Focus on Employee Happiness to Foster Work Productivity

This week is National Workplace Wellness Week, so it's only appropriate to examine how managers can foster work productivity by focusing on employee happiness. Many managers mistakenly think that prioritizing employee happiness entails coddling and compliments, but really, it's about putting your team in the right environment for them to do their best work.

Happiness has a direct effect on productivity. Happy workers raise sales by 37 percent, boost their own productivity by 31 percent and improve task accuracy by 19 percent. These are significant numbers, especially when you consider that over 80 percent of Americans aren't happy with their jobs. Fast Company points out that a fully engaged U.S. workforce would add another $300 billion in productivity.

How can you focus on employee happiness this week? Here are a few ideas:

• Adopt a management style that enables efficiency
• Consider incentives that promote engagement
• Reduce employee stress
• Shake up routine with initiatives that encourage innovation
• Proactively protect employees' downtime
• Stay positive
• Foster an achievement culture
• Exercise
• Use peer-driven reward systems
• Incentivize healthy habits