What if corporate competitiveness was to be derived from employee happiness?

To be in control of costs, reactive and innovative, to anticipate customers' needs, to use carefully designed communication: companies have a plethora of ideas when the point is to ensure their performance and development. One dimension is often overlooked however: the well-being of employees. Wrongly perceived are superfluous, if not as downright sentimentality, this should on the contrary be brought to light for all to see how much beneficial its impacts can be. The survey carried out in 2014 by the Department of Economics at Warwick University showed this clearly: being happy would appear to increase productivity by almost 12%.

We would have here an answer to the need to find new development springs in our global, uncertain world in search of re-enchantment. No wonder then that the notion of ‘Happiness at work' should increasingly fuel debates between experts in corporate management! But then, how to get collaborators smiling, how to make them happy and find fulfilment at work?

Dr Sabrina Tanquerel, a Lecturer-Researcher in Human Resource Management at EM Normandie, who has authored several articles on benevolent management, explains that "managers have a paramount role to play in the quest for happiness and well-being at work. They must know how to infuse teamwork dynamics but also valorise their employees individually and challenge them every day. People feel well when they have challenges to meet! They mobilise their competencies and a high level of focus that generate naturally a feeling of self-satisfaction….which proves beneficial to the company".

On the same topic, check Dr Sabrina Tanquerel's column on the Courrier Cadres website.