Here you can find all of Happy’s blog posts, covering our Excel hints and tips, ideas for creating happy workplaces, and ways to be more productive at work — and more.
I have asked thousands of people when they work at their best. For over 90% of them it has been when they have been given the trust and freedom to make their own decisions. I have also asked whether they like “complete freedom” or “freedom within guidelines”. While there are a few anarchists who like complete freedom (especially entrepreneurs) most people – again roughly 90% - choose freedom within guidelines.
I recently did a podcast with Liz Wiseman, the author of Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter (and Impact Players). Her book, Multipliers, has had a transformational impact on Happy and on our programmes. All of our ‘people managers’ are Multipliers, who enable their people to do their best work, and we’ve began training others on how to be a Multiplier on our leadership programmes.
The first attendees of our Level 7 Senior Leadership programme have just completed their studies. The Level 7 programme is the equivalent of a post-graduate degree or MBA. In this blog, Henry speaks to people who attended the programme and how it changed both their leadership style and their organisation.
Henry discusses the importance of having several different tracks for promotion. Management isn't always for everyone and people should be paid for what they are good at.
Last month I wrote a LinkedIn post suggesting that staff should decide the CEO’s salary, based on my own experience of doing just that. So far it has received 344,000 views and 505 comments. And it seems to have been controversial.
You may have seen rather gleeful headlines recently reporting that Marie Kondo has relaxed her stance on tidying up after the arrival of her third child. These days she’s focusing less on the mess and more on the joy. We love this quote from her: “My home is messy, but the way I am spending my time is the right way for me at this time at this stage of my life.” At Happy we were inspired by her idea of things sparking joy, so much so that our strapline is ‘Creating Joy at Work’. It’s something we practise, and we measure regularly, aiming for all of our staff to spend a high proportion of their time at work doing things that bring them joy.
It can feel as though these days everything is a project and everyone is a project manager. And that represents a significant shift in organisational thinking from only a few years ago. And everyone seems to have heard horror stories about bad experiences with projects (and project managers). But what makes something a project, rather than just a complex piece of work? And what can we do to give ourselves a better chance of success?
Is your organisation one where people can move quickly and get new ideas out there, or is it stymied in levels of approval and hierarchy? In this blog, Henry talks about some of the various approaches of several well-known companies, as well as Happy's own policy towards this.
Let’s stop asking for degrees in recruitment. Santander recently announced that they would remove the requirement for a 2:1 degree from its graduate scheme, and is apparently the only bank to allow graduates with a third-class degree. I would go beyond that and ask why degrees are necessary at all. Maybe graduate schemes should be changed to simply employ the brightest and the best, whether or not they have a degree.
As we move away from hierarchical workplaces we are seeing a conscious move from manager-employee relationship to a coaching relationship. When you hear the word coach it may bring to mind an authoritative figure who'll make you work in your pants but do not fear, modern coaching is very different. In this blog, written by our Digital Marketing Assistant Dolly Osborne, we'll take you through some tips to perfect the art of workplace coaching.