
Business at the Speed of Happiness
Keeping your best talent in our competitive marketplace
By Stephen Garber
โWhen I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school they asked me what I want to be when I grew up. I wrote down โhappy.โ They told me I didnโt understand the assignment, and I told them they didnโt understand life.โ
โ Attributed (apocryphally) to musician John Lennon
In most of our businesses and organizations, our model, our โunique selling proposition,โ our service, or our โtechnologyโ is not our differentiator. Itโs the quality of our people and how they relate and communicate with each other and the world around themโour stakeholders and our customersโthat determines our success.
Attracting and keeping great people is the pathway to sustainable success. And itโs a very challenging market out there for notable talent, particularly in South Florida.
โManagement,โ as a concept, often seems complicated, sophisticated and even obtuse. โLeadershipโ is even more esoteric, and harder to qualify and quantify. Theyโre both about understanding human motivation, and what makes people happy. As Abraham Maslow taught us in his 1943 hierarchy of needs, once our basic needs (wellness and safety) are met, itโs the higher needs of love, esteem and growth that keep us motivatedโand happy.
Assuming your people are healthyโand working in a healthy environmentโand theyโre receiving a fair compensation for their contribution to your organizationโs success, creating an environment of โlikeableโ and โhappyโ is the best way to keep your best people engaged and loyal.
The Association of Accounting Technicians in the United Kingdom did research that was absolute in its result: Good colleagues beat high pay: Eight in 10 workers would turn down a higher salary if it meant working with people they didnโt like.
Happy people make delighted customers, which make happy shareholders. Theyโre all people.
When you look deeply into Apple, Google, Zappos and other hugely successful, standout companies, youโll find they nearly all have something in common that helps separate them and keep them soaring. From the bottom to the top of the organization, their people:
โข Are passionately engaged advocates for their business.
โข Understand what the business strategy is, and their part in delivering it.
โข Go above and beyond what theyโre paid to do.
โข Have an emotional engagement with the business, the product and with their client or customer.
โข They are happy whereโand with whomโthey work.
This is what separates the mundane from the good. And, more important, the good from the great.
On the flip side, the cost of having a disengaged culture is hugeโprobably a lot larger than you realize. Factoring absenteeism, low morale, poor customer service, lost sales, lost long-term customers โฆ the costs of unhappy people are obvious.
The most important business and leadership objective for sustaining business growth is to attract, retain and grow great peopleโand keep them happy.
Are you happy at work? Do you help others be happy? It is the direct path to so many rewards in business and life.โฆ
Stephen Garber is director of Third Level Ltd. Contact him at 561.752.5505 or sgarber@thirdlevel.com.