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 “Happiness is an Inside Job”  William Arthur Ward 

The latest statistics coming out around unhappiness and depression rates are staggering. The World Health Organisation now predicts depression will be the #1 cause of illness by 2016.  It will overtake cancerThey state 45% of workers are unhappy in their jobs and the mean onset age of depression 35 years ago was 29 years old, today it is as low as 14 years old!

Research and study coming out say’s the most successful people are happy first.  Shawn Achor who wrote “Before Happiness” & “The Happiness Advantage – The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology that Fuel Success and Performance at Work” says most people think you are successful first then become happy.

With the statistics saying that 45% of people are unhappy at work – this has to be of major concern to you as an employer.  There must be a way to bring happiness and positivity back into our lives purposefully.

One of these ways is to increase a person’s ability to communicate with others.  Unless you know better, you will interact using your own natural style.  That’s fine of course if the person you’re communicating with is on the same page as you.

But how often have you had employees say something which has been taken out of context and you have had to step in to smooth the waters. Don’t you have better things to do with your time?

Knowing your own natural communication style and that of others dramatically increases happiness, due to lack of conflict. Nearly everyone I have spoken to hates conflict and won’t deal with issues just to avoid this situation. That is unless you are one of those with a more dominant style, who loves a wonderfully robust conversation (they don’t see it as conflict).  To know more about how fine-tuning your communication skills increases your confidence, read my linkedin blog – What do Soft Skills have to do with Confidence.

A few indications of unhappiness in the workplace are when previously productive employees have become withdrawn, stubborn, constantly disorganised or starting to explode on a regular basis.

Yesterday, I received a text message from a Manager I am coaching, she said “Had the two meetings we discussed. One was easy, one more difficult, as expected.  All outcomes positive. Thank you for your support, advice and strategies“.

We had used her Behavioural Profile as a base for how she communicated and how to communicate with her two challenging employees.  Obviously it worked.

Last week I received this text “Please take your magic wand with you everywhere you go.  It calms the waters for mankind (and womankind). Thank you so much! Onwards and upwards”

When you know more about what your natural style is, you start to understand yourself better, communicate more confidently with others and step firmly into that seemly elusive happiness zone.

It’s proven that happy employees are more productive and ultimately the company culture benefits.

To find out more about what behavioural profiling can do for you and your company, click here or contact me directly on glenise.anderson@srgroup.net.au.

Glenise Anderson is a Coach, Trainer and Speaker. Her company SR Group works with businesses wanting to develop their staff. Her company Self Confident Women focuses on Soft Skills training.  The Self Confident Women membership site offers an abundance of e-learning modules for the busy woman.