How Businesses Can Invest in Happiness at Work As International Week of Happiness at Work approaches (6th to 10th October 2025), it's a timely reminder that happiness at work is more than a nice-to-have. After all, we spend almost two-thirds of our waking lives in the workplace.

Happy employees are healthier, more engaged, work better together, and contribute to stronger outcomes. In this article, six experts share practical ways businesses can invest in happiness at work, from leadership to everyday practice.

Lead by example
Vidya Murali, scale-up leader, coach, and author of How to Survive in a Scale-Up Business, believes the first step for leaders who want to invest in workplace happiness is simple but powerful - lead by example. Toxic behaviours at the top can quickly fall down, resulting in unhealthy dynamics, mental health issues, and eroding trust. "Often, if you're the founder, it is likely that your team hero/heroine worships you. They see you as their role model, with every word, gesture, and action of yours being a powerful signal," she explains.

With this in mind, Murali advocates for leaders to develop emotional regulation as the core leadership skill. Mindfulness offers a powerful way to cultivate this skill. By learning to lead oneself first before leading others, managing their attention, emotions, and thoughts, leaders can foster an environment where others feel safe, courageous, curious, and happy. "If you can't lead your whole self - thoughts, emotions, sensations, urges - how can you lead others?" Murali concludes.

Build solid foundations for happiness
According to Gina Battye, founder and CEO of the Psychological Safety Institute, building healthy work cultures and thriving businesses, where people genuinely enjoy their work, requires a strong commitment to creating psychologically safe spaces.

"Psychological safety is a personal and contextual experience of safety, comfort, and confidence in a given moment. But here's the thing: no two individuals in your organisation will feel exactly the same level of safety," points out Battye.

Many leaders fall into the trap of assuming that psychological safety simply means encouraging employees to speak up and share concerns. Before they can do so, they first need to feel truly safe. "This involves understanding your own emotions and triggers, equipping people with the right tools to communicate, setting clear expectations and boundaries, and eliminating the root causes of tension or toxicity," she outlines.

Battye emphasises that with these foundations in place, you can improve team dynamics, boost collaboration, and spark ideas, all contributing to a happier workforce.

Prioritise inclusive communications
Crafting inclusive and accessible communications lays the groundwork for happier, more engaged employees. When we make sure people aren't left out - whether that's by accidentally inaccessible content or being actively excluded from the conversation, it makes it easier for people to do their jobs and feel more connected.

"When we exclude people from our communications, it can damage working relationships, erode trust, and can pose a significant reputational risk," says Lisa Riemers, co-author of Accessible Communications. Inclusivity isn't just a tick box exercise; it's about making sure everyone has equal opportunities to engage, contribute, and thrive. "Accessible communications means all team members are able to access and understand the information being shared, regardless of their needs or the technology they're using. It's about using the right language that your audience understands the first time they read it, and it's about removing barriers to getting things done."

This culture of accessibility strengthens not only organisational performance, but also employee wellbeing. "When people's needs are met, they're happier, less frustrated, more motivated, and feel more connected to their workplace. Accessible communications are an essential piece of the workplace puzzle, ensuring that inclusion really does mean everyone," concludes Riemers.

Make measurement and action a team priority
"Too often, happiness surveys are confined to annual activities. To truly invest in workplace happiness, it must become part of a team's routine," explains Nic Marks, statistician, speaker, and author of Happiness is a Serious Business.

Proactive measurement means you can spot and take action when teams are happy, unhappy, or just OK; an area that is often overlooked but one that can be damaging. Marks notes teams that are mostly OK report lower collaboration, creativity, and productivity. "When we're simply OK, we lack energy and urgency, and that flatness can quietly wear us down. Happiness is dynamic, and you'll only notice these shifts in feelings when it is an everyday priority," he says.

To embed happiness into team life, Marks suggests regular measurement through pulse checks that give you actionable data; bringing the team together weekly to discuss results and subsequent actions; and repeating this cycle to create lasting change. "This routine helps teams set small, achievable goals that generate momentum, whilst creating the space to appreciate progress," he continues. "Acknowledging progress not only boosts happiness but also motivates further improvement, reinforcing a positive feedback loop," Marks concludes.

Recognise the value and wellbeing of every team member
For Jon-Stephen Stansel, author of The 10 Principles of Effective Social Media Marketing, some important roles are often stereotyped or undermined. This is particularly true for social media managers. "When we continue to dismiss or neglect social media teams, we limit their impact and potential," he says. "To build a happy team, you must recognise the value that every role brings and be proactive in supporting their wellbeing."

Social media doesn't stop at the end of the workday, therefore, neither do many social media managers. These roles are often managing crises and on the receiving end of frank customer feedback, sometimes even hateful messages, all of which can take their toll on happiness and require the same proactive wellbeing approach leaders take for physical risks, Stansel argues.

"With our phones always in our back pockets, constantly dinging with notifications, unplugging isn't easy for those in social media roles. Leaders have a duty to ensure they are supported and encouraged to schedule time off, with someone else managing channels and monitoring messages," Stansel highlights. The happiest workplaces are those that uplift all roles, identifying and mitigating any potential wellbeing challenges.

Meet change with empathy
With change being a constant in today's workplaces, driven by new technologies and shifting customer demands, it's easy for leaders to get caught up in numbers. Yet, behind every figure are individuals experiencing uncertainty, striving to adapt, and sometimes feeling unheard.

"Leaders must approach change with empathy, recognising the human experience at the heart of every transformation," says Anne Katrine Carlsson Sejr, a leader of teams specialising in organisational development and transformation and author of Maneuvering Monday. "Acknowledge the emotional toll of uncertainty, or ask line managers to do so directly with their people. Celebrate small wins, but also failures along the way," she notes.

"True empathy means more than sending updates or holding workshops. It requires leaders to step into the shoes of those affected," argues Carlsson Sejr. "Stress often comes from uncertainty, so by being transparent about what is known and what isn't, leaders build trust."

"Leading with empathy is not just compassionate, it is strategic: when people feel heard and supported, they are more engaged, more open to collaboration, and more likely to contribute the ideas that make transformation succeed," Carlsson Sejr sums up.