Designating an employee as chief happiness officer differentiates a company from competitors searching for talent.
by Kate Everson
January 7, 2015
Image courtesy of Flickr/Gred Carroll
Chief happiness officers do more than interact with employees. In fact, just having someone with the title can be a boon to recruitment.
Designating an employee as chief happiness officer differentiates a company from competitors searching for talent. Happiness executives are mostly found in the tech industry that draws young talent, and millennials tend to be attracted to inventive, nontraditional environments, said Walter Chen, CEO of team performance management firm iDoneThis.
Above all, the title of chief happiness officer indicates that an organization takes an interest in employee engagement and isn’t afraid to show it, he said.
Apart from attracting employees, having a chief happiness officer can also weed out candidates who wouldn’t fit with the organization’s culture.
“Some people look down on it or scoff because it’s corny, but in some ways that’s good,” Chen said. “Part of it is expressing personality, and if that excludes some people, that’s not just OK. That’s actually better because you’ll find someone who fits better.”