do so (if it does not harm the proper functioning of the company) and compensate by working extra time that day or other days. By the same token, if there is a lot of work one day and it is convenient to stay longer, it is fair for employees to do so and for that extra time to be compensated by working less on other days (unless that compensation is already included in the remuneration).

• • The freedom to take their holidays in segments throughout the year, provided it does not harm the company’s functionality. This will make it easier for employees to recover from work-related wear and tear more regularly.

• • Possibility of teleworking when it does not negatively affect performance or the proper functioning of the company.

• • Changes of tasks or departments: if someone is more comfortable with another type of work, they are given facilities to do so within the company’s possibilities. This usually not only contributes to having happier people but also more motivated ones, as well as more efficient companies, where tasks are aligned with employees’ capabilities.

• Reasonable workload, so that employees are not normally forced to maintain an excessive pace, nor fall into the opposite extreme.

All of the above will undoubtedly contribute to a happier society. In contrast, a frantic and stressful life can cause much discomfort and even suffering (in the form of exhaustion, burnout syndrome, anxiety, depression, illnesses, etc.), leading some people even to take their own lives and others to suffer fatal health problems.

Respect and cordiality

This aspect is fundamental for the well-being of workers. A well-being-oriented business strives to follow the guidelines of the  “Happiness-Oriented Society” guide. The practical application of this in the workplace implies the following:

• Treating others respectfully and cordially and having positive attitudes, such as greeting, smiling, making eye contact, showing interest in others, or giving praise.

• Trying to avoid negative behaviors, such as anger (although in cases of abuse, it may be justified), excessive criticism and reproaches, arrogance, an excessively high profile, or making negative comments about other colleagues (except those that are professionally relevant). Other undesirable attitudes include victimhood, generating conflicts, creating opposing factions, and other behaviors that sour the human climate.  

• Adequate communication and conflict management. In happiness-oriented companies, issues are attempted to be addressed openly and sincerely, with a constructive, resolute, and assertive attitude. When something needs improvement, it is discussed calmly and peacefully, if necessary with a serious and even firm attitude, and appropriate measures are taken, but without aggression and trying to be as diplomatic as possible. If it is convenient to terminate the employment relationship, it can be done, but with respect. To learn more about assertive communication and conflict management, we recommend taking the  courses of the Institute of Well-being or reading the free book “The Techniques of Personal Well-being”.

• Tolerance towards harmless things, which includes accepting that it is normal for some things about colleagues to bother us.

• But expeditiousness with abuse. Happiness-oriented companies have a strong commitment to preventing workplace harassment (humiliation, psychological abuse, etc.) and sexual harassment, as it greatly damages the work environment and the well-being of the victim. Therefore, in these organizations, such matters are brought to the attention of management or HR as soon as possible, and they are expeditious in resolving it, if necessary with dismissal. Likewise, they do not have to tolerate employees abusing the company.

• Privacy. In this type of organization, the personal sphere belongs to each individual, so they have guidelines not to make comments related to a colleague’s private life that might displease them if they knew such comments had been made. Likewise, personal situations that do not affect professional performance never affect one’s professional evaluation, remuneration, or the assignment of positions and duties, which are based exclusively on professional matters.

• Individual freedom and attire. The philosophy of a happiness-oriented company is one of respect for individual freedom, so each person is free to work in the attire they deem appropriate. However, when there is in-person interaction with clients or potential clients, it is logical that there may be a dress code, insofar as it affects the company’s results.

The way to instill this positive culture in the organization is by leading by example from above, transmitting it in writing (by reading a manual with the corporate culture when an employee joins the organization) and orally (meetings, training), as well as refining staff when they deviate from these guidelines.

Once this culture is established, new employees who start working in the company will tend to reproduce it by imitating their colleagues, as well as internalizing it. All of this contributes to making the company a place we look forward to going to every morning when we wake up and with which we feel satisfied when we go to bed.

Recognition

Positive feedback predominates over negative feedback; at a minimum, the aim is for the former to equal the latter. Managers try to catch their employees doing things well to give them positive evaluations, which motivates the latter to reproduce those patterns.

Fairness and honesty

This type of company seeks mutual benefit and win-win solutions, where everyone gains. They are equitable, meritocratic, and compliant, also disseminating this modus operandi among their employees and preventing anyone from taking advantage of others. Managers do not align with any of their subordinates but rather maintain a neutral and impartial role, like objective judges. Employees have a sense that these organizations seek what is fair, which generates an atmosphere of trust.

