Get Your People to Set Their Own Targets
“I don’t read many books but I have read the Happy Manifesto,” explained the GCHQ Head of IT, speaking at the recent Spark the Change conference. “And it makes sense. We have found, for instance, that if you let people set their own targets, they set tougher targets and are more likely to achieve them.”
Hi, we are Happy
We are leading a movement to create happy, empowered and productive workplaces.
How can we help you and your people to find joy in at least 80% of your work?
He gave the example of their tech support people. With security concerns at the forefront, it had always been a long process to book out a laptop if you needed one when travelling. In fact the agreed response time was two weeks from application.
“It was clear we needed to shorten it. If it had been left to me to set the target, then I would have probably set it at one day – a huge improvement on where we were. We left it to the team. They set the target at 5 minutes. When they achieved that, they reduced it to two minutes. They have now got it down to one minute.”
GCHQ colleagues at the conference confirmed this was true: “The difference is amazing. It genuinely takes less than a minute to book a laptop out now. You don’t even have to fill in a form.” (The tech staff now fill in the required form afterwards, a key step in getting the time down from 5 minutes to 1.)
What could your people achieve if you let them set their own targets?
Keep informed about happy workplaces
Sign up to Henry's monthly Happy Manifesto newsletter, full of tips and inspiration to help you to create a happy, engaged workplace.
Learn the 10 core principles to create a happy and productive workplace in Henry Stewart's book, The Happy Manifesto.
Henry's Most Popular Blogs
- 8 Companies That Celebrate Mistakes
- 9 Benefits of Having Happy Employees
- 321Zero: How I Solved my Email Overload
- 16 Companies That Don't Have Managers
- 5 Big Companies Who Swear by Mindfulness
- 49 Steps to a Happy Workplace
- A Four Day Week? Let's Start With a Four Day August
- Google: Hire Great People and Give Them Lots of Autonomy
- Buurtzorg: No Managers, Just Great Care From a Nurse-Led Service
- 30 Steps to Joy at Work: Get More Done by Being Less Busy
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.
Next Conference: 2025 Happy Workplaces Conference
Our Happy Workplaces Conference is our biggest event of the year, and we'd love for you to join us on Thursday 12th June!
This year's event will be held in London, venue TBC. We may also offer a hybrid option for people to join us online simultaneously — do let us know if you are interested in joining online and we can add you to the waiting list.
As always, our next conference will be filled with interaction, discussion and space for reflection.
Book now and get our special half-price Early Bird rate — just use discount code Happy2025.
Related courses
The Happy Leadership Programme
Brave Leadership: One-Year Leadership Development Programme for Women
Level 7 Senior Leadership Apprenticeship Programme
Not what you need? Take a look at all of our off-the-shelf Leadership and Management programmes.