happy people

How to Make Human Resources More Human

At Sky UK, they have embraced Design Thinking to tackle common HR issues. Design Thinking is a methodology that provides a solution-based, human approach to problems. It aims to create multiple ideas during brainstorming, which can then be prototyped and tested in a empathetic way that people can easily understand. For Sky, in the final stage, they test people's reactions and gauge if it 'wows'. In this short video from the 2019 Happy Workplaces Conference, Tracey Waters explains how they applied Design Thinking to the question 'how might we help people at Sky have a fulfilling career?'

The Pursuit of Joy at Work at Happy

Cathy Busani's goal for the staff at Happy is that they experience joy in at least 80% of their work. In this video from the the 2019 Happy Workplaces Conference, Cathy explains how she aims to achieve this by focusing on strengths-based working — asking staff to think about what they are great at and seeing how they can incorporate it into their day-to-day working.

Happy's Web Development Apprenticeship is a 2020 Learning Awards Finalist

Today we started the first Drupal pre-apprenticeship programme. The idea of the course is to find school leavers with an interest in and aptitude to coding/web development and help a young person get their foot on the ladder to employment. This intensive two week course will cover the basics of using Drupal, HTML, CSS, PHP and JavaScript. Currently four organisations have committed to taking on an Apprentice, so we will prepare this group of school leavers and get them ready to go out to an interview.

Mayden: Managing the Work, Not the People

Alison Sturgess-Durden is the Director at Mayden, a software business based in Bath with a staff of 80 people. Mayden’s software is specifically created for health professionals and patients. Their most prominent achievement is the creation of a patient management system that’s favoured by most psychological therapy services in the NHS. In 2013 Mayden became a self-managing organisation, comprised of autonomous teams. In this video from the 2019 Happy Workplaces Conference, Alison explains the reasons behind the switch, how they did it and how it works (and some of the challenges they faced along the way!).

How COOK Places Relationships at the Heart of Their Business

At the 2019 Happy Workplaces Conference, Rosie encouraged people to return to work and look at their respective organisations through a relational lens. In Rosie’s view, looking at things through a relational lens is a wily method for figuring out what’s working and what isn’t. Watch the full video or read the transcript of her talk here.

4 Tips to Help You Understand and Build Your Self-Confidence

Having self-confidence and belief in your own abilities impacts on every aspect of life. If you have self-confidence, you will have the courage to pursue your passions and try new experiences — without it, you can become depressed or stuck in a rut. In this blog, Billy looks at what self-confidence is (and what it isn't!), and gives some advice on how you can build your confidence.

How to Get the Most Out of MyAnalytics

Microsoft has started rolling out a brand new feature for Office 365 subscribers — MyAnalytics. This new tool provides tips for improving your focus and establishing a healthy work-life balance. In this blog, Billy takes a look at the new features of MyAnalytics and how it can help you to use your time better.

How to Develop Resilience and Maintain Wellbeing

Developing resilience is essential for prospering in our work and private lives. This blog by Billy Burgess looks at a few factors that’ll help furnish resilience and maintain mental wellbeing.

Improve Your Productivity With These Five Apps

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of apps out there that claim to save you time and increase your productivity. In this blog, Billy takes a look at our favourite top five – all of which are available to download and try for free.

Receiving feedback is a skill. People commonly struggle with being open to feedback and responding to it. In this blog, Billy gives four ways to improve how you receive (and accept) feedback from others, both positive and negative.