Retail & Ecommerce Houses 25% Happy Employees: Study

The healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, on the other hand, have the happiest employees (51%)

A May 2022 study by happyness.me and House of Cheer, titled 'Happiness At Work: How Happy is India's Workforce?' discloses how the healthcare sector enjoys the maximum number of happy employees (51%). The healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, both of which saw an uptick in growth during pandemic times, are associated with a lower likelihood of layoffs and sector shrinkage, and high pay.

There is also a sense of validation for the purpose and meaning in life for a lot of healthcare employees, along with a high sense of belongingness that they share with their coworkers. 

Retail's Rant

On average, those in retail and ecommerce experience greater work interference (70%) in their personal lives as compared to employees in the healthcare sector (53%).

The glaringly low percentage of happy employees in the retail and ecommerce sector can be attributed to the high pressures and expectations from the industry. The need for employees to deliver perfectly and speedily comes from the intense competition among the players in the industry and is permeating the stress levels of the employees. With 55% of the employees feeling highly stressed, the data indicate an undue amount of pressure that is taking a toll on this sector. As a result, it is also loosening human ties with 36% of the employees feeling that they don’t share a very strong sense of purpose and meaning with their co-workers about their work. 50% of the employees in the retail and ecommerce sector also expect their happiness levels to rise if they are given a chance to work in more flexible ways such as working remotely and adopting a hybrid mode of working.

The Sectoral Synopsis

The report captured happy employees across 18 sectors in India. While healthcare and pharmaceutical won the top spot, banking & insurance and education & edtech, both stood at the second spot with 47% happy employees in each. 

The maximum happy men were found in consulting & management (54%), while the happiest women were again found in healthcare and pharmaceutical (53%).

For Namrata Tata, Managing Partner, House of Cheer, while each sector has its own set of realities and constraints, there is a global awakening to the need to change old ways of working. Leaders and organisations are shifting their approach to addressing employee needs. They are more accepting of the dynamics related to happiness and well-being and the impact it has on daily lives and the business. 

"Overall employee happiness & wellbeing is expected to grow at a fast pace. We are seeing this in the kind of responses we are getting from the corporate world. Making Emotions central to the work culture is becoming increasingly important. It is not just enough anymore to just engage your employees, you need to involve them, they need constant validation & the future of workplace HR practices will have to address not just how your people are thinking but also how they feel. One of the key learnings that we have come across having worked with various organisations is that psychological safety and emotional compensation beyond just monetary is very important," she suggests.

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