Catherine Mattice Zundel

Inspiring your employees

- We spend 1/3 of our lives at work. And so many people go to work every day feeling unhappy but it
doesn't have to be like that. Happiness is a basic human need. We need happiness to survive. And all
that really means is that we need social connections and to feel valued by the people around us. My
name is Catherine Mattice Zundel, and I've been partnering with businesses for over a decade to help
them build cultures of respect and civility. I've seen a lot of bad stuff over that time, and it hurts my
heart a little. But there are a lot of small things an organization can do to make it 1,000 times better for
their workforce, and that's what this course is about. Prepare to get a bunch of tips for driving happiness
in your workforce. So you want to get happy? Let's do this.

Defining happiness and its ROI

- What is happiness, exactly? Ask five people and you'll get five different answers. In fact, I posted that
question on my LinkedIn profile and got answers like being totally fulfilled, feeling a sense of wellbeing
and joy, and being in a spiritual and physical good place. Several people said something about feeling
empowered or having control, or remaining at peace, even in tough times. Notice, none of these
answers refer to an in the moment feeling like I'm happy when my kid gets an A at school or I get a thank
you from my boss, and according to researchers, happiness really is a prolonged state of mind and an
emotion that refers to our whole lives. Positive psychologists have been studying happiness since the
late 90s. The founder of this field, Martin Seligman, was studying mental illness but found himself
wondering if we can learn to be helpless or resilient. From there, the field has exploded with a variety of
studies helping us understand positive emotions. Seligman defines happiness as living a pleasant life, a
good life, and a meaningful life. To break that down, pleasant life refers to emotion-boosting experiences
and savoring those positive feelings. Good life refers to a positive match between a person's strengths
and their current task. In other words, we're happy when we feel confident that we can accomplish the
task at hand. Meaningful life is about purpose. We're happy when we feel a sense of belonging and
purpose, when we're contributing to something bigger than us. But this is where personal self-talk
comes in. Your organization might have the most important mission in the world, and if you see your job
as contributing to the system and purpose of the organization, you will be happy. If it's just a job to you,
you won't be happy. For example, there's an old tale about a janitor who worked for the opera, and
when an opera goer was in the restroom talking about how great the opera was, the janitor replied, we
do put on a great show, don't we. Although the janitor wasn't a performer, he knew his role to the
greater good was important. Unclean bathrooms could lead to complaints or could discourage
attendance, so his job really is important to the organization. While you can't control self-talk of your
employees, you can create a huge amount of opportunity for people to experience positive emotions at
work, and because happiness is a prolonged state of being, you can build it up through a series of
frequent, positive experiences, like fun events or giving people a chance to shine, and there's some
serious return on investment, or RIO, to doing that. Happy people produce more, show up to work more,
go above and beyond more, are more innovative, and attract more positive people. In a meta-analysis of
225 academic articles in fact, researchers found that happy employees have 31% higher productivity,
37% higher sales, and three times higher creativity. So I'll leave you here with an action item. If you're
going to focus on building happiness in your own organization, I recommend first getting clarity on what
it means for your workforce. Try doing what I did on LinkedIn and just ask your employees to define
happiness. You'll notice themes in the answers, and then you can create a clear definition and a strategic
program geared to helping people achieve happiness as it's been defined by your people, and this course
will provide lots of tips for your plan. This'll be fun.

