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Life at Perficient

For Some, Autonomy is the Secret to Being Happy at Work

“Success is not key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing you will be successful.” The quote by Albert Schweitzer rings true in so many ways for me.
I believe that happiness is a feeling, a feel-good factor occurring when you are indulging, when you have accomplished something, and even when you are planning to indulge. I have found that those who want to go to the top sometimes fail to understand that happiness exists as they climb.
I recently read an article about a major contributor to employee happiness: an acute sense of autonomy in daily operations. What is this autonomy all about? It’s:

Making Decisions – Autonomous employees are able to make decisions for themselves, without the need to run every decision “up the ladder.”
Contributing Ideas – Autonomous employees feel like their ideas and contributions matter, so they tend to contribute more frequently with more effort.
Operating with Limited Supervision – Autonomy entails trusting employees to accomplish their goals without much intervention.
Determining Responsibilities – Autonomy also affords employees some degree of determining their own responsibilities. For example, they may be able to delegate some of their responsibilities as they see fit, or may be able to choose their own schedules.

I enjoy the autonomy I experience in our Chennai, India office, where I lead the HR function for nearly 250 colleagues. I joined when the number of our team members was in the single digits. Strategically stewarding the growth over the years has been the biggest part of my career portfolio.
Whether I’m executing my day-to-day tactical functions or sharing my thoughts on strategic initiatives, I am empowered with a great deal of autonomy. My reporting manager has defined an overall road map for my organization and provides me with the flexibility to operate within it.
I firmly believe that the more autonomy an employee experiences, the higher their sense of job satisfaction and well-being likely will be.

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Gayathri Hariharan

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