Engaging staff and fostering joy at work

Introduction

In 2019, the Mayo Clinic identified fostering joy at work as a top priority for its employee engagement strategy, and many other organizations are following suit. Research indicates that this focus leads to a positive, productive workplace where employees find meaning in their work.¹ A culture of joy also promotes a sense of belonging, connection and teamwork.² 

Setting the stage for joy

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Framework for Improving Joy in Work emphasizes understanding employee needs and developing interventions to cultivate joy at work.³ From an organizational perspective, joy in work offers several benefits: it helps retain and attract top performers, keeps employees engaged, elevates staff satisfaction, reduces burnout and increases productivity, ultimately contributing to an organization’s success.⁴ However, neglecting joy as a foundational priority can lead to negative outcomes, such as poor employee retention and increased costs for replacing employees.⁵ Additionally, joy positively impacts individual well-being by broadening ideologies, fostering openness, enhancing relationships and creating euphoric moments where time feels frozen.⁶ 

Joy is a profound emotion that can be associated with great pleasure and happiness. It can be fleeting or sustained, bringing fulfillment and upliftment. Unlike happiness, joy transcends ordinary satisfaction and touches the core of emotional and spiritual life. Overall, joy creates a vibrant, productive and innovative environment, benefiting employees and the organization. It boosts immediate work performance and contributes to long-term success. Organizations can nurture joy programs by strategically fostering a culture of joy through collaborative leadership and meaningful employee engagement. 

The following is a synthesis of widely recognized best practices in organizational development, leadership and change management that may be used to guide organizations as they develop these programs:

• Assess the environment: Understand workplace culture and employee sentiment through surveys, interviews and focus groups.⁷ 
• Create clarity and elicit feedback: Clearly communicate program goals and processes. Actively seek employee feedback to address current issues and understand aspirations.⁸  
• Build trust: Consistently respond to feedback. Make transparent decisions and show care for employee well-being. Collaborative leadership enhances trust.⁹ 
• Act on assessment: Develop and implement action items aligned with employee needs. Enhance areas impacting daily work life and overall satisfaction.¹⁰ 
• Obtain adequate resources and leadership support: Allocate budget and time for program activities. Ensure senior leadership actively supports the program.¹¹ 

By integrating these elements — assessment, clarity, trust, responsive action and resource allocation — a joy program can significantly enhance workplace culture, making it a more joyful, productive and satisfying place to work. The collaborative leadership style ensures the program is not seen as a top-down imposition but rather a collective journey toward a happier and more fulfilling work environment.

Prioritizing joy includes pursuing the intersection of well-being and joy as linked but distinct efforts, resulting in favorable employee and organizational outcomes. Well-being is a significant driver of joy, acting as both a foundation and a catalyst for experiencing this positive emotion. Figure 1 visualizes how well-being intersects with joy.¹²

In our experience nurturing these aspects individuals can experience joy more frequently and intensely. Well-being actively promotes positive experiences, including joy, and vice versa, experiences which evoke joy contribute to well-being. The impact of joy on work performance is substantial and multifaceted, influencing both individual output and broader organizational dynamics. Employees experiencing joy at work have a positive impact on their work performance and environment¹³:  

• Enhanced productivity: Employees are typically more productive. The positive energy and enthusiasm stemming from joy lead to increased motivation and higher engagement in tasks, approaching responsibilities with additional vigor and persistence.
• Improved creativity and problem solving: Joy expands cognitive processes and enhances creativity. A positive emotional state encourages broader thinking and free association of ideas, leading to innovative solutions.
• Greater collaboration and team cohesion: Joy enhances a collaborative and supportive team environment. Positive emotions like joy are contagious, enhancing cooperation among team members.
• Increased resilience: Joy helps individuals cope with stress and setbacks effectively. Employees bounce back quicker from failures and handle workplace challenges, maintaining productivity.
• Reduced turnover and absenteeism: Employees are more satisfied with their jobs, leading to lower turnover rates. A joyful work environment encourages loyalty and reduces absenteeism.
• Enhanced employee well-being: Joy significantly contributes to overall well-being. Happy, healthy employees are less likely to suffer from burnout and more likely to maintain consistent performance.
• Positive company culture: Prospective employees value a culture that promotes joy, enhancing the company’s reputation and overall successful outcomes.

