Why Managers Shouldn’t Mistake Employee Happiness for Employee Engagement

There is no doubt restaurant managers want their employees to be happy – after all, happy employees are good for business, right?While that may be true to a certain extent, managers should expand the focus of their attention. There are many reasons why workers find themselves happy or unhappy on the job – all of which are entirely out of a manger’s control. Everything from problems at home to running late and getting stuck in traffic can contribute to an employee’s happiness level while on the job. To run an efficient workforce, managers need to turn their attention to issues they can control: employee engagement.

Employee engagement is an irreplaceable part of a successful workforce because it brings agility to operations, which in turn improves productivity.

A recent poll found that only 34 percent of the U.S. workforce is engaged on the job, highlighting the fact that there is room for improvement. Employee engagement is crucial to the success of restaurants (and…