Happiness is a priority in Dubai
The Government has rolled out many programs to promote the happiness and well-being of employees and to establish empowering and productive workplaces that base their day-to-day operations on meaningful relationships.
So how is the idea of a happy workplace realised? The answer is –trust. Trust is at the heart of a happy workplace. When the employees trust their colleagues they put their faith in the organisation. This will lead to a sense of pride towards their organisation and hence an overall happy workplace is created. However, it is important that this trust originates in the management’s credibility and accountability and ripples down from there to the employees and teams.
How to make happiness at workplace possible?
Credibility: Credibility comes from a nurtured feeling of trust between an employer and an employee – it is the feeling an employee has towards his management. If an employee thinks of his/her employee as believable and trustable credibility is built. It is built through years of practicing effective communication, and moderating direct straightforward operations like having employees’ ideas welcomed with an open-door strategy, employees understand the organisation’s objective clearly, credible decisions and no fake promises on the end of the employees. For this, it is also important to have clear work regulations in place with an emphasis on the importance of being honest and straightforward.
Respect: Respect is measured by how much the employee feels respected and appreciated from the management by showing support, team collaboration, and caring practices. And this can be achieved through effective team building, elimination of any racist acts with strict organisational regulations, no discrimination and caring for employees.
Fairness: Fairness is all about providing equal workplace opportunities to employee with fair distribution of workloads, just decisions in case of disputes, and openness to employee complaints and suggestions.
Pride: Once the employee feels the management’s credibility, is appreciated, and treated with justice, he/she gains the fourth aspect – pride. In order to maintain an employee’s pride in working for a certain organisation, employers need to promote pride in each employee’s job and deliver a sense of value for what they are doing.
How to boost operational efficiency and employees productivity
Previously, we touched upon the ways to create a happy workplace with cues from Dubai government’s A Guide to Happiness & Well-being in the Workplace. Now I will talk about how this can boost operational efficiency and employees’ productivity.
First, a happy workplace boosts employees’ productivity to the maximum. According to a study, happy workers are 13 percent more productive than the ones who are not satisfied with their jobs and workplaces.
Second, it ignites sales and deals. In a happy workplace, healthy competitiveness pushes different teams to achieve better targets at work. This is a win-win situation because you will have higher profitability and they win their rewards.
Third, it highlights corporate image. When you’re moderating a happy workplace, you’ll enhance an organisation’s branding, minimise turnover, and maximise talent acquisitions because simply everyone wants to work for you.
Fourth, it promotes employees’ well-being physically and mentally. A workforce is your capital and maintaining their well-being is a crucial aspect to keep going on. A happy workplace is a stress-free space that does not cause any physical or mental imbalance for employees.
Finally, building a happy workplace is just like building a home. There are ups and downs but what matters is that your workplace gets the best out of each family member.
Alaa Elmongy is Senior Account Executive at Cicero & Bernay Communication Consultancy, an independent PR agency headquartered in Dubai offering new-age public relations consultancy to the UAE and across the MENA region. | www.cbpr.me