Is striving for employee happiness critical to the success of your organization?

Maybe not, according to new data from Leadership IQ, a research and management consulting firm. Their research demonstrates that “corporate cultures pushing happiness actually have lower engagement scores than more competitive and challenging cultures.”

“Now wait just a minute,” you’re probably thinking. “Don’t happy employees translate into more productive and motivated employees?”

Not necessarily, according to the research. It shows that the happiest employees act more selfishly, have a hard time defending their opinions, and are less creative.

This does not mean miserable employees = high productivity and great results. It just means that instead of presuming that happy employees will produce positive results, employers should focus on enabling and empowering employees to achieve more. And when employees are able to do so, then happiness and fulfillment follows.

In other words, according to Leadership IQ, many employers have the formula backwards. Rather than happy employees = positive results, it should be achievements + positive results = happy employees.

What about you? Do you think the research is right on? Or, in your experience, do you believe that when employees are happy, then they in turn produce positive results? As a leading staffing services firm in Florin, we want to know what you think!