Personal benefits of being happy

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- You can't hold it in your hand. You can't take a picture of it, and you definitely can't sell it for a profit,
but happiness still holds an abundance of value. Seriously, those positive emotions can pack a huge
punch. I think you know that already, but let's talk through five specific benefits so we're on the same
page. First up, in such a competitive market harnessing employee innovation has never been more
imperative in gaining an advantage, and happiness can actually result in more creative thinking and more
efficient decision making. This is called "broaden-and-build," a term coined by researched Barbara
Fredrickson. Dr. Fredrickson determined through her research that positive emotions, like happiness,
actually broaden our awareness and encourage exploration. In other words, happiness opens our minds
and gives us the courage to try new things. Once we've tried a new idea or behavior, it becomes part of
our repertoire of knowledge and skills so we can build on it from there. According to Fredrickson, this
process of broadening and building facilitates a happier and healthier life, and self-fulfillment as we're
not bound by our own limitations. This is all in contrast to negative behaviors, which cause us to act in
more immediate survival-oriented ways, rather than really exploring our options. This leads to our
second benefit, which is resilience. Resilience is defined as the ability to bounce back from a negative
situation. Employees high in resilience have the ability to maintain positive emotions even in the face of
stress. This bouncing back is a result of the ability to think creatively and build a plan to get out of
stressful situations. It helps us cope both in the moment and after it's over. Here's an example of our first
two benefits at play: Let's say you're in the business of creating specialized software for your customers.
A new customer presents an interesting challenge you've never faced, and as a smaller company you're
scrambling to deliver in order to keep the contract. Happy employees will be better able to problem
solve and come up with a good solution more quickly than unhappy ones. From there let's say you
deliver the software and the very next day it crashes. Happy, and therefore resilient employees will be
able to maintain stress levels in order to think through and deliver resolution better than unhappy
employees, you with me? A third benefit of happiness is a longer and healthier life over those who are
unhappy. It's no secret that stress causes physical problems, such as sleepless nights, and prolonged
stress can cause heart problems, to name only one issue. So, happiness reduces blood pressure and risks
for heart disease. Happy people are also more likely to be physically active, which can help build strong
bones, lower blood pressure, and decrease body fat, and happy people may have better relationships
with people around them, which also leads to better health. Fourth, happy people are more productive.
Happy people are less prone to accidents and mistakes. Think about it, have you ever received bad news
and then tried to go to work, or been under the weather and still forced to meet a deadline? It was
probably difficult to function at your full potential, right? Lastly, happy people make other people happy.
For real, happiness is contagious, so when you flash a quick smile or have a cheery disposition in that
boring budget meeting you really affect those around you, and the more happy people, the more likely a
culture of civility and respect is to emerge, and because happy people have more self-esteem, they
might also be more likely to step in when they witness someone else engaging in negative emotions.
Happy employees equal happy customers and a happy business, end of story.

What causes us to be happy

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- What causes happiness? Is it that big promotion? A new car? Buying your dream home? We do seem to
think that intense events are what drive us to be happy. If only I could get that raise so I could go on that
vacation I've always wanted, right? But it turns out the frequency of positive experiences is a much
better predictor of happiness than intensity of positive experiences. In other words, how good your
experiences are doesn't matter as much as how many good experiences you have. Why is that? Well,
being happy is like losing weight. There isn't a magic pill. Instead you have to eat well and exercise
regularly. There's no magic pill for happiness either. Instead, you have to have happy experiences
regularly. You don't have to win a trip to the moon. You just have to have a positive day, day after day.
Also, big events are often disappointing. In fact, they can actually have a negative effect on our
happiness. That's because we put so much on those big events, when we finally have them, we are often
quite underwhelmed. We expect our life to change with that car or new house, and are disappointed to
discover otherwise. All right, you get it. It's the little things that matter. But what little things, exactly?
Social connections are a big part of happiness. We are social creatures, and we have to feel accepted and
loved. You don't have to be famous. You just need the people around you, at work and home, to value
you. We are also happiest at work when we feel appropriately challenged. Our brains are wired for
constant learning and use of our abilities. Most of us really thrive when we have a work challenge that
pushes us in a good way. But if the goal is out of reach or the organization puts obstacles in the way, such
as not giving employees the right resources, then it only becomes frustrating and we become unhappy.
Something else that drives happiness is altruism. We're all really interested in living a fulfilling life, and
giving is a major part of that. You might be noticing a theme here. The three drivers I've just listed seem
to be about human instinct. Really, true happiness comes from basic human needs to be included,
achieve, and help others. And all of this is good news for employers. You don't have to hand out month-
long vacations and promise corner offices. All you have to do is create opportunities for people to have
happy, positive moments throughout the day via relationships, goals and teamwork. And don't worry,
we're in this together. This course will help make that easier.

Happiness vs. engagement vs. satisfaction

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- Happiness, engagement, job satisfaction, are they all the same thing? Honestly, no they aren't. So let's
compare them. Happiness is experiencing frequent positive emotions, and those emotions lead to good
relationships, better health and more resilience. Engagement is feeling profoundly connected to work
tasks, teammates and the organization's mission. That connection leads to maximum discretionary
effort, which means giving more effort, more often, to the job. Job satisfaction, also known as employee
satisfaction, is feeling content with the job, which leads to better performance. These concepts are
different, but each relies on the other. You must be satisfied with your job and happy in order to be
engaged. And if you're happy it's likely you're satisfied with your job and probably engaged. In the end I
think you need to strive for all three. And it doesn't necessarily make sense to try to parse each one out
and create action items for each individually. Knowing how these things are related, and their
differences, can help ensure you're working toward the goals you want to. If employee engagement is
your goal, for example, it's important to understand what that means and how happiness plays a role in
it. Keep these concepts in mind as you're creating your programs to build happiness.

