Despite аn extensive research on subjective well-being conducted over the past decades, there remains uncertainty about whether happier workers are actually more productive. The aim of the study was to analyze the causal relationships between subjective well-being and job performance using employees of leading Russian universities as a case study. The article presents the analysis of subjective well-being of scientific-pedagogical employees in modern universities and indicators of their performance based on empirical research materials. The construct of subjective well-being assessment was based on the existing theoretical models by E. Diener, D. Kahneman, R. Inglehardt. The research program included the assessment of indicators of general perception of happiness, productivity, life satisfaction, job satisfaction indicators by questionnaire survey. For the validity of measurements, the research tools included proven methods and scales: Cantril's Self-Anchoring Scale, questions from studies of subjective well-being and quality of life in the European Social Survey (ESS), WCIOM surveys. In this study, statistical methods such as correlation analysis, Pearson's Chi-square test of agreement, and least squares regression analysis (LSR) were used to analyze the relationships between the level of subjective well-being and the level of scientific productivity. The results of the present study statistically proved a significant positive correlation between the level of subjective well-being and scientific productivity of higher education employees. These data are a signal to revise the views on faculty motivation towards the formation of effective social responsibility, which includes, among other things, the development and implementation of programmes to improve the well-being of their staff.