Happy New Year everybody! From all of us at Madison may all of you in the HR and sales operations space have a happy and of course, a prosperous 2015!

Notice I didn’t “wish” you a New Year? I purposely left out that word because wishes are hopes and we know how to remove the uncertainty. We can get your employees there — to “happy” and “prosperous” that is.

In a previous posting, I cited Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage: the Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work, who says that happiness is the joy we feel as we grow to our potential combined with the realization that our behavior really matters.

Think about that definition in the context of how your employees feel about their jobs. If happiness is the big brother of “satisfied’ then “happy” employees have to be worth more — a lot more. And that connection leads me to the prosperous part.

As we enter 2015, business leaders will be demanding more — more from their employees and more from their reward and recognition programs. And more, of course, from the people who manage them.

If you set your sights higher, and are smarter with your recognition programs, you too can move your employee base from “engagement” to true “happiness” which in turn will make your organization more productive, more profitable and by extension, more prosperous.

So again I say Happy New Year to all. Enjoy the long weekend. And if you feel that a “happy” outlook is what your employees need then don’t just “wish” for one. Give us a call on Monday and we’ll show you how prosperous that will make you over the next 365 days.