Inspire altruism

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- You may remember Ebenezer Scrooge from Charles Dickens' Christmas story. Scrooge was a grumpy old
rich man who kept all of his money to himself. After visits from ghosts to show him how awful of a
person he was, he became generous and giving and also more happy and more energetic. Science has
found that Dickens was on to something and that there is, indeed, a strong correlation between altruism,
happiness and health. Altruistic behavior enhances our social integration, distracts us from our own
problems, enhances our life's meaningfulness, increases perception of our own competence and
improves our mood. And really, humans are innate social creatures. We all inherently focus on the
survival of our own species and our bodies are wired to feel good when we give so that we will continue
to give and humans can continue to sustain life. Cool for employers, you can tap into all of this human
nature by encouraging employees to engage in altruistic behaviors through programs you develop. If
your employees don't have a lot of time, you could go simple and bring in a tub for people to donate
food or toys. You could also see if people want to donate a portion of their paycheck to a cause everyone
agrees upon and pull the agreed portion out of the check before it's deposited into their bank accounts.
This is something you could do all year 'round or as a short fundraiser with a time limit. If anyone in your
workplace is going through a difficult time, like dealing with a sick child or a laid-off spouse, rally the
troops to give to that person. How great would it be if co-workers were bringing dinner by or helping the
spouse find a job? Of course, the employee going through that hard time would have to give permission
to have their personal story shared with the team, but I've heard some really neat stories about stuff like
this. You could also instill random-acts-of-kindness days at work, perhaps once a quarter. This is a day
where people can engage in random acts of kindness for each other. Now, if you're worried about some
people being left out, you might try a Secret Santa approach and randomly assign names so each person
has an assigned recipient of kindness. If you want to go a little bigger and build up teamwork, you might
get people excited about spending a Saturday participating in a group event, like a 5K or building a home
for the less fortunate. Many companies offer two days off a year for volunteering. Some even pay for
them. So, for example, if an employee wants to attend a beach clean up event on a Friday, you could pay
him for eight hours while he's off doing some good. Your organization might also consider going more
socially conscious. And if it meets a certain sales goal or other milestone, the company can donate some
percentage to a cause of the employees' choice. There are obviously a ton of different ways to engage in
altruistic acts. I've provided a list for you in the exercise files and you can certainly do an internet search
for random acts of kindness, too. You might also lean on employees, like your culture committee or a
new team of volunteers. Let them come up with ideas and let them be responsible for getting the word
out. Whatever you choose, encouraging company-wide altruism benefits you, your team and humanity.
Now go enjoy spreading the love.

Provide decision-making discretion and performance feedback

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- When we do surveys for our clients who come to us when they have unhappy employees, we notice
one pattern among all of them. Employees don't see any transparency in leadership's actions and they
believe their opinions don't matter. You can build happiness by giving employees the exact opposite.
They need decision-making discretion. You don't have to hand over the throne, but offering
opportunities to make even the smallest decisions can go a long way. Something simple like allowing
employees to choose how they want to go about achieving their goals or giving them leeway and
empowerment to resolve customer issues can make a world of difference for them and for your
customers, actually. Have you ever called a customer service line, only to be told, "Our policies don't
allow that," or, "I'll have to speak to my manager." You're unhappy because getting what you want has
just become more difficult, and they're unhappy because they're trapped. If they were given up to a
certain dollar amount to allow for refunds or the information and discretion to resolve the problem, they
would feel trusted, valued, and happier, and so would you, the customer. Do keep in mind that you have
to make room for mistakes if you are allowing employees to make decisions. Embracing mistakes as
learning opportunities will make employees better at their jobs. You also have to be transparent about
decisions you're making that affect their work. You can send weekly updates on how the company is
performing, take notes in meetings and give everyone access to them, or simply have all staff meetings
for everyone to participate in. I've noticed that managers often withhold information because they feel it
gives them power or they think they're the manager, so they absolutely have to keep information top
secret. While some small percentage of information might be top secret, like why an employee was let
go, I can promise you sharing information gives managers more power because people trust them, and
so become more willing to follow. Withholding information leads to distrust, and then management
becomes much more of a battle. Transparency also means offering continuous performance feedback
and asking for feedback too. Feedback is absolutely key in making sure employees are happy at work.
People want to know how they're doing, and employers should want to know that people have
everything they need to feel supported. Check out the exercise file for a bunch of questions to ask
employees during these feedback conversations. I recommend holding them once per month. And if
someone isn't performing well, you can coach them early on and build rapport in doing so. Ask questions
like, "How do you think "you can improve in this area?" And let them build their own plan. Employees
who have the tools to succeed are happier at work than those who don't, guaranteed. In the end, I'm
talking about building a relationship of mutual trust, and I think we can all agree that everyone is much
happier in a trusting relationship.

