Introduction
Since the 2000s, special attention has been devoted to the study of employee happiness, in particular, its causes and relationship with other factors. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first empirical study that investigates the association between the employee’s happiness and performance, through a rationale of the individual’s level of income, job satisfaction, workplace environment, and spirituality. The premise upon which the research was built suggests that a high level of employee satisfaction at a workplace leads to improved performance (Bakan & Buyukbese, 2013), posing a series of research questions in this study. To which extent is emotional wellness related to employee performance? What is the relationship between spirituality and employee happiness? In the holistic assessment of employee satisfaction, does the workplace environment and individual’s level of income equally contribute to one’s decision to stay with the company?
To assess the workers’ attitudes toward their company, a self-report close-ended survey, consisting of 77 questions, was administered. The instrument included several adapted inventories, such as items of flexible working hours (Abid & Barech, 2017), items of promotion, rewards, recognition, and relationship with peers and supervisors (Saks, 2006), items of income (Bakan & Buyukbese, 2013), items of workplace environment (Bangwal & Tiwari, 2019), and others. The data collected were analyzed with regards to the five demographic variables, including the respondent’s age, gender, highest educational level, years with the organization, and current position. When evaluating the participants’ answers, the author aimed at testing the expectation that the overall higher levels of employee wellness result in increased performance and higher satisfaction with the job. Considering the fact that employee happiness became one of the most common corporate objectives recently, the findings of this study will redound to the benefit of a large portion of the population. The higher demand for employee retention justifies the need for more effective HR practices in staffing, recruiting, and coordinating employees’ relationships with the company. Thus, businesses who incorporate the recommendations, derived from the study, will be able to increase their employee happiness and performance.
Discussion of the Results
Demographics
A sample of 150 voluntarily chosen participants for the study had an approximately equal distribution in terms of gender: 46.4% (females) and 53.6% (males). The majority of the respondents (53%) were aged 30 to 40 years old; nearly 1/5 was 41 to 50; and 1/8 – was younger than 30. Less than 10% of the participants aged 51 to 60, leaving a minority of 3% to the elderly respondents (61 and above).
With regards to the demographic variables, 39.2 % had a Bachelor’s degree, with the equivalent number of 39.9% holding a Master’s. Approximately 1/10 of the respondents did not specify their degree, choosing “diploma” as an answer. Less than 5% claimed a high school education, while 7% received a Ph.D. The most commonly enlisted positions included supervisor (22.3%), manager (19.6%), head of the department (18.2%), and sub-ordinate (16.9%). The rest of the jobs were mentioned once or twice, having no significance for the composition of the demographic status of the sample.
The final demographic variable evaluated the length of the employee’s stay with the company. Nearly 1/3 of the respondents reported working for the business for 5 to 10 years, another third of the participants listed 11 to 15 years with the company. 16.4% stayed for less than five years, whereas 12.5% remained loyal to their organization for 25 years. The overall composition of the sample suggests that an average respondent is a middle-aged man or woman, with an MA degree, working in an administrative position, and staying with the company for approximately ten years.
Flexible Hours Inventory
With the recent changes in financial, political, and economic conditions of an average employee, both males and females seek flexible working schedules to meet their personal and professional goals. The flexible hour’s inventory, adapted from Abid and Barech (2017), assesses the attitudes of the employees and supervisors to flexible hours. It also measures the extent to which the subordinate feels comfortable in addressing the work schedule issues directly to his supervisor.
Table 1: Flexible hours inventory
The detailed distribution of the respondents’ answers is presented in Table 1. All components of the inventory share a tendency, wherein approximately 1/5 of the employees react negatively (strongly disagree/disagree) to the proposed statements. According to Abid and Barech (2017), an employee’s inability to choose flexible working hours sufficiently decreases his labor capacity, lessens productivity, creativity, and increases the rate of absenteeism, illness, and anxiety. Up to 1/4 of the respondents demonstrated neutral attitudes toward flexible working schedules, which may signify their simultaneous desire to choose convenient working patterns and fear to spoil managerial relationships (Abid & Barech, 2017). The majority of the participants (52-55%) self-reported confident affirmative position toward flexible hours. The findings of Abid and Barech (2017) are supported by Bangwal and Tiwari (2019), who suggested that ownership over one’s working schedule, leads to a better workplace environment. Less stress, improved quality of life, and better health – all together increase employees’ performance and encourage them to stay with the company.
Inventory of Income and Workplace Environment
Adapted from Bakan and Buyukbese (2013), this brief section assessed employees’ attitudes toward their income. Less than half of the respondents appear to be generally satisfied with their payment in comparison to the average salary in the industry, their working conditions, and current qualifications. According to Bakan and Buyukbese (2013), there is a strong association between the employee’s level of income and overall happiness. However, further studies need to be conducted to understand what aspect motivates individuals more: social security or the value of money itself.
