According to Cliff Oxford, founder of the Oxford Centre for Entrepreneurs, there are two types of happiness in a work culture: Human Resources Happy and High Performance Happy. For Oxford, corporate wellness doesn’t come down to employee birthday cakes and shallow conversations – or being HR Happy – but rather it has everything to do with being High Performance Happy.
Oxford explains ‘HR Happy says we should do what pleases us first — bring your dog to work! High Performance Happy says I will fight for every inch…Respect is core to the success of High Performance Happy, and it is based on what you are giving not on what you are taking. For example, if one person has a sick child, we all have a sick child, and we all give more that day. And this is why High Performance Happy builds deeper bonds.’
‘High Performance Happy means you give employees tremendous responsibility, and they are happy to show that they are the best,’ Oxford notes. ‘You don’t have to con them into doing things with a flavour-of-the-month methodology that suggests they will only perform if you make them happy first. HR Happy says, I want you to think that I like you. High Performance Happy says, I believe in you.’
For Oxford, High Performance Happy means getting rid of the employees who do just enough to get by. These are the worked who befriend the boss, love meetings and are the first to check the scores and Facebook when they get back from lunch, and Oxford believes these are HR Happy habits which will only serve to bring the high performance elite down to the middle or push them out the door.
Oxford adds, ‘Here’s what you tell the high performers. Come spend time with us if you want to do something special. Don’t take it personally if you get yelled at for something you did not do…If you ask for help, we will be there. If you do not ask for help, we will assume that you are performing in a blaze of glory so be ready to show it. Don’t tell us later that you were confused or did not agree with what we were doing. You can say whatever you want to whomever you want when the decision is up for discussion…But when the decision is made, you march with the decision and not with what makes you happy.’
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