The study of happiness has been on the rise, both in personal and professional lives. While a consensus definition of happiness has not been established, correlations between happiness and workplace performance have been established. This article examines the relationship between workplace happiness, productivity and firm performance. The article examines Hsieh's (2010) model for using organizational design to inspire worker's happiness. The practices followed by Zappos is used to show application and provide inspiration for organizational leaders.

In his seminal work, "The Human Equation", Jeffrey Pfeffer (1998) makes a compelling case that putting employee happiness first has a direct, positive effect on individual productivity, and by extension, company profitability. Since then, a persuasively large body of literature has developed discussing the relationship between happiness (or well-being) and productivity (George & Brief, 1996; Wright & Staw, 1999; Gavin & Mason, 2004). Former Harvard University researcher Shawn Anchor (2010) points out that happiness is a difficult construct to define and measure. What makes one person happy is seemingly different from what makes another person happy. So often the idea of happiness in psychological research is replaced by the concept of subjective well-being (Scharwz & Strack, 1999). Subjective well-being is best explained as research participants saying, "I feel good." Martin Seligman (2002), father of the positive psychology, has developed a definition of happiness involving three, measurable elements: pleasure, engagement and meaning. Regardless of the chosen definition, one theme runs constant: happiness is driven by positive emotions. Those positive emotions are apparently good for business (Anchor, 2010). Researchers have established a correlation between employee happiness, productivity and firm performance and that one cause of this link could come from organizational design (Fisher, 2003; Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005; Sirota, Mischkind, & Meltzer, 2005).

However, this raises a larger question: "What causes happiness?" If happiness is inherent in individuals, then companies should seek to screen out unhappy employees during the hiring process. If happiness can be created, then, can it be institutionalized? Can a workplace cause happiness? Can organizational design be used to influence member happiness? Tony Hsieh (2010) argues that it can. Hsieh is the CEO of much-acclaimed shoe-retailer, Zappos. Hsieh has used Zappos as his own experiment in happiness-creation, both of customers and employees. Hsieh believes that happiness is related to four constructs:

HRM Review Magazine, Organizational Design, Organizational Leaders, Psychological Research, Certification Programs, Stress Management, Employee Engagement, Customer Service Provider, Zappos Organization, Call Centers, Social Outings.