What role do satisfied employees, good team spirit and the development of potential play? After all, these are the basis for a company's success on the one hand and increasingly important aspects in the face of a growing shortage of skilled workers on the other.

We spoke to Dr. Oliver Haas, initiator of Corporate Happiness and “The New Leadership”, about strength-oriented cultural development and the development of potential for more growth.

Corporate Happiness – what is it and what do you want to achieve with it?
We currently find ourselves in a time in which there are many challenges: from a shortage of skilled workers to demographic change and identification problems. At the same time, companies are looking for new employees who are agile, act independently and treat each other with respect. A culture of appreciation is needed to attract and retain the ideal employee. This is based on the fact that every employee feels comfortable in the company and contributes to the company's success with the associated positive energy. Corporate Happiness® thus pursues the goal of an appreciative corporate culture for satisfied employees in order to increase growth with positive energy and creative joy.

Why is corporate culture important for growth?
The possibilities for quantitative growth reach their limit at some point, which is why the focus must automatically shift to aspects of qualitative growth. This means, among other things, a strength-oriented corporate culture that makes its contribution through satisfied employees who feel that they are making a difference. It is no longer about squeezing the lemon more and more efficiently, but about planting lemon trees. Managers must become gardeners who promote unique growth through the development of potential. This succeeds when companies create a trusting working environment that satisfies individual needs and ensures that a bond is created between employees and their activities. And when companies achieve this state, employees surpass themselves and contribute to the sustainable success of the company with their unlimited wealth of ideas.

What defines a strength-oriented corporate culture?
A strength-oriented corporate culture consists of several factors. For example, employees who are in touch with their inner drive. People who know what is important to them in life and in the company. As soon as individual needs are in harmony with the workplace and align with the company's values, an employee becomes a loyal employee who is emotionally connected to the company. The promotion of individual talents and strengths as well as positive emotions and enthusiasm are also part of a strength-oriented corporate culture. Employees who see meaning in their work, can contribute their individual strengths and associate positive emotions with their tasks form the foundation of growth-oriented companies that create a working environment characterized by dignified encounters.

How does Corporate Happiness work as a management system? And how do companies pave the way towards healthy cultural development for more growth?
First and foremost, motivation is crucial for change. Corporate Happiness® works when profit maximization is not the primary goal. Motivation should be driven by the desire for employees to feel good in the company and not be a means to an end. In order to pave the way for healthy cultural development, the commitment of the entire company is required - from management to executives to employees. Everyone must reflect on their own attitude and ask themselves this question: What am I contributing to a positive corporate culture? And because the project of creating a healthy corporate culture is never complete, cultural ambassadors are needed to act as torchbearers, driving the values within the company and actively living them.

What role does digitalization play in this context?
It is the mindset surrounding digitalization that is crucial in the context of corporate culture. It is more about how we deal with short-term and long-term challenges in the course of the digital transformation. Two scenarios can be mentioned here as examples: Firstly, we must prepare ourselves for the fact that in the next 10 to 15 years, around 30 - 40% of our jobs may become redundant, possibly leading to the establishment of new task areas that create innovation. Secondly, we currently have to overcome the home office distance and the associated potential alienation. But it all sounds worse than it really is. The home office option in particular is already enabling companies to establish a culture of personal responsibility in which employees enjoy the freedom to organize themselves and create their ideal working environment. And the fear of losing one's job must also be viewed from a different angle, as it is first and foremost a replacement for more traditional forms of work. People who identify with the company and its values and are passionate about their work, cannot simply be replaced. Ultimately, digitalization will bring further changes and give us the opportunity to reflect on ourselves and our values in order to find the ideal employer and employees.

Do you have a final tip?
Take the path towards Corporate Happiness®. Start with yourself and consider whether you are really being mindful of yourself. Remember that we cannot change other people, only ourselves. But one determined person is enough to initiate a transformation and realign your mindset. Be the person who inspires with positivity and propels others to achieve great things.

About the author: Dr. Oliver Haas
The initiator of Corporate Happiness and The New Leadership has recognized this through his many years of experience in finance and controlling as well as through supervisory board mandates in other companies: Companies are only successful in the long term if employees see meaning in their work, can contribute their strengths and are enthusiastic.

Today, Dr. Oliver Haas applies the findings of scientifically based happiness research to the corporate context and shows that a corporate culture that is geared towards everyone's happiness enables unique growth for people and companies.

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