The Happy Manifesto
Make Your Organization a Great Workplace
About the Book
Imagine a workplace where people are energized and motivated by being in control of the work they do.
Imagine they are trusted and given freedom, within clear guidelines, to decide how to achieve their results.
Imagine they are valued according to the work they do, rather than the number of hours they spend at their desk.
In too many organizations, management is broken. In one global survey just 21 per cent of staff reported that they are fully engaged at their workplace. As Professor Gary Hamel of London Business School commented, "the other 79 per cent may be physically on the job, but they’ve left their enthusiasm and ingenuity at home."
The Happy Manifesto is a call for change – a call to look at management from the perspective of the people who are managed. Author, Henry Stewart, learned these lessons the hard way. In the 1980s he helped set up a newspaper only to have it fail 6 weeks later due to poor management. They hired talented people but, inadvertently, created a working environment where it was almost impossible for these highly capable individuals to succeed.
He came out of it determined to create a company that was both principled and effective, and a great place to work. That company is Happy Ltd., a training business. His Happy Computers division trains people in desktop software, making learning about computers an involving and enjoyable experience. His Happy People division helps organizations create great workplaces based on the ideas outlined in this book.
With fascinating anecdotes and useful advice, this book explains how to create an environment where people feel motivated to work and the financial benefits that come with a happy company culture. In The Happy Manifesto, Stewart explains what he’s done right and wrong on his journey to create a company where people actually enjoy working and what he’s learned along the way.
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About the Book
Imagine a workplace where people are energized and motivated by being in control of the work they do.
Imagine they are trusted and given freedom, within clear guidelines, to decide how to achieve their results.
Imagine they are valued according to the work they do, rather than the number of hours they spend at their desk.
In too many organizations, management is broken. In one global survey just 21 per cent of staff reported that they are fully ...
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Authors / Editors
Henry Stewart founded Happy Computers 20 years ago, and today he is CEO of Happy Ltd. In 2009, the "Guru Radar of the Thinkers 50 list" proclaimed him one of the most influential business thinkers in the world. Happy Ltd has been listed as one of the 20 best workplaces in the UK for the last five years (Financial Times / Great Place to Work Institute). It has also been rated the best company in the UK for customer service (Management Today) and the best in the UK for work/life balance (Financial Times).
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Authors / Editors
Henry Stewart founded Happy Computers 20 years ago, and today he is CEO of Happy Ltd. In 2009, the "Guru Radar of the Thinkers 50 list" proclaimed him one of the most influential business thinkers in the world. Happy Ltd has been listed as one of the 20 best workplaces in the UK for the last five years (Financial Times / Great Place to Work Institute). It has also been rated the best company in the UK for ...
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Press Coverage
"If you're looking for information and inspiration to change up the "how" of leadership and management, you're sure to get an idea or two from this book. ...Pick up this book, read it, and talk about it with someone you know. You two will become better, smarter, leaders as a result."
--Jason Womack, author of
Your Best Just Got Better
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Press Coverage
"If you're looking for information and inspiration to change up the "how" of leadership and management, you're sure to get an idea or two from this book. ...Pick up this book, read it, and talk about it with someone you know. You two will become better, smarter, leaders as a result."
--Jason Womack, author of
Your Best Just Got Better
Table of Contents
About Henry Stewart
Foreword
Introduction
01 Enable people to work at their best
What makes great management?
When did you work at your best?
Trust and freedom
Get out of the way: less management can mean more productivity
Pre-approve it
Pre-approval: Happy's website
Step out of approval
Enabling your people to be trusted
Does your structure help innovation?
Encourage disobedience
02 Make your people feel good
The key focus for managers
Believe the best
Believe the best of everybody you deal with
Systems not rules
Remove the rules
The key to effective change: enable, don't dictate
Choose less stress as a manager
What do managers do? Coach and support
03 Creating a great workplace makes good business sense
Return to Abraham Maslow and the 'hierarchy of needs'
A hierarchy of management needs
04 Freedom with clear guidelines
Principles and targets
The Happy story
Job ownership
Support
Feedback
It's good to keep score - providing your people are in control
05 Be open and transparent
People need bad news too
Make salaries open
06 Recruit for attitude, train for skill
Why most recruitment gets it wrong
Get people to do the job, not talk about it
Recruit for attitude, train for skill
Why do they need a degree?
Don't rely on qualifications
Involve people
Make is easy for interested people to apply
Find the potential in your lowest-paid staff
Let people leave well
07 Celebrate mistakes
Go make mistakes
Mistakes are good
No blame even for big mistakes: Huntsman and the big red button
08 Community: create mutual benefit
Profits are important and necessary but not sufficient
Increase the impact of your skills and resources
'I milked a goat': mutual benefit
Would anybody notice...
Corporate social responsibility should be about everything you do
09 Love work, get a life
Keep people to their hours
It's not about you, it's about them
Find 'me' time
10 Select managers who are good at managing
Our most radical concepts...
The two roles of managers
Build on strengths not weaknesses
Find an alternative route to promotion
Let people choose their manager
Conclusion
It is time to change
The Happy manifesto
Recommended books
Acknowledgements
How to contact Happy
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Table of Contents
About Henry Stewart
Foreword
Introduction
01 Enable people to work at their best
What makes great management?
When did you work at your best?
Trust and freedom
Get out of the way: less management can mean more productivity
Pre-approve it
Pre-approval: Happy's website
Step out of approval
Enabling your people to be trusted
Does your structure help innovation?
Encourage disobedience
02 Make your people feel good
The key focus for managers
Believe the best
Believe the best of everybody you deal with
Systems not rules
Remove the rules
The key to effective change: enable, don't ...
Expand