{"id":14138,"date":"2026-08-03T16:46:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T22:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T08:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T14:00:10","slug":"how-to-make-your-employees-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make Your Employees Happy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have worked in many countries around the world and in every kind of company, large and small. One of my earliest observations as an employee was hating the boss for having so much more than the staff, while at the same time admiring the mindset that put them in that seat.<\/p>\n

It is not easy being an employee, and it is not easy being a boss either. The truth is that many people land in a position of authority simply by speaking louder than everyone else. They already have some of the qualities required to be a decent boss. What they lack are the qualities that would make them a leader and lift the mood of their teams.<\/p>\n

How to Make Your Employees Happy?<\/h2>\n

The first time I asked this question to a client in the United States, their instinct was to answer “pay them more.” A good boss knows that no amount of money will keep a strong employee if the boss is toxic. So I asked again: How do you make your employees happy<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Sponsored*<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Stop being stingy… with time<\/strong>
    \nYour employees have lives outside the office. Forcing them to sit from 9 to 5 when the role does not actually require those hours is ridiculous. Stop believing that a paycheck means they must remain glued to a desk for that entire window.
    \nAlso: give them more vacation. Just because the government sets a minimum of five business days a year does not mean people will become less productive if you offer more time off.<\/li>\n
  2. Create real growth opportunities<\/strong>
    \nThe best people on the market are the ones who want to grow. If you close every door, they will leave because they no longer feel they can flourish. Make sure everyone has a clear path to advance and you will build a motivated, productive, focused team that is glad to show up.<\/li>\n
  3. Motivate your team<\/strong>
    \nInstead of yelling when mistakes happen (and yes, that can be hard), solve the problem with them. Show them the right path. They will feel grateful and motivated to perform even better.<\/li>\n
  4. Be genuinely grateful<\/strong>
    \nWhen someone does something well, say it out loud. Pointing out errors is easy; highlighting good work creates far more positive impact. Offer a gift, a bonus, or a meaningful reward for major wins.<\/li>\n
  5. Offer extra benefits<\/strong>
    \nSame idea as vacation. The legal minimum is not a ceiling. Companies that settle for the bare minimum usually have a weak culture. Find ways to give people more than they expected when they walked into the interview.<\/li>\n
  6. Include employees in decisions<\/strong>
    \nI hold a somewhat unconventional view about     who I hire<\/a>. I need to understand how a role works so I can follow the conversation, but I do not want to do the job myself. I hire people who know more than I do so I can build a team of experts who help me grow personally and professionally and, most importantly, help the company grow. That is why it matters to bring those people into decisions, at least to hear their perspective and analysis.<\/li>\n
  7. Give them real work-life balance<\/strong>
    \nStop demanding that people     arrive early and leave late<\/a>. Hours spent at a desk have little correlation with the quality of the work produced. A week ago we hired a specialist to handle a complex process. With focus, expertise, and professionalism he fixed in five hours spread over four days (about an hour and fifteen minutes a day) a problem that had taken us more than fifteen full days the year before. Trust your team and their skills. When you hire well, people can deliver outstanding results in less time. Reward that with more freedom to live outside of work.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    There is no secret formula. A company is a community. Hierarchy exists, yet every person is still an individual with beliefs, strengths, flaws, and human needs<\/a>. Respect those elements and you will have a happy, hardworking team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2400,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3969],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Be a Leader Who Makes Employees Happy | Damien Soitout<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how to be a leader, not just a boss. Practical steps to make employees happy, boost motivation, and build a productive team that actually wants to stay.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Be a Leader Who Makes Employees Happy | Damien Soitout\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn how to be a leader, not just a boss. Practical steps to make employees happy, boost motivation, and build a productive team that actually wants to stay.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Damien Soitout\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/soitoutdamien\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/soitoutdamien\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-03T22:46:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-13T14:00:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/team.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"El Equipo Damien Soitout\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"How to Be a Leader Who Makes Employees Happy | Damien Soitout\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Learn how to be a leader, not just a boss. Practical steps to make employees happy, boost motivation, and build a productive team that actually wants to stay.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/team.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@damiensoitout\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@damiensoitout\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"El Equipo Damien Soitout\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"El Equipo Damien Soitout\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8d19b79710a8aa1e4e03b7fbc6e21aa8\"},\"headline\":\"How to Make Your Employees Happy?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-03T22:46:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-13T14:00:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/\"},\"wordCount\":662,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8d19b79710a8aa1e4e03b7fbc6e21aa8\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/team.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/\",\"name\":\"How to Be a Leader Who Makes Employees Happy | Damien Soitout\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/team.