Unlocking the secrets to happiness at work with RedBalloon

According to Gallup, up to 21% of employees are actively disengaged across Australia. And the cost of this is startling – it costs businesses up to $42 billion per year in lost productivity.

A recent Happiness at Work study – conducted with more than 3,000 people in 79 different countries – make the case for happier workplaces:

  • 80% more energized than their less content colleagues
  • 155% happier with their jobs
  • 150% happier with life
  • 108% more engaged
  • 50% more motivated
  • 50% more productive
  • Take 66% less sick leave than those who are least happy.

In today’s business climate where we have to do more with less, those figures are staggering.

Enter RedBalloon. A company that prides on its own employee engagement strategies that has seen it achieving 97% employee engagement score and winning multiple BRW Great Place to Work awards.

Led by its founder, Naomi Simson, the meteoric success of RedBalloon has shown that spending money on engagement is more than a worthwhile investment.

What does it have to do with diversity?

Our very first Diversity Event was launched in August 2012 at the Sydney Opera House attended by a full house industry leaders and thought leaders from our client companies.

Its purpose is to contribute towards greater Australian workplace diversity where people, regardless of their background, can achieve greater success. One of the ways that we do that is by celebrating the success of individuals – people who inspire us to do our bit for greater workplace diversity and who has shown that gender, race, age, religion, physical ability or socio-economic background do not limit what we can achieve.

“Following our last Diversity Event, I’ve spoken to a number of our clients in regard a subject matter expert who would be both inspiring and thought-provoking. A popular theme was around finding meaning and purpose in everything that we do and how that relates to success,” says Louise Byrne, Team Leader and Diversity Champion at M&T Resources. Inviting Naomi Simson was an appropriate choice of speaker given that Naomi started RedBalloon anchored on her strong belief that people deserve to be happy at work and her success has proven her belief.

Amidst vibrant animal sculptures and traditional bark paintings by award-winning indigenous artists at the historical Australian Museum, we welcomed more than 80 guests from the likes of Westpac, IAG, Telstra, Optus, ING Direct, Lend Lease, Qantas, Origin, AMP, American Express, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Microsoft. Guests were treated to canapés and drinks in the gallery before adjourning to the theatre hall for Naomi’s keynote.

Naomi spoke about her journey that began from the core purpose of delivering happiness, developing the idea and the challenges along the way to turn RedBalloon into the multi-million dollar business that it is today.

“The inspiring part was how Naomi aligned her own greater purpose and mission in life to the purpose of RedBalloon and flowing that down to the employees. She has proven that being able to meaningfully answer and communicate ‘why we do what we do’ truly engages employees to achieve success for the company they work for and for themselves. As a recruitment firm, we definitely play an important role to help our clients align their core purpose with potential new hires to get better performance,” added Louise.

To be invited for our next Diversity event, please contact Louise Byrne, Team Leader & Diversity Champion by emailing Louise.Byrne@www.mtr.com.au.