Why Workplace Happiness is Key for Business Success

Our mission at H&H is to make millions of people around the world healthier and happier, and we believe that starts with our own people. Here, H&H Group People & Culture Director Kiria McNamara shares her insights on why cultivating a happy workplace and prioritising team member well-being are crucial for business success.

Feeling like you can be yourself amongst colleagues, receiving opportunities for career progression and skills development, and sharing a sense of pride and purpose in the organisation’s mission and values – these are just some of the hallmarks of a happy workplace, according to the organisers behind the Great Place to Work accreditation that’s available worldwide.

This year’s International Week of Happiness at Work is a cause for celebrating our workplace culture at H&H Group. Recently, our offices in Australia, New Zealand, Italy and the United Kingdom have been certified as a Great Place to Work for the second year in a row while our U.S. office – which opened last year – received this recognition for the first time.

For over four decades, the Great Place to Work programme has been analysing thousands of organisations’ employee feedback to shine a light on what companies are doing right and what they can do to improve their corporate environment. The certifications we’ve received are a vital reminder to our leaders and People & Culture teams worldwide that we’re on the right track with our commitment to fostering a healthy, dynamic workplace culture.

These days, companies are facing a war for talent, post-pandemic burnout, and the latest trend of “quiet quitting.” Yet on the other hand, plenty of research suggests that happier employees are more innovative, productive, and present, with less absenteeism and lower turnover rates.

A 2019 study found that happy team members work harder, to the tune of 13% increased productivity. The Oxford University researchers behind the study found that happy, engaged team members were more efficient with their time, had higher sales conversions, and increased customer satisfaction. Ultimately, team member happiness and wellbeing play a pivotal role in an organisation’s bottom line: London Business School economists found that companies listed in the “100 Best Companies to Work For in America” generate 2.3 to 3.8 percent higher stock returns compared to their industry peers.

Essentially, businesses can’t innovate, accelerate and run sustainably without the help of happy team members who believe in the organisation’s mission.

Defining Happiness in the Workplace

The Dutch founders behind International Week of Happiness, now in its fifth year, categorise workplace happiness into four pillars: a powerful purpose, connection with colleagues, achieving goals, and creating a positive work environment.

All in, these four pillars work together, providing team members with a safe workspace where they feel genuine appreciation from their leaders and peers, and forming an environment where hard work and having fun intersect.

Put into practice, the International Week of Happiness founders suggest tactics could include small wins, such as creating rituals like pizza day, to big ticket themes, from ensuring team members have autonomy in their roles to encouraging vulnerability, openness and honesty.

And the organisers acknowledge there is no one-size-fits-all approach. It’s up to companies – their senior leadership and People and Culture teams – to design a bespoke strategy to enrich their specific workspace.

The Great Place to Work accreditors shape their list of certified employers each year based on their own set of benchmarks, crunching data from employee surveys that dig deep into topics, like diversity and inclusion, fairness in the workplace, an emphasis on management leading by example.

Some of the statements survey respondents need to consider include:

·      People are treated fairly regardless of their gender, ethnic origin, or sexual orientation.

·      My work has special meaning: this is not “just a job.”

·      Our senior leaders fully embody the best characteristics of our organisation.

While remuneration is included in the questionnaire, it isn’t at the forefront of priorities. It’s safe to say team members won’t find satisfaction in simply collecting a paycheque – purpose, connection and spending your days in a workspace that’s equitable are what pave the way to keeping employees happy.

Our Approach to Cultivating Workplace Happiness at H&H Group

Our mission at H&H Group is to spread health and happiness to millions of people around the world, and we believe this starts with our own H&H team members.

Our company values – One Big Team, I Trust You, Let’s Be Brave, Celebrate Life Every Day, and Power Our Passion – are the cornerstones that shape our ways of working. They don’t just live on the wall in our offices but are truly embedded in how we behave and deliver our mission.

I’m thrilled to say that amongst our team in Australia and New Zealand, Great Place to Work found that 99 percent of team members said they were proud to work at H&H Group, 98 percent said our facilities contribute to a good working environment, and, perhaps most importantly, 98 percent of the team feel their teammates care about each other.

Ninety-nine percent of the team in our region said management trusts them to do a good job, whether they’re working remotely or in the office. There’s implicit trust within our workspace, giving our team the autonomy to decide where they spend their work week, without mandating set office days.

We Celebrate Life Every Day through sharing our wins together, as well as the learnings that come from giving things a go – coined as Learn Grow Improve or ‘LGI’. It is common within our team to highlight successes and show recognition for our peers through our Actions Speak Loud programme and H&H Heroes awards. This year, we also launched our global #IAmRemarkable programme, an initiative founded by two Google leaders which focuses on empowering women and underrepresented groups.

We’re fortunate to have a global workforce, with team members from all corners of the world, including Australia, Southeast Asia, China, Europe, the UK and the US. Diversity boosts business performance in a big way, according to research: in 2020, management consulting firm McKinsey found that companies with ethnic and cultural diversity financially outperform their competitors while the World Economic Forum suggests companies with higher diversity ratios garner more revenue from innovation than less diverse organisations. I’ve seen these findings come to life at H&H Group – we benefit tremendously from the synergies of international collaboration, and across all areas of business, too. From product innovation to research outputs and global marketing, we value each other’s unique talents, backgrounds and expertise, understanding that they enrich our company’s wealth of insights and ability to deliver to on our mission.

And despite our geographical spread, we’re still One Big Team. This stems from our shared inspiration to make families – and the planet – happy and healthy, alongside our commitment to giving back to the community.

Traditions run deep at H&H Group. Next month, for example, we’re taking part in our annual World Community Day, where our global team are volunteering together to fundraise for local charity partners. In 2021, more than 1,300 team members across over a dozen sites raised over USD$47,000 for a handful of charities.

Beyond this, our Australian team has also committed to volunteering with organisations, such as One in Five, which is shining a light on mental health awareness, and the Bluearth Foundation, which promotes physical activity among Australian youth.

Finally, we understand that cultivating and maintaining a happy workplace culture is constantly evolving. As a People and Culture team, we are always looking for ways to elevate our People Experience and ensure that  our senior leaders consistently seek feedback and listen to our  team’s suggestions and ideas. This aspect is crucial as we lean on our leaders to bring our workplace culture to life.We also acknowledge that what makes one team member happy and engaged may not work for another and strive to create an inclusive environment that enables all of our team to thrive.

While we’ve reached a major milestone in achieving recognition for our positive work ethos, I’m looking forward to building on the great work we’ve established. It’s through this dedication to creating a supportive and nurturing environment where people feel their best that I’m certain H&H Group will continue to prosper.