How to Succeed? Make Employees Happy

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1818183,00.html

by smanek • 18 years ago

17 6 18 years ago

icey2• 18 years ago

Has anyone seen any data to back this up? This seems like the sort of assertion that would be quantifiable - Every company seems to have its own internal satisfaction surveys; and external sources have been doing employee happiness surveys for years.

kylec• 18 years ago

In my opinion, if you're making employees fill out surveys about their happiness, you're doing it wrong. What's needed is a culture where employees don't just follow policy but help shape it as well. Contributions met with positive feedback beget more contribution, and everyone feels as though they have a say in how things are done.

Of course, not every idea is good. Instead of ignoring or dismissing the idea, explain its flaws and ask them to present a revised idea that addresses those points.

icey2• 18 years ago

I didn't do a good job making my point. I'm not interested in having my employees fill out surveys at all. I'm curious as to whether or not someone has actually done any studies with regards to the claim that happy employees equates to successful companies.

If a correlation can be made, then it validates the foosball tables and Wii that seem to be ubiquitous in startups these days.

Otherwise, it seems like the article is saying "these two guys have successful companies because their employees are happy"; versus the conventional wisdom that successful companies tend to have happier employees than unsuccessful ones. In other words, correlation does not equal causality.

prakash• 18 years ago

Here's the link to the full interview:

http://time-blog.com/curious_capitalist/2008/06/former_house...

zurla• 18 years ago

"That's a little like saying the purpose of religion isn't to achieve salvation" -- more quality journalism from Time

How to Succeed? Make Employees Happy

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