The Value of Happiness in the Workplace by Patricia Polischuk

Patricia Polischuk is a management consultant based in the Cambridge Waterloo area and sits on the board of directors of the Kitchener-Waterloo YWCA. Recently she visited Fibernetics with a group of human resources leaders to listen to a John Stix speak about the value of happiness in the workplace.
Quite naturally she, along with many other of the experienced attendees were taking the idea that focusing on “happiness” is transformative in a business with a grain of salt. As she put it, “Unfortunately, the term “lip service” comes to mind as time and time again, leaders simply do not walk the talk when it comes to treating people well in the workplace, let alone care about their happiness.”
Yet, after John’s talk and the subsequent question and answer session, hers, along with her compatriots had changed:
[blockquote]”It was wonderful to see a business owner impassioned by meeting the emotional, spiritual, and social needs of his team. It is rare to see this with such incredible energy and focus. And it is paying off in so many ways! By putting your people first, they in turn will put their customers first. This is a commitment to making people’s work lives truly fulfilling.”[/blockquote][blockquote]I wish all business leaders understood and believed in the importance of their people in the way that John does. It’s a huge missed opportunity for everyone (including the shareholders!) that this is not the case.[/blockquote][blockquote]“My thought going into the session was to be open minded. My thought leaving the session was, we need to develop more business leaders who are focused on happiness. This approach could revolutionize how we do business in Canada and put us into a leadership role for employee happiness, participation and corporate profitability.”[/blockquote]

Please read the entire piece HERE.