What does a truly happy workplace actually look like? One of the highlights of our Chief Happiness Officer Academy is always when we take the group on a site visit to one of the happiest Danish workplaces we know.
It’s great for them to see how this is done in practice and how employee happiness contributes to the bottom line.
Last week we took the group to Airlog Group’s Copenhagen office where their co-founder and CEO Allan Geert Nielsen explained their strategic approach to happiness at work and how it helps them succeed in the challenging market of global shipping and logistics.
Here are some of his major points:
- Happiness is the foundation of Airlog’s strategy and the main factor that contributes to the company’s success
- The company has grown 225% in the last 5 years
- But they don’t stress over budgets or put pressure on employees if the company doesn’t hit a monthly target
- They hire for happiness – happiness at work is mentioned in every job ad
- They have a flat organization and give their employees a lot of autonomy and freedom
- Employee happiness is not about perks and bonuses- it’s about results and relationships
- Building genuine relationships inside the company and with clients is crucial and requires human beings who care about their work
My favorite story is how they recently acquired a group of people in Sweden who joined them because they’d heard that working for Airlog is fun. This group has now brought in millions in new business.
Another thing that really inspired the visitors was Airlog’s 15-minute pledge where they promise to follow up on all customer requests in less than 15 minutes inside their business hours. They had 1,000 fifteen-minute hourglasses made and give them away to clients and contacts as a symbol of the promise.
But crucially, it’s not something they measure or criticize employees for not living up to – it’s mostly a source of pride for Airlog’s people that they can serve their customers quickly and competently.
But my all time favorite Airlog story is about the time they transported the batmobile. No kidding!
Airlog is an inspiration for me and real proof that happiness at work is the main driver of company growth and profits. And you should come to our Chief Happiness Officer Academy yourself and learn exactly how it’s done!
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