Organizations and businesses are wise to invest in employee personal happiness.

“The benefits of a psychologically well work force are quite consequential to employers, especially so in our highly troubled economic environment,” Kansas State University researcher Thomas Wright said in a recent article published in the Journal of Management. “Simply put, psychologically well employees are better performers. Since higher employee performance is inextricably tied to an organization’s bottom line, employee well-being can play a key role in establishing a competitive advantage.”

Methods to improve well-being include assisting workers so they fit their jobs more closely, providing social support to help reduce the negative impact of stressful jobs, and teaching optimism to emphasize positive thought patterns.

None of this is new to those NLP practitioners and coaches working with organizations. The importance of this report is as it relates to a business’ competitive edge. In today’s market of rapidly diminishing returns on investment (ROI), perhaps the best ROI is that invested in employee job satisfaction. And to do that, organizations and businesses are wise to invest in employee personal happiness.

The job is not entirely what makes people happy. People can make themselves happy with their jobs. To be happy you must either do a job you love or love the job you do. Either way, you love your job. And when you love your job, magic occurs. Oh, yes, indeed!!

Some years ago, I worked at a job I didn’t like. For years I plodded along in that job – completely dissatisfied with it. And for years I stagnated – feeling stuck in my career. And my friends, family, and environment at the time reinforced in me the belief that I was “lucky to have a job.” One day, I realized that I could love my job – it was a choice. I reasoned that, “I’m doing exactly what I most want to do at this time or I’d be doing something else right now.” I might not like the alternatives, yet I appreciated that alternatives most certainly existed.

It became a mantra for me that I’d repeat daily hundreds of times to myself – especially when given a particularly distasteful assignment by my supervisor. Within days of singing my mantra to myself, I received two rather large monetary rewards (nice surprises!) and offers of more. Further, my part-time job suddenly exploded financially – so much so that within two years I was able to leave the old job and focus full-time on my once part-time job (which I loved in itself).

Want to get a competitive edge for your company in today’s uncertain economy? Invest in personal happiness education for your employees and effective employee management strategies for your managers that focuses on employee job happiness and satisfaction.

You could start today by investing in as simple a thing as hiring a massage technician to give weekly massages to your telesales department. Or invest in a group yoga class. The cost is minimal compared to the increase in productivity. Then hire a NLP-based employee relations coach. Your company will suddenly find itself head and shoulders above your competition.