One has to wonder how often the importance of how ‘happy’ members of their team are, is thought about by managers…probably not very often. When you consider the stats however, it makes business sense to consider what you are doing for your team and your people to create a high performance culture in your unit and organisation -because whether you believe it or not, happy people equals increased profit, and here’s why…

According to Gallup Heathway, employees on a recent US survey who scored low on life satisfaction or happiness have a decrease in productivity by 15 days per annum; and employees who scored high on life satisfaction generate US$21 more in earnings per square foot of space which translated into US$32 million in additional profits.  Google concurs, reporting increased happiness scales in their organisation relating to a 37% rise in sales, 31 % improvement in productivity and a 19 % increase in task accuracy. Furthermore, South Africa ranks 90th out of 156 countries according to the United Nations World Happiness Report.

Makes you think doesn’t it? So how then do you as a manager create a high performance culture?

The work starts at the top. The key motivator of people performance in an organisation is the understanding of ‘why’.  Why am I doing the job I am doing?  This is because people don’t actually care only about the money. To feel motivated and give extra discretionary effort, and thus increase productivity; they have to understand and live their purpose in the organisation.  Is it to create a safer world?  Is it to fundamentally change the way people live, work and play through structures and buildings? Is it to make a tangible difference to the world through creating greener, more environmentally friendly structures? Top management have the responsibility to decide on and communicate this effectively through the rest of the silos in the organisation, working together to live what they preach and creatively and effectively communicate the ‘why’.

Next the top management team need to look at themselves:  how are we working together; what are our strengths, what are our areas of development and how can we become more self-aware so that we can better manage ourselves and ultimately our teams?  And finally, the work filters down to the man on the shop floor – how is he going to feel part of the organisation, involved, values, and effective in creating tangible results?

The bottom line, literally, is that successful organisations are made up of people who understand why they are doing what they are doing; and understand their own potential and constantly perform to realise it. They’re dynamic. They’re positive. And they drive the kind of high business performance that sets your company apart.Given most organisational costs lie in salaries, it makesseriously good business sense to invest in your people.

So the question to ask yourself really is not if you need to do this work with your people…