What makes an organization happy???

[Vijay Kumar Shrotryia]

hi friends
I just would like to initiate a discussion on the constituents of making an organisation a happy org. In my view EE is one such effort which could enhance employee satisfaction, so Employee Satisfaction should be considered first constituent. Then comes the satisfaction of the customers/clients which could be achieved by providing better value for money and excellent service quality. Then comes the management which of course would be interested in better profitability as well as better impression about the organization.
Another constituent could be responsibility towards society or as it is termed in management literature CSR. Socially responsible organizations and their effort to sustain such sense of social responsiveness can go a long way in making an organization happy.....
There could be many more such dimensions which we could talk about and explore...

[Ramya Vasisht]

Dear Vijay,

Happiness depends on individual needs /wants however when we talk about “happy organization“happiness” is directly proportional to companies’ success and people (employees).

Recently, I read this book “4 secrets of high performing organizations" by Bud Bilanich (also known as common sense guy).The book talks about any companies’
High performance = Clarity, Commitment, Execution & Relationship. The author talks about leaders’ focus on driving these four factors developing and communicating clarity of purpose and direction, creating an engaged and committed workforce, walk the talk and develop a personal relationship with Organization's Values, value internal & external customers. I totally agree as i believe that high performance = success of invidual & the company.
success = happiness , which makes any org. a happy org :)



Cheers!
Ramya

[Vijay Kumar Shrotryia]

Thanx for your comments and many of the things you talk I do agree with that. But when we measure the success of the org in terms of profitability, sometime most profitable org may not be a happy org. So on the theoretical background (without any empirical work) I feel there are Four Constituents (Pillars) of OH: Satisfaction (customer & Job), Shareholders' perception, Organizational success, and CSR. Further I developed some OH targets on the basis of these pillars.
However the basic idea is that the org should focus on achieving Happiness rather than achieve high profit. The hypothesis, HIgh profit takes care of Happiness or Happiness takes care of profitability, needs to be tested....

cheers!
vijay

[Sakshee Kohli]

I would recommend following Gallup Q12 framework, it surely leads to better employee engagement, which makes employees happy and engaged, and if Employees are happy they will make customers (internal & external) happy, whic will lead to better organization results. I strongly believe in the success of following Gallup path, I have personally used it and have seen value! I would be happy to share my experience

[Vijay Kumar Shrotryia]

fine Q12 of Gallup has been validated at many places. However apart from satisfying customers (int & ext) there might be some more variables for org happiness, and we need to research them through our practices. I respect your views. And shall be happy to hear your experiences at [e-mail].
looking forward
vijay

[Terrence Seamon]

Very timely question, Vijay, as I had the opportunity to interview Alexander Kjerulf, the Chief Happiness Officer, this morning. (The podcast interview will debut on the AMA website in November)

In my view, Kjerulf is part of a movement going on right now in "Corporate America" (and outside America) toward making workplaces more positive, more democratic...happier!

For Kjerulf, it comes down to two fundamental principles: Do people feel like they are doing something that makes a difference? And...Do people feel like they are respected and valued by others and by the organization?

Terry

[Vijay Kumar Shrotryia]

I look forward fo for the podcast. Yeah the two points well taken both from within and from outside....

vijay

[Prem Rao]

Simply put, an organisation is happy when it's people are happy. As is often said "Customer Satisfaction Begins With Employee Satisfaction". This was used very effectively by FedEx as far as I know.

[satrasalashilpa]

hi everyone

i would just like to give some of my points to the above discussion.
it is true that employee engagement can lead to a happy organization and this can be done by encouraging the employees in decision making , by providing them with proper career opportunities and by recognizing their work and giving the reward in a fair basis .
This can also be done even by clarity of their roles, responsibilities and organizational vision and these all will lead to engages employees which will inturn lead to a happy organization

[Kelley Eskridge]

Hi Vijay and everyone in the discussion -- so many interesting perspectives and ideas! Thank you all very much for giving me a lot to think about.

I believe that happiness is a result, not a goal. For me personally, happiness is a result of being aligned within myself -- I'm living consistently with my values, I'm operating from my strengths, I'm communicating clearly with the people in my life, I have a goal in sight, I have the support I need to get there.... Even when times are very tough personally for whatever reason, when I'm aligned, I feel more confident about getting through them. The tough times become challenges, not derailers.

I think it's the same in organizations. Not every person is a fit for every organization, no matter how impeccably run the company is, no matter how much attention it gives to engagement -- the same way that two really nice people may just never fit as friends. So is the company's responsibility to make everyone there happy? Or is the responsibility to be so aligned, clear and consistent in its own values, business practices, engagement practices, etc. that every employee can then decide for herself whether the result truly is a happy experience for her? In case it's not clear (smile), I believe the latter.

I had a conversation once with two managers who reported to me. The three of us had worked hard to create a team whose values were clear and whose practices were aligned with those values. We loved seeing the result give joy to so many of the team members. This day, we were talking about a decision that would affect the team. One manager said, "The team isn't going to be happy about this."

I surprised her by saying, "It's not our job to make them happy. It's our job to be as clear as possible about this so that they have the information they need to decide whether they feel happy or not. And then they can take whatever action seems best to them."

I don't agree that happiness is only a choice. It's a feeling. We can't always control our feelings, and we certainly can't control other people's! So for me, the best thing is to be aligned, consistent, transparent, clear. To give people the full picture to respond to. If they respond happily, they'll become even more engaged. If they don't, then it's not a fit.

[Gary Irland]

Finally, someone I could work for, and be happy:-)
Gary

[Kelley Eskridge]

Why, thank you, Gary :) Happy is better, for sure.

[Derek Irvine]

Great topic, Vijay. I would say a key requirement to make a company happy is to foster a culture of appreciation in which all employees -- at every level -- are encouraged to notice, acknowledge and reward their colleagues for superior effort that reflects the company's values and helps to achieve the company's strategic objectives. Encouraging such a culture will go a long way to individuals being happy and content in their work -- especially because they will have a better understanding of the value of their efforts.