Aligning efforts with strategy is imperative for creating a sense of purpose and direction for the individual and organization. When it is clear to employees how their work aligns with and contributes to the broader goals of the organization and its mission, they are more likely to feel engaged. This alignment can be achieved through a clear connection to organizational goals and objectives, including progress and impact.¹⁴ 

Fostering engagement

An organizational people strategy prioritizing employee engagement and experience can create a workforce that is empowered, engaged, and connected to an organization’s purpose. Engagement improves when employees have autonomy and influence over decisions affecting their work, fostering pride and responsibility. Empowerment comes from delegating meaningful tasks, providing support and resources and encouraging risk-taking and innovation.¹⁵

Promoting teamwork supports an inclusive, collaborative work environment that enhances creativity, problem-solving, engagement and satisfaction. Team leaders can promote teamwork by modeling open communication, building trust, and recognizing achievements.¹⁷ Investing in team members’ growth leads to individual and organizational success. 

Leaders can promote skill development through formal training programs, mentor/mentee relationships and informal coaching, demonstrating commitment to their team. It is essential to intentionally foster employee engagement practices for in-person, hybrid or fully remote work environments, with tailored strategies for virtual settings to support employee well-being.

Providing support and recognition is crucial for motivating staff and reinforcing success. Recognizing individual and team-based achievements builds morale and fosters engagement. Employee engagement sets the stage where joy can be nurtured and intertwined within the team’s culture and becomes a positive influence across the entire organization.

Partnerships within the organization

Institutional leaders set the stage for joy through their words and actions, providing resources, setting expectations and modeling desired behaviors. Their commitment encourages others and may foster a sense of joy and sets the tone for values manifestation and culture, generating momentum for joy at all levels. Collaboration, starting with leadership and extending to individuals, is crucial.

Alignment with organizational human resources (HR) ensures policies, practices, performance reviews, employee benefits and programs promote an environment where joy can flourish. HR can support well-being and joy programs, processes and policies that encourage flexible work, and organize employee-recognition programs — all of which are critical for infusing joy.

Local leadership, likewise, has an important part to play in creating an environment where joy can flourish. Partnerships with other departments across the institution can be leveraged to promote joy. Examples include:

• Highlighting people, teams, and achievements by partnering with the communications team.
• Designing physical spaces with joy principles in mind (i.e., access to daylight, aesthetically enhancing employee spaces, incorporating patient or employee art, etc.).
• Partnering with food services teams to make refreshments accessible (i.e., joy cart circulating work units, thematic or ethnic offerings, etc.).
• Allocating budget dollars to joy activities is best done proactively.

Joy is a shared responsibility. Every employee has a sphere of influence and may bring the opportunity for joy to themselves and those around them. Individuals can spread positivity, share gratitude and support each other, fostering a culture of belonging. Most importantly, they can challenge negativity in the workplace — what gets accepted is condoned.

Team influencers are responsible for shaping team norms, offering peer-to-peer interaction opportunities and facilitating teambuilding activities. Leaders play a crucial role by actively allowing time and space during the workday for joy to flourish and empowering themselves to allocate resources to such activities. Finally, the organization must ensure that efforts to promote joy in the workplace are inclusive and accessible to all, by supporting flexibility and providing regular opportunities with adaptations for all worker types. 

Assessing impact  

A joy at work program can positively impact an organization by promoting supportive environments where employees feel valued. This leads to increased commitment and motivation, resulting in increased productivity and engagement. Establishing a joyful work environment can lift morale and employee satisfaction. Employees won’t just show up to work; they will strive to excel, improving overall performance. 

A joy at work program is valuable because it reduces burnout by helping staff find pockets of meaning and purpose in their day. This benefits the organization by reducing absenteeism and enhancing creativity, as employees experience a sense of belonging and safety. Fostering joy at work empowers employees to share ideas and develop innovative solutions, creating a collaborative environment. Ultimately, this leads to higher patient satisfaction and loyalty, as joyful employees will likely provide a better patient experience.¹⁸ Survey assessments of employee and patient experiences can provide insight into their sentiments.

Retention and recruitment are key issues for organizations. Engaged employees who find joy and meaning in their work are more likely to stay, reducing turnover costs. Prioritizing a culture of joy at work can enhance an organization’s reputation as an employer of choice and attract external talent.   

Perlo, et al. suggest measuring system-levels and local-levels for employee sentiment and experiences19:

• System-level measures can be collected and reviewed on an ongoing basis to identify progress and areas of improvement. 
• Local-level measures can be used to track daily or weekly measures. 

Consistently measure staff satisfaction and the efficacy of the joy program through a variety of methods including:

• Employee all-staff surveys
• Performance metrics
• Absenteeism data
• Patient satisfaction
• Turnover rates
• Assessments of the organizational culture.

These methods will highlight employees’ needs, joy barriers and drivers. By tracking these metrics, organizations can gauge the efficacy of their joy at work program, address issues and make necessary adjustments. Prioritizing joy at work involves addressing and removing barriers, including workload challenges, and providing employees with tools and resources to thrive in a collaborative and supportive workplace culture.

