A major study by Oxford University confirms what employers have always suspected but never definitively proved: a happy workforce creates higher productivity – a 13 per cent increase, in fact.
Capturing such a boost could add billions of dollars to Australian companies’ combined profits; however, happiness is such a subjective and nebulous concept that the way forward can seem far from clear.
According to the study, which followed the weekly feelings of 1793 workers in one of Britain’s biggest telecoms over a six-month period, even the daily weather had an impact on happiness and productivity.
Still, workers who reported being happy achieved a remarkable increase in sales. The report calculated that a 2.4-point increase in happiness on a zero-to-10 scale “leads to around a 30 per cent increase in sales”.
Meaning and purpose makes for happy workers
Making Australia a land of happy workplaces appears a daunting task, given the findings of a survey of more than 1200 workers across a broad range of ages, industries and locations by one of Australia’s leading job websites, SEEK.
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Almost half of the employees (45 per cent) were unhappy at work, according to the survey, but there was one clear factor driving job satisfaction – having a meaningful purpose. Participants considered purpose more important than work-life balance or how much they were paid, which ranked only eighth and ninth respectively. Other factors involved their manager, day-to-day responsibilities, company culture and stress levels.
“What’s quite revealing in this index is that having a meaningful purpose, followed by a great manager has a bigger impact on workplace happiness than money and job security,” SEEK’s head of customer insights and strategy, Aimee Hutton, said.
“It’s uncovered a clear opportunity for employees and employers alike to consider ways to drive greater fulfilment and connection at work.”
One obvious approach to the problem is hiring the right people for the job, making sure their temperament, aspirations and abilities suit the position on offer, thus increasing the likelihood of them being happy and successful in the position.
As a result, major Australian companies are using external assistance to make the appropriate employment decisions. One such adviser, Ploomo, describes itself as a “predictable attitude-finding hiring system”.
The team at Australian loan provider Bizcap, which has embraced data-driven hiring while expanding at pace over the last six years.
The Bizcap approach
Australian loan provider Bizcap leverages the external adviser’s data-driven placement system to hire the right people and has achieved remarkable growth by expanding into six countries in six years.
Bizcap’s chief revenue officer, Rebecca del Rio, says the system enables the company “to better understand what we need and who it aligns with, and to avoid echo chambers, by hiring people from different backgrounds, perspectives and experiences”.
Bizcap chief revenue officer, Rebecca del Rio.
“We can remove bias right at the start with an anonymised, systematic and data-driven approach focused on learning about a person and who they are, rather than using a CV as the first and only way.
“We integrate psychometric testing to identify how individuals would fit with the team they are joining and to ensure we celebrate diversity of thought and pre-empt potential communication or perspective style challenges.
“This has seen the percentage of new hires passing probation increase by 11 per cent in two years, which, given the rate we’re scaling at, is a very meaningful data point for us. We’ve gone from 90 to 150 employees in the past 12 months.”
Bizcap says creating a happy workforce has been key to its remarkable growth, enabling it to launch into six countries in six years while continuing to expand.
Bizcap co-founder, Abraham White.
“We care for and value our people, and a lot of careful planning and effort has gone into understanding and investing in them,” says Bizcap co-founder Abraham White.
“We launched in Australia in 2019, and building a more productive and happier workplace has played a crucial role in allowing us to expand into New Zealand, the UK, Singapore and Luxembourg within six years, with Germany now under way.”
Culture underpins corporate ambition
Underpinning Bizcap’s attractive product – giving small to medium-sized enterprises fast and easy access to flexible loans – is foundational to its success, but the company says it has been able to scale at speed without losing what makes it a great place to work.
It uses daily sentiment tracking and engagement data to identify workplace difficulties before they escalate, so rather than waiting for complaints or annual reviews, managers can check in, listen and act before challenges become problems.
“This gives managers clear visibility over their team’s engagement and morale,” del Rio says. “It allows them to identify challenges in real time and take immediate action.
“If an individual’s engagement trends downward, it’s not ignored, it’s addressed by one-on-one support, coaching or role adjustments depending on the circumstances.”
A carefully structured approach to HR has resulted in Bizcap surveys showing 91 per cent of its employees agree that managers treat everyone fairly, and a 68 per cent reduction in staff turnover in the past two years.
