As we celebrate Happiness at Work Week 2025, it’s worth asking: are we measuring what actually matters? Most businesses track revenue, productivity, and profit margins obsessively. But there’s one metric that influences all of these – and it’s often overlooked: employee engagement through workplace happiness.
The numbers tell a compelling story. Organisations with high employee engagement see better retention, higher productivity, and stronger financial performance. But here’s what many business leaders miss: engagement isn’t driven by perks or ping pong tables. It’s driven by genuine happiness at work.
If you’re serious about building a successful business in 2025 and beyond, it’s time to start treating happiness as the success metric it deserves to be.
Employee engagement isn’t just about whether people show up to work. It’s about whether they’re genuinely invested in what they’re doing, connected to their colleagues, and committed to your organisation’s success.
And here’s the crucial link: you can’t have truly engaged employees without workplace happiness. They’re not separate concepts – they’re intrinsically connected.
What the research shows:
Research consistently demonstrates that happier employees are more engaged, more productive, and more likely to stay with their employer. Whilst we should be cautious about treating correlation as causation, the link between happiness and performance is difficult to ignore.
Why happiness drives engagement:
Traditional success metrics – revenue, profit margins, quarterly growth – are important. But they’re lagging indicators. By the time these numbers decline, your problems are already severe.
Employee engagement and happiness are leading indicators. They predict future performance and give you time to course-correct before financial metrics suffer.
Tangible business benefits:
Replacing an employee typically costs between 50-200% of their annual salary when you account for recruitment, onboarding, and lost productivity. Engaged, happy employees simply stay longer.
Study after study suggests that happiness correlates with improved performance. Whether it’s faster task completion, better quality work, or increased innovation, the productivity benefits are measurable.
Engaged employees deliver better customer service. It’s straightforward logic: people who feel good about their work treat customers better. And better customer experiences drive revenue growth.
Your employer brand increasingly matters for recruitment. Prospective employees research company culture, read reviews, and talk to current staff. Organisations known for workplace happiness attract stronger candidates.
Disengaged, unhappy employees take more sick days. This isn’t just about physical illness – mental health, stress, and burnout all contribute to absence rates. Happy workplaces see consistently lower absenteeism.
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. But measuring employee engagement effectively requires looking beyond annual surveys and tick-box exercises.
Short, frequent surveys (weekly or fortnightly) give you real-time data on how people are feeling. Keep them brief – 3-5 questions maximum – and actually act on the feedback.
Key questions to ask:
Structured check-ins with line managers provide qualitative insights that surveys miss. Train managers to ask open questions and genuinely listen.
When people leave, find out why. Patterns in exit interview feedback reveal systemic issues with engagement and happiness.
Track engagement with optional activities – team socials, wellness programmes, learning opportunities. Low participation often signals low engagement.
Create safe ways for people to raise concerns without fear of repercussions. The feedback might be uncomfortable, but it’s invaluable.
Improving employee engagement through happiness isn’t about grand gestures or expensive programmes. It’s about consistent, genuine actions that demonstrate you value your people.
Flexibility has become table stakes for talent attraction. But truly flexible working means trusting your team to manage their time and location.
What this looks like:
People spend significant time at work. Creating genuine connections and community makes that time more enjoyable and meaningful.
Employee engagement activities that build community:
You can’t have workplace happiness without supporting mental health. This requires moving beyond token gestures to genuine cultural change.
Practical approaches:
People want to develop and progress. Organisations that invest in growth see higher engagement and retention.
Development opportunities:
Uncertainty creates anxiety and disengagement. Transparent communication about company direction, challenges, and decisions builds trust.
Communication best practices:
Recognition matters more than many leaders realise. But it needs to be timely, specific, and genuine.
Effective recognition:
Your workspace directly impacts mood, productivity, and wellbeing. Thoughtful design demonstrates you care about people’s daily experience.
Design elements that matter:
Happiness at Work Week serves as a useful reminder to focus on wellbeing and engagement. But genuine cultural change requires sustained commitment, not annual initiatives.
Employee engagement needs to be treated as seriously as financial performance. Include happiness and engagement metrics in leadership dashboards and board reports.
Build engagement considerations into everyday processes:
Your middle managers have the greatest influence on day-to-day employee experience. Invest in training them to lead with empathy and create happy, engaged teams.
Track your employee engagement metrics over time. When scores drop, investigate why and take action. When initiatives work, scale them. Treat this as an ongoing process of improvement.
Actions speak louder than words. If leadership talks about work-life balance whilst sending emails at midnight, people notice the disconnect. Model the behaviours you want to see.
At Work.Life, we’ve built our entire business model around the idea that workplace happiness matters. Our B Corp certification reflects our commitment to putting people before profit, and everything we do is designed to support the happiness and engagement of the teams who work in our spaces.
How we support employee engagement:
Our workspace solutions scale with your team. Start with two desks, grow to 40, contract when needed. This flexibility reduces business stress, which directly impacts team happiness.
We don’t just provide desks – we create communities. Regular events, networking opportunities, and shared spaces foster the connections that drive engagement and happiness.
From natural light and biophilic design to wellness programmes and mental health support, our spaces are designed with happiness in mind. Because we know that environment shapes experience.
No hidden fees, clear pricing, and honest communication. The transparency we offer to our members reflects the kind of open culture that supports engagement.
The future belongs to organisations that recognise happiness and employee engagement aren’t nice-to-haves – they’re fundamental to success. As we celebrate Happiness at Work Week 2025, the question isn’t whether to prioritise workplace happiness. It’s how quickly you can start measuring and improving it.
Ready to create a workspace that puts happiness and employee engagement first? Book a tour of our London, Manchester, or Reading locations and discover how the right environment supports team wellbeing and success.
Tailored solutions for growing teams
Adding 10 or more team members? That’s exciting — and we’re here to help! For teams like yours, we offer custom membership options designed to fit your needs perfectly.
Let us know some more information using the form below — we usually reply within an hour during business hours. Prefer to chat? Give us a call on 020 3349 8269 — we’d love to hear from you!