HAPPINESS AT WORK IN THE UAE:The Role of Leadership Style and Human Resource Management

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Abstract

There is a wealth of literature on job satisfaction from both Western and Eastern experiences and perspectives, but the literature is limited when it comes to happiness at work, especially in the Arab region. This study is an attempt to encourage research studies in the field of happiness at work in the Middle East and specifically in the United Arab Emirates, the context of the present research, to influence planning in government organisations in implementing a strategy for long-term impacts on happiness levels. This research uses a mixed methods approach of both questionnaires and interviews to collect data. The analysis is conducted by using quantitative and qualitative tools to recognise the gaps and the factors that influence happiness at work and suggests recommendations in order to raise happiness across organisations over the long run. The findings of this study emphasise the necessity of correlating HRM practices, rules and systems with strategic planning that focuses on employee happiness as the greatest purpose of an organisation. The findings emphasise the power of three factors related to employees̢۪ feelings towards work which are: Leadership style, organisational culture and organisation structure and how reflecting them in an organisation will positively influence satisfaction and build a strong, positive and happy workplace. This research also discusses one of the controversial inquiries found in the literature about the relationship between job satisfaction and happiness. A conceptual framework is suggested to illustrate the connection between job satisfaction and happiness from a new perspective and clarify how these two concepts positively interact. It clarifies that organisations that indicate a high-level of happiness at work usually indicate a high-level of job satisfaction, and when an organisation achieves a high-level of job satisfaction, it can be deduced that people in the organisation are happy, even where happiness per se is not measured. The findings also show that the role of religion in raising happiness in general is clearer than its role in raising happiness at work and that employees from the sample group, who emphasise the importance of practicing religious rituals, still indicate low feelings towards work regardless of all the facilities that are provided to them to practice their religion.

Keyword(s)

Happiness at work - Job satisfaction - HRM - Leadership Style - Organisational Culture

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