Being objective also implies being rational, that is, doing what the person with the most valid argument says, regardless of their hierarchical position. Therefore, the best leader is not considered to be the one who unilaterally commands and orders and is unable to modify their positions, but rather the one who knows how to consult, listen, and accept another person’s criterion when they realize that person is more correct.

Adequate work environment

An adequate work environment is both conducive to productive and quality work and reasonably pleasant for employees:

• Balanced attitudes. These types of organizations try to operate within a central band and avoid extremes. This implies neither excessive formality nor too much informality (although the more responsible the team, the more informality there can be), neither too much stress and a tense atmosphere nor exaggerated relaxation and carelessness, neither shouting, bad moods, or bad vibes nor an overdose of laughter and fun (that is reserved for leisure time, although humor is healthy from time to time).

Nor is it about spending the entire workday working incessantly because there are no breaks or interruptions longer than prudent, nor about coldness in relationships, nor confusing the company with a social club. In this sense, relationships with colleagues can be cultivated mainly outside working hours, for which it is positive for employees to organize meals, dinners, and activities, and even for the company to promote it if it deems it appropriate.

• Concentration environment, focusing on work, avoiding noise pollution and unnecessary interruptions, enjoying a series of pleasures during working hours and leaving others for leisure time:

• • Avoidance of noise pollution, trying to maintain a moderate tone of voice, being discreet and not being annoying or distracting others.

• • Efforts are made not to interrupt others more than is reasonable or to prolong conversations more than necessary, seeking moderation.

• • Pleasures to enjoy during the workday: that of concentrating on work, professional self-realization, learning, doing new things, facing challenges and trying to achieve good work in a reasonable time, as well as using and developing our skills. Also, that of contributing something positive, seeing the results of our effort, creativity, professionally interacting with other people, enjoying a respectful and cordial human environment, among others.

• • Pleasures to reserve for free time or agreed breaks: that of conversation, jokes, fun, carelessness, relaxation, chats, social networks, browsing the internet, private emails, and other types of personal activities.

• Balanced leadership style. In well-being-oriented companies, equality in treatment predominates (though obviously not in functions). They do not have excessive hierarchy, and managers are neither authoritarian nor dominant; instead, they have a moderate profile and a reasonably simple and discreet attitude, showing few symbols of power.

At the same time, they know how to maintain the appropriate distance associated with professionalism, not falling into excessive chumminess or excessive niceness, and knowing how to set limits and put everyone in their place when necessary. They are neither harsh nor soft, but rather oriented towards reasonable productivity and quality, and at the same time, they are respectful and cordial. This attitude will vary depending on the team: the more sense of responsibility and self-control its members have, the more egalitarian the relationship with the leader can be.

Decent physical conditions

The physical infrastructure does not have to be luxurious, but it must meet minimum standards of correctness, such as sufficient space, light, and cleanliness. To the extent of each company’s possibilities, useful infrastructures are made available to employees, from a simple microwave and kettle for heating water to, if they can afford it, a kitchen where they can eat. Likewise, they show appreciation to their employees according to their resources, such as mineral water, coffee, herbal teas, fruit, cookies, chocolates, Christmas gifts, etc.

Autonomy

These organizations try to give their employees the maximum possible and appropriate autonomy, considering that this usually contributes to more enjoyable work. Likewise, decision-making power is distributed reasonably, subordinates are consulted, and consensus is sought, based on the principle that four eyes see better than two and two brains think better than one.

Monitoring employee satisfaction

If they can afford it, happiness-oriented companies also monitor their employees’ satisfaction in two ways:

• Informally, through mere observation and daily questioning.
• Structured, which consists of the HR manager meeting separately with different employees once or twice a year to anonymously ask about their satisfaction level. These three questions are sufficient:
  
  • How would you rate your job satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10?
  • What could be improved to make your satisfaction level a 10?
  • What do you like most about your job?

If more precise information is desired, additional questions can be formulated. Instead of interviewing employees, a questionnaire can also be provided. Once all responses are obtained, the next step is to process the information and convert it into improvements to be implemented in the company.

Personal well-being training

One of the best ways a happiness-oriented organization can contribute to its employees’ happiness is by providing them with personal well-being training, offering optional and free courses. Within this, training in social and communication skills, emotional management, and postural issues is particularly useful for work.

Finally, it should be noted that most of the above is also applicable to non-profit organizations.

Read more about these topics in “The Science of Social Well-being”…