Sustaining and growing joy programs 

To effectively foster joy in the workplace, efforts should focus on understanding and evaluating various factors and methodologies that significantly impact employees’ joy and overall satisfaction at work. Interventions should be evidence-based and tailored to the specific needs of the workforce and organizational culture.20 Key areas to consider include:

• Baseline assessments: Initial research should establish a baseline understanding of the current levels of joy and well-being within the organization. This involves assessing employee perceptions, job satisfaction, engagement levels and well-being through surveys, interviews and observational studies.
• Cultural and demographic considerations: Research needs to account for how different workplace cultures and demographic factors influence the perception and factors of joy. This involves studying diverse workforce groups to tailor initiatives that are culturally and contextually appropriate.
• Comparison of intervention strategies: Implement and compare different types of interventions aimed at increasing workplace joy. This could include mindfulness and wellness programs, flexible work policies, team-building activities, recognition programs and changes in leadership styles. Controlled trials or longitudinal studies may help determine the effectiveness of these interventions.
• Psychological and emotional metrics: Investigate the psychological and emotional effects of increased joy at work. Research should look at how enhanced joy affects stress levels, mental health, resilience and overall well-being of employees.
• Productivity and performance metrics: Study the correlation between increased joy in the workplace and key performance indicators such as productivity, creativity, job performance, and turnover rates. This helps in quantifying the business impacts of investing in joy.
• Leadership impact: Research leader’s roles in fostering an environment of joy. Studies could explore how different leadership styles, such as transformational and servant leadership, impact the levels of joy and satisfaction among employees.
• Technological innovations: Evaluate the role of technology in promoting joy at work. This includes the use of digital tools for improving communication, collaboration and work-life balance, as well as the potential downsides that technology might bring, such as increased stress or burnout.

By addressing these research areas, organizations can develop a robust understanding of how best to cultivate joy in the workplace, leading to more effective and targeted interventions that enhance both employee well-being and organizational performance.

Conclusion

Joy at work requires intentional efforts that include understanding employee needs, implementing solutions that meet those needs and pivoting when factors change. Joy is not one size fits all; it is a shared responsibility at every level, from individuals and teams to leaders and the organization. Removing barriers to joy may require various system-level approaches, leadership support and adequate resources. When employees experience joy, their overall experience improves, resulting in better patient outcomes and greater organizational success. Assets are typically represented on the balance sheet of an organization, but perhaps joy at work is the most important. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors appreciate the detailed review of the manuscript by and input of Kaisa Wieneke, MPH, administrator of Mayo Clinic Employee Well-Being and Joy. We also acknowledge our colleagues at Mayo Clinic for providing inspiration for this article and the assistance of Ethan Grove in editing the manuscript.

Notes

1. Perlo J, Balik B, Swensen S, Kabcenell A, Landsman J, Feeley D. “IHI Framework for Improving Joy in Work.” IHI White Papers, 2017. 
2. Liu A. “Joy at work: Part of a Kearney series on joy in the workplace.” Kearney, 2020. Available from: https://bit.ly/3ZzEc3J .
3. Perlo J, et al. 2017. 
4. West CP, Dyrbye LN, Shanafelt TD. “Physician burnout: contributors, consequences and solutions.” Journal of Internal Medicine. 283(6) (June 2018), 516-529. Available from: 10.1111/joim.12752. 
5. Perlo J, et al. 2017. 
6. Teal DM. “Joy at Work.” Capstone (Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota). 2020.
7. “Collaborative leadership fundamental concepts participant guide.” Turning Point, 2024. Available from: https://bit.ly/3Bh4yxl .
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Danna K, Griffin RW. “Health and Well-Being in the Workplace: A Review and Synthesis of the Literature.” Journal of Management, 25(3), 357-384. 1999.
11. Kotter JP. “Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail.” Harvard Business Review, May-June 1995. Available from: https://bit.ly/3zvTfAT .
12. Rath T, Harter JK. Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements. Gallup Press. 2010.
13. Lyubomirsky S, King L, Diener E. “The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success?” Psychological Bulletin, 131(6), 803-855. 2005.
14. Saks AM. “Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement.” Journal of Managerial Psychology. 21(7) (2006), 600-619.
15. Gagné,M, Deci EL. “Self-determination theory and work motivation.” Journal of Organizational Behavior. 26(4) (2005), 331-362.
16. Harter J. “U.S. Engagement Hits 11-Year Low.” Gallup. April 10, 2024. Available from: https://bit.ly/3TGmnwe .
17. Richards KA, Templin TJ. “A comparison of team-based and traditional teaching methods in a business communications course.” Business Communication Quarterly. 73(3) (2010), 318-349.
18. Perlo J, et al. 2017.
19. Ibid.
20. Chen PY. “Work and wellbeing.” John Wiley & Sons, 2014.