When it comes to making sure that your employees are happy and engaged, is the whole more than the sum of its parts?

If we go to the Consumer Products & Services industry, the one that topped the happiness list, we find this employee who has plenty of praise for their teammates:

“Love my colleagues and team members. I am often inspired by them and motivated by their commitment, follow-through, intelligence, and willingness to help.”

Who wouldn’t want their great employees to motivate one another in being even better?

On the flip side, having bad colleagues is huge drawback: employees also said that a lack of follow-through from coworkers is the number one productivity killer in our 2015 Employee Engagement Report. Here's what one employee in Manufacturing — one of the industries at the bottom of the happiness list — had to say:

“Management excluded, my colleagues know less, care less, do far less, are responsible for less, but on average get paid more. I stay focused on my own work, with a positive attitude, make the best of my situation [...]”

So don't forget when you're working on employee engagement to give your attention to the team as a whole and how its members work together. They're an essential piece of the puzzle.

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