The Truth About Getting the Best From People

Chapter 12. Employee happiness is serious business

Is it really your job as a manager to worry about whether employees are happy? If you only care about bodies showing up and just pushing buttons and levers all day without special thought behind quality or safety, their happiness is irrelevant. If your high turnover is acceptable, employee happiness isn’t essential. If you can tolerate vandalism or workplace violence, go ahead and skip this chapter.

Employee happiness isn’t a nice-to-do. It’s a must-do.

Let’s say, however, you prefer a workplace where people get along, voluntarily help each other, think independently and creatively, take safety practices personally, show up dependably, and take pride in the company they work for. Then employee happiness ...