Why Joy is the secret ingredient to high performing cultures

Unlike happiness which can be fleeting, joy tends to be more profound and lasting. Joy is a deep and intense feeling of happiness and contentment. It is a positive emotional state characterised by a sense of inner fulfilment. Joy can stem from various sources such as achievements, relationships, acts of kindness, or moments of serenity and beauty.

By building a culture of joy and positivity, you create a workplace where employees feel valued, motivated, and empowered to contribute their best efforts towards achieving common goals. This, in turn, leads to improved business performance, employee well-being, and sustained success over the long term. Ultimately, a sense of joy among employees contributes to the overall success and growth of your business. Happy and motivated employees are key assets in driving productivity, innovation, and customer satisfaction, essential elements for achieving business objectives and maintaining a competitive advantage in the market, companies with happy employees outperform the competition by 20%. (Source: Gallup, "State of the American Workplace" report). 

Let’s get more into the specifics about joyful high performing cultures; 

Joyful employees are more motivated and engaged in their work, leading to higher levels of productivity. When employees experience joy at work, they are more likely to perform tasks efficiently and effectively. Happy employees are 12% more productive than their less happy counterparts (University of Warwick study, 2015). 

A joyful work environment creates higher job satisfaction. When employees feel happy and fulfilled at work, they are more likely to stay with the company long-term, reducing turnover rates, increasing productivity, reducing the associated hiring costs and building positive sentiment to your employer brand. Happy employees are 85% more likely to stay with their current employer (SnackNation, The State of Workplace Happiness) and therefore have a 31% lower turnover rate (Gallup, "State of the American Workplace" report). 

Joyful employees are more likely to be creative and innovative. Teams with higher levels of happiness and psychological safety are more likely to experiment and innovate (Google, "Project Aristotle" study). When individuals feel positive and enthusiastic, they are more open to exploring new ideas, taking risks, and thinking outside the box, which can lead to innovative solutions, business growth and ultimately high performing cultures. 

When employees feel joyful and valued, they are more likely to treat customers with empathy, patience, and enthusiasm, ultimately enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. Happy employees positively impact customer experiences, customer retention rates are 18% higher on average when employees are highly engaged (IBM, "The Employee Experience Index" report).  

Joyful employees tend to have better relationships with colleagues. A positive work environment characterised by joy encourages collaboration, effective communication, and mutual support among team members. 

Joyful workplaces contribute to a healthier and more inclusive organisational culture, happy employees take 66% fewer sick days (Towers Watson). When joy is prioritised, it builds trust, respect, and a sense of belonging among employees, leading to a more harmonious and supportive work environment. 

The tangible benefits of weaving a thread of joy into your culture and Employee Value Proposition include productivity, employee and customer retention, customer satisfaction, innovation, and ultimately maximising the value out of your people to land overall business success.  

Who can argue that a little bit of Joy isn’t going to boost your employee experience and organisational performance? 

Joy Coaching and Consulting offers personal, team and executive coaching, leadership development and culture consultancy in Poole, Bournemouth, London, and across the UK. We also can happily deliver all our work online, for remote and hybrid teams.