Does Your Organisation Enable People to Work at Their Best?
Henry Stewart speaks to the Eth Word about systems and processes within organisations.
"I’ve been to [organisations] where you just sense a kind of difficulty doing stuff," Henry explains. "And you meet great people who are trying to do great stuff, but they have real problems doing it because the structure of the organisation gets in the way, rather than helping."
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Does Your Organisation Enable People to Work at Their Best?
Normally you can tell the moment you walk in an organisation, not at the moment you start talking to people, the moment you start interacting, you get a sense of whether this is a place where people love to come to, and feel able to work at their best. Or whether it’s a place where they’re frustrated, or are micro-managed, where they have to battle with processes and systems and rules that are getting in the way of them doing what they want to do.
There’s a saying — I mean... I think everyone gets it going into organisations — people tell us they come to Happy and they instantly feel that this is a great place, and they’d love to work here. I’ve been to organisations where you walk in and feel that, and I’ve been to others where you just sense a kind of difficulty doing stuff. And you meet great people who are trying to do great stuff, but they have real problems doing it because the structure of the organisation gets in the way, rather than helping.
Henry Stewart speaks to the Eth Word about management and creating freedom within clear guidelines for staff in this short interview, part of a series of videos.
"I’ve been to [organisations] where you just sense a kind of difficulty doing stuff," says Henry Stewart, Founder and CEO of Happy. "And you meet great people who are trying to do great stuff, but they have real problems doing it because the structure of the organisation gets in the way, rather than helping."
Is your organisation a great place to work - or does it create extra processes, systems and rules that get in the way of your people doing what they love?
Other videos in this series
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Henry Stewart, Founder and Chief Happiness Officer
Henry is founder and Chief Happiness Officer of Happy Ltd, originally set up as Happy Computers in 1987. Inspired by Ricardo Semler’s book Maverick, he has built a company which has won multiple awards for some of the best customer service in the country and being one of the UK’s best places to work.
Henry was listed in the Guru Radar of the Thinkers 50 list of the most influential management thinkers in the world. "He is one of the thinkers who we believe will shape the future of business," explained list compiler Stuart Crainer.
His first book, Relax, was published in 2009. His second book, the Happy Manifesto, was published in 2013 and was short-listed for Business Book of the Year.
You can find Henry on LinkedIn and follow @happyhenry on Twitter.
Learn the 10 core principles to create a happy and engaged workplace
Happy's vision is outlined by Henry Stewart in his book, the Happy Manifesto. It outlines our 10 principles to create a happy, empowered workplace.