Factors contributing to organizational happiness: Content, exploratory and confirmatory factorial analysis

Abstract

This study aims to identify the factors promoting organizational happiness. In recent years, research on organizational happiness has been increasing however the factors contributing to organizational happiness are still underexplored. Complementary qualitative-quantitative methods were conducted to obtain item cross-validation. The first method consisted of personal interviews, categorized through content analysis, aiming to identify those items and factors contributing to organizational happiness (n=969). The second method aimed to validate the identified items and factors and to propose an organizational happiness measure. A survey was applied to a second sample (n=1.954) of Portuguese and Spanish active professionals. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was conducted. Five first-order factors were identified: (F1) Workplace Relationships; (F2) Acknowledgment & Respect; (F3) Continuous Learning and Personal Development; (F4) Sustainability & Job/Family Balance; (F5) Leadership. These five factors are explained by a second-order factor considered to be Organizational Happiness. As such, a new comprehensive and integrated Organizational Happiness framework is presented, showing how lower-level components can be used to influence higher level professionals perceptions.