Reduce stress

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- It's no secret that too much stress can drive some serious unhappiness but it's important to distinguish
between good stress and bad. Good stress, or the kind that can drive happiness, lasts for short periods of
time, and helps you become a better person. That one challenging project at work where you're going to
stretch yourself and learn a lot can cause good stress. It's healthy for you to feel challenged. The kind of
stress that drives unhappiness makes us feel out of control. That's bad stress. Getting a divorce, a parent
with ill health, a bullying boss or an unexpected accident in your home like the time my living room
ceiling literally dropped to the floor and covered the room with debris and dust are all examples of what
may cause bad stress. In either case, though, it's up to you to decide how to frame the situation you're
in, so it is possible to control your stress. When our home insurance's project manager showed up to
take a look at our ceiling, he actually commented that my husband and I were one of the calmest
couples he's ever come across. Why shouldn't we be calm? We live in a beautiful home, we have a
beautiful daughter and a pretty wonderful life. Do I sound cheesy? Well, this brings me to a tangible
action item for you and your employees. It's called a life satisfaction journal. Positive psychologists have
found several times over that a person who spends just a few minutes each day writing down three
things they're thankful for or happy about or that made them smile that day are more satisfied with life.
They know that because they have people fill out a survey to measure life satisfaction and then task
them with this journaling project. When the same people filled out the survey again three months later,
they score higher, and at the six month mark, even higher. In an HR class I was teaching, I challenged by
students to take this on. A few weeks later, one student commented that she'd been thinking of her
three items to write down as she was finishing up her gardening and she realized she was pretty happy
with how her garden was turning out and then her little old cat walked by and she realized she was
happy to have him too. She described this moment of clarity in realizing how important these little
things are to her happiness and stated she was going to keep up with her journal. Remember, those big
items like new cars and big vacations don't drive a constant state of happiness. It's the little things in life
that do and that's what this exercise highlights for you each day. So, I challenge you to challenge your
workforce to try this journal before they close out at the end of each day and see what happens. You
could even locate a life satisfaction survey online and see if people want to take it before and after a
three month period. Of course, there are other things you can do to reduce stress, such as setting up a
quite place on your work site to regroup, bringing in a yoga instructor once a quarter, and encouraging
employees to do stress reduction exercises throughout the day. Allowing them to work from home
sometimes can help with stress too or taking a day off as a group to go and do something fun. Also, stop
for a moment and think about your work environment. Do people have too much work, not enough
resources to do their jobs, a bullying manager? All of these causes undo stress, so if your goal is to
reduce stress and drive happiness, you have to address that stuff too. So, what three items will you write
down at the end of today?

Create opportunities to achieve

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- Fun fact, the National Bureau of Economic Research looked into education and mortality and found that
those with college degrees are likely to live seven years longer than those who don't. One might argue
that with more education they make more money and therefore have more access to health care. But,
researchers aren't convinced. They're thinking that more knowledge means better problem-solving skills
and therefore more well-informed decisions. Researchers know that engagement in a challenging task
provides knowledge and fulfillment which creates happiness and healthful changes in brain chemistry.
Once the task is achieved, for example, the brain produces testosterone. This is a good chemical to have
running through your brain because it gives you confidence and makes you feel in control. So, learning
and growing is part of building happiness, but the task you're learning needs to be connected with a
sense of purpose and achievement. How can we bring this into the workplace? The easy answer is to be
sure people are learning new things at work. All of your employees probably do face minor challenges
throughout their days, so they're learning. And here you are watching a video so you can learn. But
remember the learning needs to be fulfilling, and not that my video isn't fabulous, but whether this
video makes you happy would depend. If you have a strong interest in employee happiness and building
positive cultures, then this video may facilitate a little happiness versus if you were watching a video on
something boring or not useful to you. If you're going to provide learning opportunities at work to help
with your happiness initiative though, they need to be methodical and tied to bigger goals. For example,
you can't throw tasks at your assistant and hope he gets a kick out of learning from it. Instead, you
should sit down with him. Find out what his career goals are and discuss what assignments you have
available that could help him with that goal. You could even go all the way and write out a formal career
growth plan. It might look a little like a map. If your assistant wants to be a VP one day, then what types
of things should he be learning and doing to get there, even if it's years away? Of course, the
organization's goals matter to. So if a VP position isn't opening up any time soon, that's okay. You can still
created a career map that leads to that position. Your assistant will now work hard to learn everything
set out in the plan, and you'll get a stellar assistant until he outgrows his spot. Another way to provide
learning opportunities is through a mentorship program. Pair up less experienced people with more
experienced ones, and let them learn from each other. I do recommend keeping the program fairly
formal if you can so that you can track program. To do that try asking mentors and proteges to provide a
little information about what they have to give in terms of knowledge and experience and what they
hope to receive. Then you can pair folks based on how they fit. I also recommend providing each group a
little training on what their roles entail and requiring formal check-ins as a group every so often
throughout the program. I hate to do it just because I know people are getting annoyed with the
generational spiel, but I'll finish with a note on millennials. Given their experiences so far in life with
technology and interconnectedness and quick rising stars such as Mark Zuckerberg and Justin Bieber,
they are visionaries. They won't slave away at a job for money. They want experience. After all, they
grew up watching others having amazing experiences on the Internet. So you got to keep em learning.
We all want to learn. Our brains are hardwired that way. But with millennials, quickly rising through the
ranks at work, what they want at work specifically, is becoming more and more important, and learning
is it.

