Creating a happy and healthy environment for your employees is essential. As teams made up of happy employees don't just succeed, they thrive. Their vibe and energy are infectious and can make the dreariest workday a little brighter.

Happy employees can boost your business success, increase retention, improve productivity and create a more robust company culture.

So, why not invest in employee happiness?

There are endless ways to measure employee happiness, some of which can be too cumbersome and some that don't really tell you much. It may be that employee happiness metrics are hard to pin down. Not to mention, distinguishing between employee engagement, satisfaction, and happiness, can be mind-boggling.

Employee happiness is a combination of employee engagement and satisfaction. It goes beyond employee satisfaction and is one of the pillars of employee engagement.

1- Conduct an employee happiness survey You must measure employee happiness levels by simply asking them where they stand. For this, you can start using special surveys. They can also be used to assess employee satisfaction with their role, involvement in the team, and overall well-being. It is simple to identify any potential problems and critical areas for improving employee conditions after collecting such data. Surveys may include various questions, from broad ones to detailed ones.

Questions could be as straight as: How would you describe your overall mood at work? Or do you find your daily tasks fulfilling?

2- Offer anonymous employee feedback Seeking your employees' feedback is essential for efficient business functioning, as authentic and honest employee feedback is absolutely necessary for making solid improvements. However, getting employees to open up to senior leaders is not an easy task; that's why anonymous feedback can help bridge the gap between the need for honest opinions and the ability to make employees feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, knowing that their anonymity is guaranteed.

3- Employee wellness monitoring Employee stress is inextricably linked to being unhappy. If you do not invest in employee wellness, you will suffer the consequences in terms of employee unhappiness. Your employees must have resources available to them in order to care for their well-being, which in return increase staff retention. If you're not sure how to measure the wellness of your team, conduct a wellness survey and have your employees self-evaluate their level of happiness. Or, you can use professional tools to help everyone track their own goals and objectives, which accordingly allows each employee to keep track of his/her own progress, increase productivity, and help focus on their personal development.

4- Install an employee suggestion box An employee suggestion box is another way to measure employee happiness in the workplace while maintaining anonymity. Employees always have something to say that they are hesitant to say out loud. With a suggestion box, they will feel more at ease providing feedback and suggestions on how to improve the workplace, including questions that may not have occurred to you to ask in anonymous feedback surveys. This allows them to express themselves without fear of being judged.

5- Examine employee performance Nothing reflects employee happiness more than their performance. You can easily sense how happy and satisfied an employee is by how they deliver their work, how they present it, and how above and beyond they go in their tasks. For instance, if an employee always ignores their deadlines and doesn't care about the impact of this tardiness, it can be a sign that they aren't happy with the work they're doing. This is where you can initiate a one-on-one meeting with them to get a more concrete answer for their poor performance.

6- Consider your employee turnover rate Finally, employee unhappiness is directly linked to lower employee retention, as a lack of motivation and happiness among employees may lead to an increase in the turnover rate if ignored. Happy employees are more inspired and driven in their roles and loyal to their company. It is time to start investing in employee happiness if you want to reduce employee turnover over time and keep a happy workforce.