Happiness and Productivity: Analytical Essay

Introduction

Individuals can only unleash their hidden potential and go an extra mile to achieve targets when they are happy. Happy people are highly motivated and are always ready to give their best in whatever they do. For this reason, most of the top organizations across the globe focus largely on making their employees happy and satisfied at all times. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, making an individual happy entails meeting their expectations. When employees’ hopes, such as reasonable compensation and appreciative leadership, are met by their organizations, they stay happy and productive throughout (Fisher, 2010; Olsen, n.d.). Failure to meet these needs, as Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory, often results in unhappy workers and hence reduced productivity. Unhappy employees habitually engage in unproductive behaviors, including a deliberate failure to meet targets, which result in poor performance (Zaghini, Fida, Caruso, Kangasniemi, & Sili, 2016; Olsen, n.d.). From the analysis, it is evident that happy people would never engage in counterproductive behaviors at work.

What Is Happiness?

An individual is said to be happy when they feel contented with what life has given them. In the workplace setting, an employee becomes happy if the organization is meeting their expectations, largely in terms of work conditions and rewards (Fisher, 2010). As Maslow explains in his theory of motivation, human beings become happy when their needs, which include basic, psychological, and self-fulfillment, are met. Therefore, any organization that wants to make their employees contented must provide for their needs (Olsen, n.d.). One of the ways in which firms can make their employees happy is prioritizing their work-life balance to ensure they have ample time to also attend to their personal needs. Additionally, ensuring that employees stay in good health and providing them with medical cover to cater to their wellbeing make them happy. Employees equally feel happy when their employers create for them a safe workplace that is free from any dangers (Fogaca & Coulho, 2016). Appreciative leadership and the provision of training and opportunities also lead to employee happiness and contentment. Moreover, firms need to compensate and reward their workers more competitively for their efforts and extraordinary accomplishments. Additionally, organizations can increase the happiness of their workers by clearly defining what their job entails and providing them with enough resources to complete the tasks assigned to them (Wesarat, Sharif, & Majid, 2014). From the analysis, it is evident that an employee’s happiness results from positive work conditions and motivational factors that the employer makes available to them.

Happy Employee and High Productivity

I agree that happy people would never engage in counterproductive behaviors in the workplace. Studies show that happiness significantly improves employee performance. For instance, Oswald, Proto, and Sgroi (2015) have found that when workers are happy, their productivity goes up by approximately 12 percent. Such a rise is substantial making it worth for companies to invest in the happiness and satisfaction of their staff members. Moreover, pursuing employee happiness is consistent with the ethics of care, which stresses the need to cater to the good of everyone involved to form healthy relationships (Wheeler, n.d.b). Happiness raises employee output in various ways, including enhancing leadership, creativity, loyalty, collaboration, and commitment (Fisher, 2010). When workers are satisfied, they automatically become good leaders. Also, when employees are kept happy, they collaborate better with each other and their peers to achieve their targets in the best way possible. Creativity and the tendency to risk, which significantly benefit the organization, similarly come naturally among workers who are happy and satisfied. Moreover, satisfied workers do not wait to be pushed as they are self-driven and try anything within their means to ensure they meet the set targets (Fisher, 2010; Oswald et al., 2015). Besides creativity, happy employees also work as a team to achieve the overall gals of their organization. More importantly, these kinds of workers remain dependable and dedicated to their companies and are always ready to go out of their way to ensure that their firms succeed (Fisher, 2010). Collectively, employee happiness increases their commitment to the organization, particularly when it comes to helping it achieve its goals and beat its rivals in the market.

Unhappy Employees and Counterproductive Behaviors

On the other hand, when employees in a firm are not happy, they engage in counterproductive behaviors that drastically lower the performance of the organization. In this regard, such acts include employees’ involvements that are not in line with the company’s mission and goals (Champoux, 2010). In almost all the cases, workers resort to counterproductive actions when the firm fails to meet their expectations or needs. As Herzberg explains in his Two-Factor Theory, the absence of hygiene factors will always result in unmotivated employees. The aspects he attributes to this phenomenon include supervision, salary, work conditions, and remuneration, among others (Olsen, n.d.). For example, poor work conditions can demoralize workers, as well as influence them to begin engaging in counterproductive behaviors. However, one of the biggest sources of dissatisfaction is the existence of huge pay gaps among employees with comparable responsibilities or positions (Wheeler, n.d.a). Some of these actions can be detrimental to the success of the organization. For instance, in the restaurant industry, unhappy workers may serve improperly prepared dishes, sabotage the food products of their colleagues, or steal from their employer. Research has shown that about 31 percent of such workers knowingly serve improperly cooked food to customers. In other instances, 12 and 13 percent of these unhappy workers intentionally contaminate food and disrupt the work of their colleagues. More surprising is the finding that 47 percent of unsatisfied employees steal from their restaurants (Koseoglu, n.d.). In the health care industry, counterproductive behaviors may compromise the quality of service delivery and patient safety. Misdiagnoses, medical errors, and bad provider attitude are some of the examples of counterproductive behaviors in the health sector (Zaghini et al., 2016). All these counterproductive actions, whether in the health, restaurant, or any other industry, can easily be solved by striving to make employees happy.

Personal Reflection

Based on my personal experiences, I can confirm that happy individuals engage in productive behaviors while unhappy ones indulge in counterproductive acts. I witnessed that at a small fast-food joint where I used to work before I joined campus. The restaurant used to subject its workers to poor work conditions, including delayed wages, poor pay, and all manner of harassment. In retaliation, the employees used to engage in various counterproductive behaviors, including deliberate absenteeism, theft, and customer mistreatment. As Herzberg puts it in his Two-Factor model, the hotel failed to provide the necessary hygiene dynamics breeding an unmotivated and unhappy workforce (Olsen, n.d.). Even so, the situation was different in a retail store where I worked during the last long vacation. The facility has a handful of employees that it treats very well. The workers are well compensated and assigned reasonable amounts of work that also match their skills and capabilities. As a result, they take great care of its properties and serve its customers with a lot of love and respect. As Maslow asserts in his Hierarchy of Needs model, employees become happy and motivated when their needs are met (Olsen, n.d.). Therefore, the store’s commitment to meeting its workers’ expectations results in increased productivity.

Conclusion

Happy employees are highly productive while their unsatisfied counterparts perform poorly due to counterproductive behaviors. Happiness in the workplace setting implies a satisfied employee. In this regard, creating a supportive workplace that caters to the needs of employees helps to create a happy and motivated workforce. The strategy is in line with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs model that asserts that workers become happy and contented when their needs are well taken care of. Once employees are happy, they become loyal, creative, committed, and determined to accomplish the tasks assigned to them and help the organization to achieve its goals. Therefore, worker happiness is directly proportional to productivity. Moreover, an unhappy worker is most likely to indulge in counterproductive behaviors in retaliation against the employer for failing to meet their needs. As Herzberg claims in his Two-Factor Theory, a worker becomes easily demotivated when they are made to work under harsh conditions for poor pay. I have been able to prove these claims through my personal experiences. I have worked in a restaurant where employees often engaged in counterproductive acts because they were unhappy with the poor work conditions. I have also worked in a small retail store that treated its workers well inspiring them to treat customers with love and respect.