Remove incivility

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- Have you ever worked with someone who was rude or maybe even a bully? If your answer is yes I bet I
know what happened. No one stood up for themselves and management didn't step in and so
everyone's happiness suffered because of this one person. Incivility and bullying create a negative work
environment which overpowers happiness and drags down the team. So what can you do? First take a
look at your performance system, does it focus only on job skills or does it focus on behavior too? If your
performance evaluation forms are measuring people on teamwork and interpersonal communication
you're on the right track. Someone who is uncivil should get low scores in those areas and then you can
put them on a performance improvement plan up to discipline and termination if the behavior doesn't
change. But you don't have to wait to performance evaluation time to call someone out, whether you're
a manager or a peer by not saying anything at all when someone acts up you are inherently condoning
the bad behavior, speak up in the moment. And if you find yourself managing someone who si negative
or aggressive often I recommend coaching because they probably have no idea how they're perceived.
Here's what you say, "I've been hearing some complaints "that your interactions with others are too
abrasive. "I haven't been hearing about that with others, "so I wanted to find out what's going on "and
come up with some solutions. "Can you tell me what you think "about why they're saying that?" No
doubt they will tell you that they aren't abrasive or people are just too sensitive. Then you'll say, "I don't
really know, "but I do know one fact for certain: "I've had several complaints about your interactions.
"That one fact, "that I get complaints, has to change. "So let's figure out how to go about doing that."
Notice I didn't engage in an argument or let them push back, it's true you may not have been there or
really know what's happening but if one person has several complaints then you know it's an issue that
must be addressed. From here, ask lot of questions, "Can you think of an example where people may
have "interpreted your behavior as abrasive?" is a good question to start with. Then you can work with
them to come up with action items to change this perception and of course you'll follow up with 'em
constantly. If the behavior changes, great, if not, then I recommend a disciplinary plan just like you might
use if a person wasn't meeting their sales quota, after all your performance system is about performance
and behavior. I stuck a sample script in the exercise files to help you, have a read and then practice with
a friend or family member. Finally, I suggest checking in with those folks at the receiving end of the
negative behavior, part of what's making them unhappy in this situation is that they feel like their
organization isn't resolving the issue. You can't share all of the dirty details but you can let them know
you're working on behavior change. Remember social connection is an important part of happiness so if
people feel comfortable to make those connections then you'll be on your way to a happy workforce.

Build positive relationships and connections

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- Have you heard of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs? Abraham Maslow figured out that humans have five
basic needs, and those needs motivate our behavior. Most importantly, we need to eat and sleep. So
when we're hungry or tired, we're motivated to fulfill those needs. Once our physiological needs are
met, we focus on safety. Once we feel safe, we are motivated to belong to a group. And once we belong,
we seek to gain self-esteem from that membership in that group. Once those four needs are met, only
then are we motivated by the desire to be the best that we can be, or self-actualized as Maslow called it.
The point of all this is that your employees have basic human need to feel connected, and being
connected drives self-esteem. We need human connections to be happy. So here are six ideas for helping
your staff build connections with each other and with you. First, create an onboarding program focused
on building connections. Remember that new hires are vying for information about the work culture and
their peers. At first, they want more of that kind of information than job training. So don't stuff your new
hires in a room for training. Get them out and about building connections. Connections are what will
help them stay. Put new hires on a scavenger hunt to find employees with different fun facts, like the
certified skydiver, and the avid surfer. Everyone in your company should be focused on giving new hires a
VIP experience. So have a party upon the new hire's arrival. Or ensure they have lunch with different
departments all week long. Whatever you do, onboarding should be about connection, and that means
everyone should be involved. Second, you don't have to go crazy with ping-pong tables and catered
lunches, but you do have to provide a space for employees to connect. Setting up a little living room
area, or putting a few co-working tables around the office are all you need. Third, give employees time to
work on projects together. Some work places, especially in tech, provide a certain number of hours each
month for innovation and creating whatever employees want. You can emulate that even if you're not a
tech company. One idea might be to hold a hot-seat meeting, where employees from different
departments can bring their own departmental issues for others outside of the department to solve. It's
actually a cool exercise, because the people who have no idea what you do or what challenges you face,
will provide some crazy ideas that can be game changers. Fourth, it's imperative to be transparent. One
issue I see with a lot of my clients is that managers are withholding information, and don't bother to
walk around. Knowing you can't share anything and everything, you could at least tell employees, I can't
tell you everything, but here's what I can tell you. Or if you don't know, just say so. I think most managers
can share much more information than they currently do. Fifth, keep it fun. People can't connect in gray-
walled cubicles in silence. What about something fun on Fridays where people can get together? Or
snazzing up the wall with bright paint colors? Get out of your office once in a while as a group. Hold a
meeting in the park across the street. Or enjoy a half day out and about. My last idea is to get a group of
employees to generate and execute ideas. Put together a team to brainstorm how to build better
connections at work, and let them take it on. In the process, they can build a connection with each other.

