I was at a great session yesterday at the SXSW conference, moderated by William Tincup, on the subject of organizational culture. The official title was “Quantifying Workplace Happiness and Culture Fit,” and the panelists talked a lot about culture, hiring for cultural fit, and some of the challenges within the HR field as it balances administrative duties with working on culture internally.

Many of the participants were from large companies, who are clearly struggling with this. In fact, one panelist stated that this issue is what all the CEOs are worrying about. But several of the questions focused on what those companies could do to make their employees more happy. This frustrates me, because I don’t think it’s really about “happiness.”

I know employee “engagement” has hit buzzword status, and everyone defines it differently, but this “happiness” frame is taking us in the wrong direction. Creating a workplace that people truly love is not about making people happy. Happy is a mood. It’s a feeling–sometimes even a fleeting one. But engagement is about a deep connection between the individual and the organization. It is an alignment of purpose and passion and career. It is  a relationship–even if it is only a short-term one.

I’m not suggesting that we ignore happiness or unhappiness among employees. That can be an important data point for understanding our culture. But don’t try to fix the happiness problem. As an organization, you don’t actually control people’s happiness anyway. Focus on what it takes to be awesome as a company. Focus on how to grow a system where everyone is growing, contributing, and collaborating more naturally. Figure out what it takes to create a stronger culture, and the engagement (and even the happiness) will be the natural byproduct.