Adapted from Bangwal and Tiwari (2012), the inventory of workplace environment evaluated physical and emotional comfort in the office, including confidentiality, adequate access to light, and outside view. Approximately 75% of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that the physical conditions of their workplace are satisfactory. Only half of the respondents, however, reported a favorable emotional component, which, according to Bangwal and Tiwari (2019) leads to employee dissatisfaction and low retention rates.
Inventory of Employee Spirituality and Emotional Wellness
Developed based on Daniel’s (2012) work, this inventory considers the effect of moral ethics and emotional well-being on employee performance. The majority of the respondents (up to 80%, dependent on the question) reported high agreeability toward statements concerning the need for helping others, accepting responsibility for one’s actions, and being honest. As explained by Daniel (2012), lack of such qualities in the individual frequently results in the employees’ dealignment with the organizational values and lack of belonging. In such a situation, neither the company nor the worker benefits from the job, falling under the apprehension of one’s moral principles.
Inventory of Promotion, Rewards, Recognition, and Relationship with Peers and Supervisors
The inventory examines employees’ attitudes toward promotion, rewards, and recognition. It also analyzes patterns in the relationships between supervisors and subordinates. A quantitative summary of the survey is provided in Tables 2 and 3. Approximately 25 to 30% of the respondents reported a lack of skill variety and recognition, little freedom at the workplace, and little or no praise. According to Saks (2006), such negativity in responses predicts low job engagement and lack of work motivation. The vast majority of the respondents (ranging from 50 to 60%, dependent on the questions) demonstrated satisfaction in the current system of employee encouragement. As suggested by Saks (2006), to increase these rates, managers should provide their subordinates with social support, praise, and possibilities for professional development. Thus, an adequate level of assistance, combined with recognition, improves employees’ willingness to work.
Generally, employees reported a high level of satisfaction with their relationships with peers and supervisors. More than 2/3 of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the positive statements regarding the degree of trust, teamwork, and reliability of their colleagues. As suggested by Otoo, F. N. K., Otoo, E. A., Abledu, and Bhardwaj (2019), advanced HRD practices positively influence employee performance, leading to higher employee happiness. In this situation, HRD practices refer to performance-based bonuses, a safe working environment, and the possibility for mutual feedback between supervisors and subordinates.
Table 2:Inventory of promotion, rewards, and recognition
Table 3: Inventory of relationship with peers and supervisors
Inventory of Employee Performance and Performance Appraisal
Adapted from Pahos and Galanaki (2018), the inventory of employee performance mainly assesses the association between staffing practices and employees’ self-evaluation of their work. Most of the respondents (55 to 80%) report a high level of agreeability toward their performance, meaning that they are satisfied with their current qualifications
and work ethics. According to Pahos and Galanaki (2018), high levels of satisfaction with one’s performance increase employees’ engagement and contribute to their overall wellness. To achieve such results in the workplace, managers should follow the guidelines, discussed in the inventory, on recognition, praise, and rewards.
Employees’ self-evaluation of performance is closely connected to the performance appraisal. The aforementioned statement is supported by the results of the inventory, wherein approximately 2/3 of the respondents indicated satisfactory levels of performance-based feedback, objectivity, and appraisal systems in the workplace. According to Otoo et al. (2019), proper HRD practices do not only influence employee performance in the short term but also form their overall perception of self as a part of the organization. To accommodate the process of performance appraisal, managers may use rankings, checklists, and 360-degree feedback.
Conclusions
Analysis of the aforementioned inventories, along with the support of earlier academic studies, provides a sustainable basis to argue that employees’ happiness and performance are heavily associated with individuals’ level of income, workplace environment, and job satisfaction. The majority of the respondent who reported adequate levels of emotional wellness and spirituality showed higher productivity and employee engagement. Furthermore, proper performance appraisal contributed to employees’ formation of the self in the company. Inventories used in the study proved to be valid for the consistence of short, precise, and clear statements. The questions allowed to assess the participants’ level of happiness from a variety of perspectives: physical and emotional comfort, motivation, financial stability, social relationships, and others.
Recommendations
To increase one’s happiness in the workplace, managers should follow a set of guidelines derived from the study. First, employees are likely to work more efficiently when given an opportunity to create their schedules. Second, adequate levels of physical and emotional comfort are vital to one’s labor capacity. Apart from the nurturing climate in the workplace, workers are highly motivated with sufficient salary and social compensations. Third, managers are advised to praise their employees and recognize their achievements both in a tangible and non-tangible manner. Finally, the key to individuals’ productivity lies in trustworthy relationships with supervisors and colleagues, with a possibility for mutual feedback, equity, and fairness.