Make the work meaningful

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- When I worked as a director of HR, I spent a lot of time hiring and training employees. At one point, I
was tasked with finding file clerks and ended up hiring a few high school students on a part-time basis.
The job wasn't complicated. And since they were just file clerks, I gave them a quick tutorial and sent
them on their way. Boy, did I learn how much of a mistake that was. They didn't see how important their
job was to ensuring the organization ran effectively and efficiently. And frankly, nobody else did either
until a bunch of clients started calling about missing paperwork. Turns out the file clerks were sticking
stacks of paperwork in random file folders to keep the never ending pile under control. It was a mess.
Clients were angry, employees were frustrated, and I was thoroughly annoyed. But then I realized it was
my fault. I'd seen them as just file clerks, and I didn't realize how important their jobs were until they did
them so badly. Why would they perform well? They thought they were just file clerks and found no value
in their job because I'd made that impression on them. So we gave them a new title, absorbed them into
the customer service department, and took the time to convey the importance of their work. They could,
quite literally, put us all out of business if they weren't filing correctly. Honestly, employees who know
their work is part of something bigger are happier, work harder, and do the job the right way the first
time because they know how important it is. Not to mention, they will represent your organization in a
positive way. Someone who finds meaning in their work will talk about how much they love their job and
about how their work is helping to save the world. Don't believe me? I have another story about a vector
control company. Vector control companies are usually set up by the city government and are charged
with keeping mosquitoes at bay. I did a training for one. And while one employee told me all they did
was kill mosquitoes, another one, shocked at what he'd just heard, proudly stated that they were saving
the community from West Nile virus. Think about that for a second. Two employees go out to spray a
pond to rid it of mosquito eggs. One, who is just killing mosquitoes, probably sprays haphazardly and
goes on to the next one. The other, who is saving the community, ensures he sprays each and every inch
of that pond because, dang it, his job is important and meaningful to the community. If you want
employees like that one, here are some tips. First, lean on your vision and mission statements and make
sure employees know their work contributes to achieving it. You can do that by talking about the vision
and mission often and acknowledging employees who do things that help you get closer to it. Also
encourage managers to talk about the importance of work when they're assigning it. The guys who lay
water pipes need to do it right, because if they don't, there's an environmental impact and customer
impact. Managers should find ways to talk about that as they assign the project. You might also try
setting employee goals that are related to company goals. If your business hopes to earn 10% more
revenue this year, obviously sales will play a role in that. But talk with those file clerks about how
efficient filing will help and how IT's ability to provide stellar service to employees will help them provide
better customer service. Then everyone understands how they're helping. Sharing stories about
customer success is another way to drive meaning. Employees, especially those who may not be
customer-facing, can see the end goal and the impact of your company's product or service. I always
loved the idea of collecting video stories from customers and then holding a viewing party to watch
them. On that note, you could also ask employees to talk about where they find meaning or why they
enjoy working toward the company vision and mission and hold a viewing party for those videos too. The
founder story might also be impactful for employees to hear, and I recommend finding ways to convey it
with emotion rather than in a paragraph in your policy handbook. In the end, no matter your product or
service, it fills a need or it wouldn't be in existence. Helping employees understand how they each
impact customers, the community, or the world will be a driver in their happiness.

