Every year, we survey as many employees & leaders as possible in organisations in various industries to figure out what it means to be happy in the workplace. So far this year we’ve received a great response, which indicates that companies are more interested in happiness than ever before. We hope these results will give you a glimpse into what employees & leaders think, feel and value in the workplace.

1. State of Happiness
Q1 2019
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2. Introduction
Every year, we survey as many employees & leaders as possible in organisations in various industries to
figure out what it means to be happy in the workplace. So far this year we’ve received a great response,
which indicates that companies are more interested in happiness than ever before. We hope these results
will give you a glimpse into what employees & leaders think, feel and value in the workplace.
At Hi5, whenever we ask managers which data they most want and need, they almost always say the same
thing: they want to know what other companies are thinking and doing (and whether what they're doing is
up to standard). To answer these questions, we're pleased to publish this set of data specific to the
manager and employee experience — we hope you find it informative and insightful.
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3. Acknowledgement
Before we dip into data, though, we’d like to acknowledge the people who helped put all of this together:
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Linda Roos
Head of HR at ooba,
Science of Happiness
@ Work Licensed
Practitioner
Bailey Kropman
Head of OD & Talent
Management at
Takealot.Group
George Gabriel
Social Anthropologist,
Engagement Facilitator
& Founder of EMERGING
Gary Willmott
Chief Appreciation
Officer at Hi5
Sharné McDonald
People Data Expert
at Hi5

4. Involvement
We’ve had 700+ submissions across various industries including Construction (373), Marketing &
Advertising (173), Financial Services (77), Food Production (38), Hospitality (24), Events services (17), IT
(16), etc.
We've received responses from great organisations like M&C Saatchi Abel, SNC-Lavalin, ooba homeloans,
Vineyard Hotels, BrandTruth, University of the Free State, Multichoice, Sutherland Engineers & Active
Value Advisors.
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We’ll be running the Happy at Work survey every quarter, so if you would like to take part in the future,
please go here for more info.

5. General Insights
These are our insights across all participating industries and companies
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6. Only 14% of the Millennial employees who took the survey are
feeling heard. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, the results for
this question revealed big age gaps— 29% of Generation Z
(teen - 24 yrs old) and 23% Gen X (41 - 55 yrs old) say they
feel listened to & valued at work.
However, there seems to be a common feeling between the
very different Millennial and Baby Boomer generations in this
regard.
1. Millennials feel they aren’t being heard.
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Only 14% of Millenials feel that they are valued &
listened to in the workplace.

7. 46% of the employees at Small companies (0-10) say they
have an “Awesome” company culture, whilst ±36% of
employees at companies with 11 - 500 staff rate their culture
as “ Pretty Awesome”.
2. Smaller companies have better culture.
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46% of the employees at Small Companies (0-10)
say they have an “Awesome” company culture.

8. It’s very clear that Employees give more recognition than
Managers. The most obvious result to point out, is that 30% of
Employees give recognition at least once a week, compared
to 15% of Managers.
3. Employees give recognition more frequently.
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30% of Employees give recognition at least once
a week, compared to only 15% of managers.

9. A great culture is tied to more frequent recognition.
Companies that had a majority rating of an “Awesome” culture
(26%) saw continuous recognition (at least once a week).
4. Culture is tied directly to recognition.
Is focusing on more frequent recognition a quick
fix for a dead company culture?
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10. Specific Insights
Data insights specific to your company & industry
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11. Most important
factor to happiness
at work
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12. Happiness at work
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Often, grievances concerning remuneration are about not being paid fairly. A person who is not receiving fair pay is
unlikely to be happy no matter what. Independently benchmarking your organisation’s salaries and having a clear
pay policy are ways in which to ensure that you have internal and external pay equity in your business - Linda
X

13. Living out the
company’s values
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14. Living out the company’s values
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Key:
On a scale
of 1 - 5
1 = No, I
don’t even
know what
they are.
5 = Yes,
absolutely!
The key to success with organisational values is to make sure that the words or phrases that are chosen are not
simply a poster on the wall, and instead that everyone understands the behaviours that demonstrate those values.
In addition, it is critical that those values are measured and tested from time-to-time. - George

15. Achieving the goals
set out for you
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16. 16
Achieving goals
Key:
On a scale
of 1 - 5
1 = No, I
don’t even
know what
my goals
are
5 = Yes, I
am!
Impactful performance management demands a holistic process that goes beyond simply setting KPIs and annually
checking if results are achieved. First, the goals must be meaningful for both the organisation and the employee.
Then incentives must be personally relevant. And finally, feedback must be consistent, clear and often. - George

17. Having the
opportunity for
continued growth
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18. 18
Opportunity to continue growing
Key:
On a scale
of 1 - 5
1 = No,
I’m losing
brain cells
here.
5 = Yes,
I learn
something
new every
day
The Marketing and Advertising sector feel they have a better opportunity to grow by more than 10% compared to
other industries. This could be largely due to the agile nature and self-run departments of the Marketing and
Advertising industries, whilst the Construction and Financial services usually have a very set structure and way of
working. - Gary

19. Receiving feedback
to improve on your
work
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20. 20
Frequency of receiving feedback
Overall, 67% of employees in most companies do not receive feedback very often. Within the Financial Industry
feedback is received most regularly (35%) compared to Marketing & Advertising (25%) and Construction (20%). It’s
clear that ongoing feedback in the workplace is not ingrained as much as we’d like it to be. - Sharné

21. Feeling
listened to
& valued at work
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22. 22
Feeling listened to and valued at work
Key:
On a scale
of 1 - 5
1 = Never!
5 = Always!
Whilst the results show that most respondents feel listened to and valued, this is not the case for everyone. Where
there is not, for example, a receptive manager or an easily accessible platform to share concerns or ideas, other
“always-on” listening and feedback mechanisms are needed - Linda
X

23. Receiving recognition
or praise for good
work
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24. 24
Receiving recognition or praise for good work
As in a family, it is critically important to openly praise and recognise the kind of behaviour that underpins the
culture. It is by far the easiest way to make sure that everyone understands what is expected of them. And in
addition, the perfect opportunity to give credit for great teamwork and individual excellence. - George
X

25. Giving recognition
or praise to
someone at work
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26. 26
Giving recognition or praise to someone
The most fundamental organising principle of the human brain is to minimise pain and maximise pleasure. We are
wired to do more of the things that reward us and less of those that don’t. Receiving recognition for a job well done
is not only a powerful motivator for the receiver, but also has positive psychological impact for the giver. - Linda
X

27. The culture at
your workplace
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28. 28
The culture at your workplace
Key:
On a scale of
1 - 5
1 = Dead
5 = Awesome
This is a general tie across most of our industries, however Marketing and Advertising and Financial services are
rated with a slightly better culture. The interesting thing to note, is that both of these industries gave more
frequent recognition. - Gary

29. Recommending a
friend to work at your
current workplace
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30. 30
Recommend someone to your workplace
Key:
On a scale of
1 - 5
1 = Extremely
unlikely!
5 = Totally!
Recommending your company as a potential employer to someone else is the ultimate show of a great culture.
Most employees would recommend their workplace to others, more so in the Marketing & Advertising Industry
(93%) compared to overall average (84%). - Sharné
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31. If you’d like to receive more insights,
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Twitter.
If you’d like to have a custom survey to
benchmark happiness in your company,
please fill out this form and we’ll send
you a unique link.
Thank You!
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32. www.get5.io