Fostering and Sustaining Employees’ Happiness in the Oil, Gas, and Energy Industry: the Role of Organizational Chief Happiness Officer in Implementing Happiness Initiatives and Programs

The well-being of employees is catching momentum among various demanding industries across the world, underlying the importance of introducing and maintaining effective happiness initiatives to foster successful employees ’engagement with their line management to work better together and build loyalty to the workplace. This paper, therefore, aims to detail the strategic benefits of happiness initiatives along with the expected business benefits on long-term basis. A happy employee is defined as a productive and loyal employee. When an employee is happy, they tend to display greater engagement with their job. Similarly, studies have shown that when an individual feels "heard" and that their voice matters, their levels of morale are higher. Moreover, when equipped with the right tools to cope with a stressful environment, a worker's level of productivity and the quality of their work improves. The data collected at the end of each initiative is an important reference and resource for companies with a high number of employees across various specialties. This paper will provide the background of the importance of happiness initiatives, as well as making the first steps towards cultivating a culture of happiness in the more traditional industries, especially including the oil, gas and energy industry. The concept of a happiness initiative, especially in relation to international best practices, is currently not widely applied in traditional industries with evidence on the lack of a true sense of happy and productive engagement across different employees ’levels and contractors. Elevating happiness across organizations is, therefore, essential, as indicated by the fact that good mental health and well-being are core needs for any business to succeed in the post-COVID-19 era. Happiness at work is a relative, attainable concept that can be fostered and sustained in a more professional context, where organizations can play a vital and critical role in the research, establishment, and advancement of workplace happiness policies and frameworks on strategic basis that will positively result in tangible and non-tangible business benefits. This paper will outline mechanisms, best practices and the role of "Chief Happiness Officers" in leading tailor-made happiness initiatives to address organizational-specific needs and emerging issues.