Happy employees - happy workplaces

When employees experience job satisfaction, it makes a big difference to their motivation to do their job. That's why workplaces with happy employees are more efficient and go further than workplaces where job satisfaction is not as high. But how do you increase job satisfaction? What can you do to increase your own and your colleagues' job satisfaction?

Interaction across competencies

You may not have the same core competencies in the same team. But it's all about finding your own core competencies to make the most of your potential. If we all know each other's core competencies, we can seek help from the right person and play off each other's strengths. This creates a harmony in the team where everyone is seen by each other and can use each other.

In addition to knowing each other's skills and working well together as a team, having influence also increases job satisfaction. This applies to both the small tasks you have to do yourself and decisions that are made higher up in the hierarchy.

Participation and empowerment are important factors that managers or other decision-makers should be aware of so they can make informed decisions.

Recognition and job satisfaction - two sides of the same coin

Recognition is also a factor that is hugely important for increasing job satisfaction. If you feel that you are seen, heard and recognized for the work you do, motivation increases. It doesn't cost anything to show recognition. So don't hesitate to approach your colleague to show interest in his or her projects or praise them for the energy you've noticed they put into a task. There is nothing more demotivating than putting a lot of time and energy into a task if you feel it is unimportant or unnoticed.

The employee who has strong relationships with his colleagues and feels that they understand what his contribution has done for the solution of a task and recognize his work effort, experiences a much higher job satisfaction than employees who are not recognized.

We look for things that make us happy. So if work doesn't make us happy, we're more likely to look for other opportunities. In other words, workplaces need to provide a good working environment with happy employees in order to retain them.

Read also about workplace assessment - also known as APV.