The Truth About Trying To Make Staff Happy

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN

A nurse manager described herself as a pretzel – I keep doing whatever I can to make staff happy. It only lasts a short time, and then we return to where we were. What am I doing wrong?  This question often comes up during leadership development sessions. Many nurses who move into leadership have a natural tendency to be people pleasers and enjoy the approval of others.  A very tough lesson that leaders learn early is that they can’t make everyone happy.  There will always be people who are upset with something you do or are disappointed in you because you can’t grant a request.  You may never seek to hurt or disappoint someone intentionally, but you will at some point.

You need to make peace with this reality and let go of guilt.  For example, when you first begin a position, some staff may leave because they are unhappy with the changes you try to implement.  You can’t take this personally.  Some turnover with leadership change is inevitable.   It is vital to remember that happiness at work is a two-way street. The responsibility to be happy at work is a shared responsibility. In his book Triggers, Marshall Goldsmith advises that we should ask staff who complain about being unhappy at work to ask themselves this reflective question “Did I do my best to be happy today?

Why Happiness at Work does Matter

Diane Scott has written a Center for American Nurses Association whitepaper on Happiness at Work. She has written that there is not only a positive correlation between happiness at work and the individual nurse’s life and professional satisfaction but also a strong business case. Employee happiness increases productivity and improves retention. It has also been demonstrated to improve patient outcomes. Being happy at work is important to life satisfaction because so much of our time is spent in the work setting. There is no one size fits all for staff happiness.

The Nurse Leader’s Responsibility

While nurse leaders cannot make staff happy, they can establish workplace cultures that engage and empower staff – two key components to work happiness. Building a sense of community among staff is very important because personal relationships with others at work do impact workplace happiness. It is also important to the staff that the leader demonstrate that they are happy in their roles. Some key evidence-based leadership strategies that have been demonstrated to increase staff happiness include the following:

• Provide a clear vision of the work and goals of the organization
• Value the importance of everyone’s contribution to the work of the unit
• Listen to staff and make them feel like their opinions matter
• Give staff autonomy in their work
• Communicate honestly even during tough economic times
• Ensure that no one is working in isolation
• Establish a culture of celebration of everyone’s successes
• Don’t tolerate bullying and discourage cliques
• Treat all team members with the same respect

Srikumar Rao, a Columbia University Professor and author of Happiness at Work, proposes from his research that when we create our own experiences on the job. Happiness at work is a very individual thing. Two employees can have very different experiences within the same organization. Happiness ultimately comes from within and how we view our circumstances. Nothing will happen if you wait for your manager, colleagues, or organization to make you happy. The staff member needs to clearly understand what makes them happy or unhappy at work and what actions they can take to change their situation.

We all need to be respected, and recognized for our talents, feel a sense of belonging, and do work that we feel is essential. Only an individual staff member can truly know whether they are happy at work and if not, does something need to change. Nurse leaders can create an environment for staff happiness but may find that some staff members are still unhappy. That is not the nurse leader’s responsibility, and it never can be.

Read to Lead

Ambalie, T. & Kramer, S. (2011). The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.

Goldsmith, M. (2015). Triggers: Becoming the Person You Want to Be. New York: Crown Books.

Rao, S. (2010). Happiness at Work: Be Resilient, Motivated, and Successful – No Matter What. New York: McGraw-Hill