Provide autonomy

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- Have you ever worked for a supervisor that was a total micromanager, a supervisor who needed to
control every aspect of your work? If you have, I'm assuming it made you unhappy. At Civility Partners, I
strive to give my employees flexibility, decision making opportunities, and challenging work. For
example, I allow my employees to come in any time between seven and nine and leave when they have
completed their hours rather than having a strict nine to five schedule. This way, they can still get all of
their work done but also focus on other aspects of their lives. In fact, there have been a few times I've
sent employees home because I could see that they were stressed out about something happening with
a family member, or at school, or whatever it was. They came to work because they are loyal, and I sent
them home because I am loyal. Meanwhile, our relationships get stronger. There are a ton of ways that
you can offer autonomy too. But first, let's consider a definition so that we're all on the same page.
Giving employees autonomy is giving them the power to shape their work environment in ways that
allow them to preform at their best. It is not giving them free rein or avoiding guidelines. To be a
successful autonomous employee, your people need guidelines, procedures, and support. For example,
you can find ways to provide employees choices but within boundaries. My start time is an example.
People can't come in willy nilly, but they have a two hour window. You also have to ensure employees
have what they need to be successful. If I ask my assistant to do her thing and go crazy on developing
some new document I want to create, I have to be available to answer questions and provide guidance
when she needs. And if the document turns out to be something I'm not happy with, I have to own that
because I did in fact give her free rein to do it her way. Then we can talk through it, and it becomes a
learning experience for us both and allows us to build mutual respect for one another. Something else
important to remember is discussing the why. If you tell an employee you've got a goal for them, tell
them it's important because it'll increase revenue or decrease customer complaints. Then allow them to
choose how they'll achieve the goal. If it's important that the goal be reached in a specific way, and so
you can't provide that choice, you can find other ways to give choice. Maybe they decide when the
weekly meeting is, what the agenda will cover, and who will manage the project plan, for example. The
best way to find out how to help employees get some autonomy is to ask them. One might tell you she
wants to work from home sometimes, and another might tell you he'd like to try working on the
remainder of that one project by himself because he's got some great ideas. And now, he's getting the
opportunity to feel challenged. If we think of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, challenge falls into the self-
actualization category, being at our very best, which means the right amount of challenge is the highest
order of our basic needs and thus one of the best ways to derive happiness. Giving employees autonomy
also shows that you trust them to do the job that they were hired to do. Not only will they appreciate
the opportunity, but they'll work hard to prove that your trust was not misplaced. And so, you are
empowering them to be the best that they can be.

Coach unhappy employees

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- So, you're doing all of this stuff to build employee happiness, and everyone else seems to be fairly
happy, but what abut that one employee who seems to be mopey, or complain, or just can't seem to
ever be happy? The first step here is to assess the situation. Is this person usually fairly happy, but it
seems like something is bothering him? Or is he always unhappy and hard to please? The answer makes
a difference in how you respond. So let's talk about it. If this person seems to be going through
something, talk to him about it. Ask him if you can meet to have a chat. Perhaps go for a walk or find a
neutral place to sit, and tell him you've observed that he seems down, and you want to know if you can
help. He may not tell you, and that's okay. All you can do is let him know you'll check back in a few weeks
and then do so. If he does share what's happening, if it's work related of course you'll need to find ways
to help him solve his issues. If it's personal, all you can do is listen and let him know you're there if he
needs. You might even suggest a little time off to regroup. If it is work, a perceived injustice such as a
missed promotion or poor performance review can certainly do it. If you can, try to work through it. One
thing we all want is to be heard. So if you can at least hear him out and try to address some of the
concerns, he'll leave your office feeling a little better. If you can't get the employee what he or she wants,
such as more pay, you'll have to find a way to keep your calm and explain that. Truly, it is very important
to remain calm and cool. In all situations focus on the solutions. For example, let's say your employee is
angry because someone else got the promotion he thought was his. You might not be able to give him a
promotion right then but you can talk about what he must be focused on to be considered the next time.
And provide the resources he needs to get there. Also try to keep the conversation positive and forward
thinking, saying things like, let's see what we can do here. And how can we work together to help you
achieve that? Build trust and rapport. If the issue is that your employee is just always negative, for
example, constantly being a naysayer, and never seems to be satisfied, then that's a performance issue.
The situation would be addressed like any other performance problem. Let him know what you've been
observing and specific examples. Why it needs to stop, and then ask him what he might be able to do to
improve. In other words, let him develop his own plan, then check in with him at regular intervals. If it
doesn't improve, then, like any performance issue, he would go down the path of discipline. That might
sound harsh, but if you think abut it, behavior is just as important as performance. If he was showing up
two hours late every day, you'd follow the advice I just gave, and so should you when the issue is
behavior that's effecting performance and the team. In either case I also suggest not waiting too long. As
soon as you notice the negativity, step in, the longer it goes on, the harder it is to resolve. In the end
having a happy work force means coaching those people who aren't happy. Unhappiness will surely
bleed into your work force, so it must be addressed up front.

