Happiness.

It’s the goal in relationships, the workplace, and, well …  in life.

Science says that happiness leads to successful businesses and boosts employee engagement and productivity. Employers, recruiters and job seekers alike can benefit from improving their own, and each other’s, smile-to-frown ratio.

So what makes people happy?

For me it’s chocolate, weight-lifting and hilarious podcasts … Oh yeah, and my friends and family (hey mom!).

Okay okay — this post is actually just a Christmas wish list. So, make like Santa and send me chocolate and Dan John’s latest book so I can get my pump on! (Podcasts are free on iTunes)

Now, just so I don’t lose my job, here are some links about candidate, employee and recruiter happiness:

Want to make those potential hires happy? Check out this article for easy ways to entice talent by improving candidate experience.

We all know how important it is to keep recruiters happy! Here are three things to avoid doing if you want recruiters to like you.

For happy employees, use Jessica Miller-Merrels advice to create an employee benefits and rewards system that your employees will actually like!

But, why bother? Well — employee disengagement is a serious drain on productivity and effectiveness.

Don’t worry, Brad Herbert offers three straightforward tips on how to improve employee engagement.

December has arrived and holiday bonuses are a great way to spread a little cheer. Suzanne Lucas reports on what employees actually want for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Sinter Klaas.

Last, but not least, here are 34 tips to make anyone happier. I’m especially fond of this article, as I can use it as an excuse to dance around like a maniac, and eat lots of chocolate. Awesome.