Building Small Business Growth Through Happy Employees [Video]

4 Steps to Building an Internal Employer Brand that encourages happier employees

Many small and medium sized business owners’ work tirelessly to build their business.  Hours can be long, and problems can cause sleepless nights.  And yet, sometimes all that work is not enough to help a business succeed and grow. Sometimes all that hard work just keeps the business afloat and, while keeping a business afloat is an accomplishment in and of itself, being able to create a workplace that succeeds above the margins is the goal of most business owners. We often hear about the importance of ‘happiness’ in the workplace. Unfortunately when a business leader or management team is working hard solving problems the idea of prioritizing happiness can end up on the back burner.  But research has demonstrated that a workplace that includes creating  ‘happiness’ can be a very successful workplace. Have you ever seen Happiness Guru and psychologist Shawn Achor’s famous TEDtalk about happiness at work? This video is one of the most watched TED talk videos of all time. If you have not watched it yet set aside 12 minutes and 20 seconds of your day to check it out Shawn Anchor The Happy Secret to Better Work

Branding a Happy Workplace

Employer branding is a fancy way of saying that you have clarity about the type of workplace you want to create and that you are actively disseminating your desired clarity to gain buy in from your employees. Recently Shawn Achor linked up with a small telecom company called Fibernetics. The co-founder and President of Fibernetics, John Stix had a desire to build an organizational atmosphere that encouraged workplace happiness because he believed that it is part of a winning strategy to success. In 2013, amid modest growth, Stix tells that he got the feeling that things were not going as well as they could be. He felt that some of the spark had gone out at work as the company had grown and he wanted to find a way to help his business grow again.Fast forward two years later the company has seen a month-over-month growth in business. According to Stix, Fibernetics is retaining over 99% of their customers every month, whereas the typical retention for other Internet phone and data service providers is 84% per month.He attributes that in part to the outstanding customer services his happy employees are providing. In September 2015, John Stix presented the keynote speech in Las Vegas at the #15 Impact conference, a conference attended annually by North America’s Business Leaders and Marketers. At the conclusion of his speech he received what was described as the first standing ovation for a keynote in the conference’s history. How did Fibernetics go from a small telecom provider losing steam to a growing business seen as a leader in workplace culture? Their leaders recognized a need, went into action and recognized the value of creating a happy workplace for the people they employed.

4 steps to transforming your workplace into a Happier place:

Step 1  – Actively Look for Opportunities to Strengthen the Workplace In 2013 when Fibernetics co-founder John Stix looked around his workplace and felt that innovation, fun and passion had been slipping away.  He began talking to his co-founder and members of his team and discovered that he was not alone in this feeling. With this realization he began a personal quest to find how he could turn the situation around. He researched the factors that contributed to successful workplaces so he could better understand what he could do to improve the productivity of his employees. As a business owner you are personally responsible for addressing the weaknesses in your organization. Taking the pulse of the organization on a regular interval is a very important step In building success. Your personal responsibility involves taking time to identify weaknesses, then challenge yourself to understand the problems and seek ways to find solutions, including internally or externally. You do not have to undertake this alone, but you do have to embrace the responsibility to ensure it is done. To take an organization to another level someone in leadership needs to be open to identifying opportunities for improvement including personally challenging yourself to see find and be open to the information you find. Then as a leader you are able to tap into the resources, either internally or externally, required to make changes. Step 2 – Tap into Your Resources After taking time to better understand the challenges and potential solutions for his workplace Stix felt it was time to bring his leadership team together.  In conjunction with his leadership team he held a workshop to find solutions to the problem.Depending on the size of your organization this may involve a few people or many and it may also involve bringing in an outside consultant who can offer an objective view of the problem and ideas for potential solutions. As a leader you do not need to have all the answers but you do have to ask the question you need to get the answers. Be prepared to consult with others and use your research to formulate next steps. Step 3 – Build an Internal Business Brand Emerging from the leadership meetings at Fibernetics were motivational ideas with practical steps. The changes did not focus on policies and procedures, new technology, pay raises, cutting the bottom 10% of performers and so on but they did involve many tangible changes. The key changes focussed on the way the company related to the employees and the employees related to their work, one another and the company. Among the ideas implemented at Fibernetics was the development of a new motto – the ‘Im In’ employer brand. This employer brand was accompanied by a statement of core values that included “innovation; accountability; just do it and find a solution; trust; teamwork and happiness”. Taking the time to derive an internal brand may seem like a waste of time and money when money and time are finite commodities. Yet research shows us that when people work towards a common goal and feel involved in achieving the goal they simply perform better. If a shared focus can be communicated around a clear brand and this can act as a motivating and clarifying step the time and resources spent will be worth it. Step 4  – Strong Implementation Many organizations talk about making changes and may make incremental changes. Real change does take time and often many steps, lasting and fundamental changes are not made quietly or passively. Fibernetics rolled out their changes at a celebratory Gala involving all employees to kick off the shared experience of building a company where employees and their happiness mattered. The company then made changes to the way they operated, from cosmetic changed to colours they painted on the walls to the weekly celebrations designed to encourage fun and happiness in the workplace. The change included a change in attitude and focus on people as a valuable collaborator who mattered. Fibernetics also connected with another company, Plasticity Labs (formerly ‘The Smile Epidemic’) to implement a workplace intercompany social network to encourage happiness and engagement (and help keep track of both). Since implementing their changes Fibernetics has grow by 50% over the past couple of years.  While many factors may have contributed to this growth Stix believes that the emphasis on a shared vision and employee happiness are contributing factors to his companies success. Is Fibernetics a perfect company with 100% happy employees? Certainly not but they are working on building a brand that values workplace happiness and a first step is a good start in a journey. Create a shared vision with your employees that demonstrates to them that they are valued contributors who have a responsibility to buy into your vision, a vision that includes both hard work and efforts to create happiness in the workplace. You do not need to reinvent the wheel when applying this strategy to your workplace. You can read more about Fibernetics partnership with Shawn Achor in the article on the company website John Stix Announces Strategic Partnership in Canada with Shawn Achor. You can also learn more about John Stix at JohnStix.ca and find out more about Plasticity labs employee engagement software.

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