Does it matter if your employees are happy?
Yes. Happiness significantly boosts productivity:
The paper provides evidence that happiness raises productivity. In Experiment 1, a randomized trial is designed. Some subjects have their happiness levels increased, while those in a control group do not. Treated subjects have 12% greater productivity in a paid piece-rate Niederle-Vesterlund task. They alter output but not the per-piece quality of their work. To check the robustness and lasting nature of this kind of effect, a complementary Experiment 2 is designed. In this, major real-world unhappiness shocks – bereavement and family illness – are studied. The findings from (real-life) Experiment 2 match those from (random-assignment) Experiment 1.
Source: "Happiness and Productivity" from IZA Discussion Paper No. 4645, December 2009
You can read an excellent article on happiness here.
For a more thorough list of techniques to make yourself happy you may want to check out this book.
Things you didn't know about happiness
How to make yourself happier in just a few seconds
Malcolm Gladwell on spaghetti sauce and happiness (Video)
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