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Want Happy Employees Fast and Easy?

Written by Raul T. Pereyra

Want Happy Employees Fast and Easy?

You probably know that managing employees is hard. It takes a lot of time and effort. Managing people doesn’t have to be hard (and boring – yuck!). But, if you sprinkle in a little happiness, it’s easy-ish.

What you need is a “happy-nator.” Never heard of it? Well, it’s a device that plugs into your head and adjusts your leadership style to create happy employees. Amazon had them on sale last I checked.

Just One Adjustment To Your Leadership Style

Can you imagine making just one adjustment to your leadership style to get positive results?

It’s pretty simple. Although hard to pull off unless you use the “happy-nator.”

So, what’s the one thing? Answer: Putting. People. First. It’s all about creating a people-first culture. That’s it.

But it only works if you’re a transformational leader.  Transformational leaders inspire and motivate employees to innovate and create change that contributes to the success of the company. And believe me: these leaders are plotting every day on how to influence their employees in positive ways. They’re the movers and shakers of an organizational culture because they value employees.

Organizational culture is formed by your core values and beliefs that are supported by strategy and real action. Your culture:

• begins with you: the leadership of the company.
• communicates expectations for proper behavior.
• provides the glue that binds everything together.

A people-first culture means that you care about your employees as people. You see them as critical to your business success. So, you – yes, I’m talking to you – you-badass-transformational-leader-you – you do things to take care of your people. 

You do stuff like:

• communicate regularly to reinforce your commitment to people.
• include more employees in the decision-making process.
• create a positive employee experience. 
• recognize hard work and contributions.

Transformational Leaders Get Happy Employees Because They Put People First

In our experience with nerdy research, and as life-changers, we see many leaders who get it. They all share one thing in common. They walk the walk. They set standards for living a people-first culture.

Ready to walk the walk? Try doing these things:

1. Show them that you care! 

• Building relationships is essential. Get to know your people. What are their interests, passions? And why are they choosing to spend a better part of their life working for you?
• Making it real: Create opportunities for building relationships in your policies and practices. For example, update your training, onboarding, and retention programs to create those awesome opportunities.

2. Spend time on career development! 

• People feel more engaged when you develop their skills and abilities for doing their jobs better. You boost self-confidence and give them more control over managing their career.
• Making it real: Create programs to assess and develop job-related skills. For example: development plans, coaching, training, and mentoring programs. While you’re at it, provide development opportunities beyond their current jobs.

3. Practice two-way communication!

• Two-way communication builds trust and a more democratic workplace. People feel more connected because they get to voice their thoughts and concerns while interacting with leadership.
• Making it real: Create an open door policy, a feedback process, and increase teamwork and training opportunities.

If You Don’t Take Care of Your People Today, Where Will You Be Tomorrow?

Wouldn’t it be amazing if all of your employees were as motivated as you?

I have a confession to make before I send you off to do great happy work. I lied to you. I lied to you when I told you that all you need to do is one thing to get happy employees fast and easy. Truth is: It’s not fast. And it’s not easy. Well, it’ll be easy for most of you if you level-up you leadership game and put in the work.

Guess what? Nothing worth doing is ever easy. And this is why you’re the leader: you’re not afraid of showing up. You show up every day to make things happen. To make things better. Because you’re actively engaged in the success of your company. And now your job is to engage your people.

I promise the results will be relatively fast when you take deliberate steps to improve your leadership style and make real change happen with those you lead.

You have to start somewhere. Why not start today with you?