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-03T22:46:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-13T14:00:10+00:00\",\"description\":\"Learn how to be a leader, not just a boss. Practical steps to make employees happy, boost motivation, and build a productive team that actually wants to stay.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/team.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/team.jpg\",\"width\":1900,\"height\":778,\"caption\":\"empleados felices\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Business\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/category\/business\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"How to Make Your Employees Happy?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Damien Soitout\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8d19b79710a8aa1e4e03b7fbc6e21aa8\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8d19b79710a8aa1e4e03b7fbc6e21aa8\",\"name\":\"Damien Soitout\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdn.damiensoitout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/13121638\/cropped-faviconds.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.damiensoitout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/13121638\/cropped-faviconds.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"El Equipo Damien Soitout\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"description\":\"Damien Soitout \u2014 entrepreneur, investor, author and philanthropist. Business mentor and consultant helping companies and entrepreneurs achieve ambitious goals.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\",\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/soitoutdamien\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/damiensoitout\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/damiensoitout\",\"https:\/\/youtube.com\/damsoi01\",\"https:\/\/es.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Necesidades_humanas_fundamentales\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/\",\"jobTitle\":\"Entrepreneur, investor, author, philanthropist\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Be a Leader Who Makes Employees Happy | Damien Soitout","description":"Learn how to be a leader, not just a boss. Practical steps to make employees happy, boost motivation, and build a productive team that actually wants to stay.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Be a Leader Who Makes Employees Happy | Damien Soitout","og_description":"Learn how to be a leader, not just a boss. Practical steps to make employees happy, boost motivation, and build a productive team that actually wants to stay.","og_url":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/","og_site_name":"Damien Soitout","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/soitoutdamien","article_author":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/soitoutdamien","article_published_time":"2026-08-03T22:46:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-13T14:00:10+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/team.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"El Equipo Damien Soitout","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"How to Be a Leader Who Makes Employees Happy | Damien Soitout","twitter_description":"Learn how to be a leader, not just a boss. Practical steps to make employees happy, boost motivation, and build a productive team that actually wants to stay.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/team.jpg","twitter_creator":"@damiensoitout","twitter_site":"@damiensoitout","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"El Equipo Damien Soitout","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/"},"author":{"name":"El Equipo Damien Soitout","@id":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8d19b79710a8aa1e4e03b7fbc6e21aa8"},"headline":"How to Make Your Employees Happy?","datePublished":"2026-08-03T22:46:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-13T14:00:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/"},"wordCount":662,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8d19b79710a8aa1e4e03b7fbc6e21aa8"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/team.jpg","articleSection":["Business"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/","url":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/","name":"How to Be a Leader Who Makes Employees Happy | Damien Soitout","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/team.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-03T22:46:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-13T14:00:10+00:00","description":"Learn how to be a leader, not just a boss. Practical steps to make employees happy, boost motivation, and build a productive team that actually wants to stay.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/team.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/team.jpg","width":1900,"height":778,"caption":"empleados felices"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/how-to-make-your-employees-happy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Business","item":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/category\/business\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How to Make Your Employees Happy?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/","name":"Damien Soitout","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8d19b79710a8aa1e4e03b7fbc6e21aa8"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8d19b79710a8aa1e4e03b7fbc6e21aa8","name":"Damien Soitout","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cdn.damiensoitout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/13121638\/cropped-faviconds.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.damiensoitout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/13121638\/cropped-faviconds.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"El Equipo Damien Soitout"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"description":"Damien Soitout \u2014 entrepreneur, investor, author and philanthropist. Business mentor and consultant helping companies and entrepreneurs achieve ambitious goals.","sameAs":["https:\/\/damiensoitout.com","https:\/\/facebook.com\/soitoutdamien","https:\/\/instagram.com\/damiensoitout","https:\/\/x.com\/damiensoitout","https:\/\/youtube.com\/damsoi01","https:\/\/es.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Necesidades_humanas_fundamentales"],"url":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/","jobTitle":"Entrepreneur, investor, author, philanthropist"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14138"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14732,"href":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14138\/revisions\/14732"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damiensoitout.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}