Engagement and the happiness score

On a ten point scale a one point difference in worker’s trust in management has the same impact on life satisfaction as a one-third change in income. This from an article by Professors Helliwell and Haslam in yesterday’s Vancouver Sun.

One could conclude that companies could save a wack of money by improving levels of trust rather than giving increases – a debate I’m not going to enter into. I’m more interested in the notion of happiness and its positive impact on productivity.

Helliwell and Haslam also point out that happiness increases with a sense of group identity and when we feel we have control over our surroundings.


Intuitively we understand that happy employees are productive employees. Indeed many of the questions we ask when attempting to gauge engagement relate directly to our well-being; Am I heard? Do my opinions count? Does anyone care? Do I contribute to departmental and organizational goals?


We put a great deal of effort into carefully crafted compensation packages – and they are important make no mistake. But I can’t help wondering how much we could increase productivity if we focused more of our efforts on the “happiness” score.