Addressing generational differences

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- When someone asks you what makes you happy, how do you respond? For me it's the things that
represent my wonderful life, reading with my four year old, peace and quiet at the end of a long day, or a
nice dinner with my family in our beautiful backyard. Your answer is probably different. Each of us will
find happiness in our own way because we have different experiences and different needs. For example,
someone who grew up with siblings may interpret friendships differently then someone who was an only
child. And a person who grew up on a farm might see work life balance differently than someone from
the city. And in the workplace generational differences play a role in our world view. Baby boomers
parents lived through hard times and so they become loyal and hardworking employees because they
saw that in their parents. Generation Xers are fairly independent and like to figure things out on their
own because many of them had two working parents and so they were home alone and left to their own
devices. Millennials grew up in a world where everyone was connected through technology and so they
became obsessed with being connected to others and instant feedback like the internet provides. The
good news is that we're all human so essentially we want the same things, it's just how it's delivered may
vary. For example, one thing that seems to make everyone happy is the opportunity to work on a
challenge that stretches us. For a Gen Xer that means giving some high level directions and then letting
the Gen Xer loose to figure it out and learn as he goes. For a millennial that means giving clear directions
and feedback all along the way. But if you assign the project to a millennial the same way you assign it to
a Gen Xer the millennial will likely be left frustrated rather than happy. In the end however, each person
is their own individual so the best thing you can do if you're looking to create happiness across
generations is to ask, just ask. Ask them what makes them happy at work, what their needs are and how
you can help them be successful. And then try to meet their needs. Obviously you'll do that within
reason but why not let a person come in at 9:00 a.m and leave at six, instead of forcing them to come in
at 7:00 a.m. If you can allow it. Being flexible when possible will really pay off. In the end ignorance is not
bliss and employees will be happy that you are interested in ensuring their happiness. Trust me, they will
work harder and be more engaged. Just remember happiness is unique to the individual so blanket
solutions will not always be the best option. Encourage your managers to get on the ground and start
talking with their team members about how they can best serve the employee.

Next steps

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- Thanks for joining me to learn a little about driving employee happiness. I hope you enjoyed watching it
as much as I enjoyed creating it with the LinkedIn team. We've talked about creating opportunities for
altruism, learning, relationship-building, and more, so you've got a good foundation to get started. Your
next step is to figure out where to start and write out a plan to define what you'll implement and when. I
also post a lot on happiness, respect, and civility at work, so I hope you'll connect with me on LinkedIn.
You can also check out my website for a ton of free e-books, webinars, and other resources at
civilitypartners.com. I'll see you there.

Question 1 of 4

Almost every endeavor involves setbacks or difficulties. How does happiness help you cope with such
problems?

You are correct!

It improves resiliency.

Question 2 of 4

In addition to social engagement and achievement, what else is necessary for happiness?

You are correct!

helping others

Question 3 of 4

Marga is really pleased with the way her talents apply to her current project, but thinks the goal of the
project is somewhat pointless. What is missing from her job?

You are correct!

meaning

Question 4 of 4

How does job satisfaction differ from engagement?

You are correct!

Satisfaction refers to a sense of contentment, while engagement refers to connection with the work.

Question 1 of 9

In Maslow's hierarchy, why do people seek to become a member of a group?

You are correct!

Being a member of a group is part of self-esteem.

Question 2 of 9

Li feels she is stuck in a rut at work, receiving the same sorts of mundane tasks to perform over and over.
What should she tell her supervisor so she can improve her opportunity for happiness?

You are correct!

that she would like to develop a career plan in consultation with her supervisor

Question 3 of 9

You are a department supervisor, and you have received several complaints about one of your managers
engaging in bullying behavior. What should you do?

You are correct!

Come up with action items for the manager to move toward behavior change.

Question 4 of 9

You have employees who perform regular and repetitive tasks, such as file clerks. How can you help
these employees gain more happiness in their positions?

You are correct!

Explain how the tasks accomplish the mission of the organization.

Question 5 of 9

When you think about giving employees autonomy, what should you consider?

You are correct!

giving them the power to shape their work environment in a way that allows them to perform at their
best

Question 6 of 9

What is the result when managers withhold information from employees?

You are correct!

It fosters distrust.

Question 7 of 9

A life satisfaction journal can help you relieve stress. What should you enter in the journal?

You are correct!

small items or occurrences that bring you happiness

Question 9 of 9

In addition to social integration and distraction, how does altruism elevate happiness?

You are correct!

It enhances meaning.

Question 1 of 1

In general, different generations have different needs and working styles. This being said, how can you
best engage millennials in a way that will enhance their happiness?

You are correct!

by giving them clear directions and feedback along the way