Quantifying Employee Happiness: A Data-Driven Approach

To have happy employees is a tremendous asset. Their positive energy and enthusiasm can uplift even the most mundane workdays. But figuring out how to measure employee happiness remains a puzzle for many.

Teams with content and happy members do well and thrive. So, why do so few companies prioritize employee happiness?

One big challenge is figuring out exactly how to measure  employee happiness at work. It can be confusing to tell the difference between employee happiness, engagement, and satisfaction. The most significant problem is that it is not easy to measure how happy people are in the workplace.

Happiness is not easily quantifiable, but understanding how it manifests in the workplace allows you to measure the return on investment (ROI) of employee engagement. This, in turn, helps demonstrate its value to leadership.

Happy is Good

Keeping employees happy brings many advantages. Research from the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School shows a 13% boost in productivity when employees are happy. An unhappy worker, regardless of their position in a company, has negative effects on customer interactions and team spirit. Unhappy workers tend to be less efficient and less committed as well.

"To make your employees happy," is grounded in the well-established tagline idea that happy employees contribute to a successful business. It is a sensible aim to desire happiness among your employees. But are they happy? How can you tell? When you take steps to improve their happiness, how do you measure whether you have succeeded or not?

Measuring Happiness

Figuring out how happy employees are can be tough because it is based on personal feelings. Many assessments involve asking employees questions that are thought to show how happy they are. Take the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, for example. It asks people to rate how much they agree with statements such as, "I feel that life is very rewarding," or "I always have a cheerful effect on others." The answers give a happiness score, ranging from "Not Happy" to "Moderately Happy" to even "Too Happy."

New methods look into using technology, such as a chatbot created by an Indian analytics company. This chatbot uses an AI-driven sentiment analytics engine to study an employee's expressions and tone, helping to understand how they are feeling. But it is important to note that these technologies can bring up privacy concerns.

How Can You Be the Happiest Company?

Achieving the title of the happiest company is simpler than you think. David Tomas, the Co-founder and CEO of Cyberclick, shared a straightforward method in a Forbes article a few years ago. His company employs a quick one-minute traffic light survey conducted daily through a Google form. The survey asks employees to indicate their mood upon arrival (green, yellow, red), their mood upon leaving, and rates how much they enjoyed their tasks on a scale of one to four. There is  a comments section as well. Aside from this, they conduct a more detailed monthly survey, discussing the results regularly.

Cyberclick's core value of "always find a better way" is embedded in their approach. When a task causes stress or unhappiness, they aim to find a better way. The results of prioritizing employee happiness for Cyberclick include high retention rates, more than doubling EBITDA within two years, and recognition as one of the best workplaces in Spain. The challenge now is whether this approach can scale effectively to a large enterprise.

Criteria for Happy Employees

Every year, a website called Comparably.com asks employees to rate how they feel about their workplaces. In 2020, they got feedback from 10 million employees in 60,000 U.S. companies. That same year, Zoom was recognized for having the happiest employees.

Comparably poses questions such as:

• Is your work environment positive or negative?
• Do you believe you are paid fairly?
• Are you satisfied with your benefits?

They think that making employees happy is not only about paying them more, but about making sure employees understand:

• The company's direction.
• The link between their personal goals and the bigger plan of the company.
• How they are rewarded and recognized for achieving these goals and whether it is perceived as fair.

A System to Support Happiness

To meet these needs, you must use a platform that gives a complete compensation solution. This helps ensure that your employees can see their goals, how well they perform, the rewards they get, and the reasons for those rewards. The system must help companies make it simple to maintain fair pay and communicate pay transparency as well.  This way, they can find and fix any pay inequities, making sure everyone gets fair and competitive pay.

Do you believe that your current rewards system can effectively motivate and inspire your employees, fostering happiness among them? It is time to evaluate yours and take the next step towards a more satisfied and happier workforce.