Happy Workers Are More Productive Workers

Introduction

There are many different opinions about the relationship between happiness and productivity. But does employee happiness affect his or her performance thus increasing productivity? Well that hasn't been proven and there aren't any researches proving that happiness has effect on productivity. "In addition, even though no clear defined theoretical justification for a job satisfaction-performance relation, over time, this supposed happy-productive worker thesis came to be considered as fact by many" (Wright et al., 2002). But before discussing this matter deeply, it is necessary to know what is meant by productivity and job satisfaction. Productivity is a performance measure that includes effectiveness and efficiency and job satisfaction is a general attitude (not a behavior) toward one's job; a positive feeling of one's job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics. (Robbins et al., 2007)
The purpose of this article is to prove the relationship between employee's happiness and productivity and check whether happy workers are more productive or not. This article will start with job satisfaction and motivation and what leads to them followed by a detailed discussion about the relationship between job satisfaction and productivity.

Job Satisfaction and Motivation

Job satisfaction is highly related with happiness and even they can be looked as different names for the same thing. People have many expectations from their works which has to be fulfilled in order to be satisfied with their work which will make them happy such as getting paid, self esteem, satisfaction and social contact. Competitive salaries and benefits, flexibility in working hours as well as recognition programs can play a very useful role in helping employee to find job satisfaction that they are seeking for in their work. From an employee's point of view a good job is the one that pays a lot, provides the opportunity for growth, to use skills and knowledge that they have and