Docstoc is an online destination to start and grow small businesses. It hosts over 20 million professional documents and resources to make small business better.  The user-generated documents cover a wide range of educational, professional, and entertaining topics.  Rochelle Bailis from Quicken Docstoc has some interesting thoughts on employee happiness.

Ulrich Baumgarten via Getty Images
Ulrich Baumgarten via Getty Images
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As 2014 draws to a close and you look back on the year in work, were you happy—were your employees happy?   Bailis writes the reality is that happiness is a fickle, finite, precious and elusive resource that will naturally ebb and flow throughout a worker's career.  She says you will never be able to make every single employee happy all the time, but by understanding their motivations (even the ones they might not even fully understand themselves), a boss may be able to collectively increase the happiness of the team.

Better than an office party or bonus check, an appreciation for and application of the following tips may be the best gifts you give this Christmas season.

1. Stress costs 7x more than bad customer service
Stress is the nation's most underestimated business expense -- it costs American businesses $300 billion every single year. To put that number in perspective, it's over seven times more expensive than the cost of bad customer service.

2. Air conditioning can cause loneliness
Studies show that being physically cold can lead to increased feelings of isolation, without the individual being aware of this connection. Meanwhile, a burst of physical warmth has the power to reduce feelings of rejection.

3. Hourly employees are happier than salaried ones
Researchers theorize this discrepancy might be due to hourly workers' focus on the concrete "worth" of their time each paycheck.

4. A noisy office can trigger survival hormones
Even though some people claim to enjoy a workplace that's abuzz with activity, a study reveals that loud workplaces raise levels of adrenaline, whether or not employees report being bothered by the noise. Prolonged exposure can negatively affect employee motivation and health.

5. The #1 reason employees leave isn't money or a promotion
Although many workers decide to leave their jobs for a growth opportunity or a higher salary, a study of more than 10,000 employees revealed that their primary reason for leaving was actually to escape work-related stress.

6. Optimal levels of employee motivation are achieved when they are challenged
Everyone knows that workers prefer to work in a goal-oriented and challenging environment. Studies reveal that in order to achieve the highest levels of motivation and satisfaction, an individual's task must be difficult yet achievable, and be both perceived as a challenge and objectively be a challenge (based on their skill level). The ability to properly assign and delegate these perfect challenges, of course, falls on a great leader.

7. Flexible schedules unequivocally boost satisfaction and performance
Everyone appreciates having a flexible schedule, but it goes beyond simply making employees happy. Employees whose work schedules conflict with their family priorities are three times as likely to quit their jobs, and there are countless examples of successful companies (big and small) that noticed significant reductions in costs when they offered schedule flexibility.

8. Breaking up the day with physical activity can improve your productivity
We all know working out is good for us, but studies show that breaking up the day with any sort of physical activity, no matter the intensity or duration, can improve performance when it comes to increasing output, managing time-sensitive demands and generally being more tolerant of co-workers and yourself. While most of us refer to exercise as a "mood booster" the study surprisingly concludes that productivity is even more positively affected by midday exercise than mood.

9. Employee commuting is directly linked to worse health
We all know commuting is a bad thing, but most employers are unaware of how directly it affects their business. The American Journal of Preventative Medicine found that the further people commute, the higher their body mass index and blood pressure, which can adversely affect healthcare costs. Employees who commute get sick more often, and unbeknownst to many, about 5 million workers call in sick every year simply because they can't handle the stress of their commute. While commuting is usually unavoidable, consider offsetting some of the stress by allowing commuters more flexible work schedules (see #6) so that they can work around the traffic.

10. Office layout matters
while everyone needs a semblance of private space to get work done, studies find that being within close walking distance to other employees and having fewer physical barriers (which act as deterrents for conversation) is critical for increasing impromptu and face-to-face employee interaction. These exchanges are essential for employee job satisfaction, collaboration, commitment to a business, communication and overall productivity.

 

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