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International week of Happiness at Work
International week of Happiness at Work
Are your people happy? Truly content in their work, and thriving in your organisation?
It may seem trite; the concept of workplace happiness isn’t a new one, and it’s something that people have been discussing globally for many years – but, as the world continues to move, and people’s needs, positions, lifestyles and experiences continue to change, you might find that your team are feeling a little flat, and your Leaders and Managers complacent.
It’s the role of every leader to ensure that their team are content – are enjoying their work, feeling stretched and challenged, but not overwhelmed, feel heard and understood, and not overlooked. The environment – and the culture – in your organisation aren’t things that can be fixed by one programme, one team-building event, and then left behind with a “job done, nailed it” attitude.
If people, and their lives, are always changing, and the world around your organisation is doing the same, then how things look within your walls needs to evolve at the same pace – or your people will lose the drive, passion and connection to their work – and your business will see the impact of that dissatisfaction.
The last working week of September – the 25th-29th – is designated ‘International Happiness at Work Week’, and is marked by events, campaigns and promises from organisations all over the world, who sign or promote the Manifesto of Happiness at Work – a commitment to creating a culture where employees enjoy a co-operative, creative, innovative environment. These promises, again, can seem obvious, or unnecessary – but, as cost of living and global politics continue to impact people’s well-being, it’s more important than ever that business leaders put the needs of their people at the forefront of their planning.
Some organisations still face difficulties, and have cultures where people feel flat, frustrated, stifled or ignored, and find it difficult to retain the best talent, or to get the best quality work from their employees. All too often this kind of performance issue is met with disciplinary actions or criticism, when – if your Managers and Leaders were looking at the bigger picture – better support or a more empathetic culture could identify the causes behind the performance, and take steps to meet the needs that aren’t currently being met (or even identified!) within the roles of their employees and teams.
Changing the overall culture of an organisation is a significant undertaking – but the first, and most important, step is to identify the values you wish to embed.
This is something that we have, as an organisation, spent a lot of time considering, and embedding into the day-to-day environment we work within. You can read about ASK’s Values on our website and you’ll see that we strive to achieve these in every aspect of our work:
Respect, Integrity, Attitude, Fun, Quality.
These are the values that, as a team, we identified as mattering most to us; these are the values around which all of our recruitment, training and development are based, and the standards by which we measure our performance, our culture, the way that we communicate, and the Leadership and structure of our teams.
Since our own commitment to these values, and to ensuring that they are an underpinning foundation of our business practices, we have built (and are continuing to grow…) a well-balanced team, where each member brings equal value, passion and excellence to our work. The office is a vibrant, engaging place to work, the team have built trust, friendship and support into their relationships, the wider bank of associates we work with are always happy to work with ASK on new programmes, and our clients sing the praises of our programmes and the team members they have contact with, whether it’s in planning their programmes, facilitating their learning, or the ongoing support and aftercare that comes beyond.
When you make a commitment to your people, and you sustain that commitment in your working practices, it creates a culture and environment where people can perform to their absolute best potential, where new learning and development are natural progressions, not barriers, and where any challenges or problems can be honestly and openly discussed, and thus overcome, with the support of their Managers and Leaders.
It’s important to practice what we preach – and we are always, consistently, conscious of these values in our own work, so that we can model to our clients the messaging within our programmes; so much of the learning and development we bring to you is based around the same psychology, the same values, and the same practices – because we ourselves are proof that it works!
If you want to learn more about International Week of Happiness at Work, click the button below, where you can download a printable of that manifesto we mentioned above – and if you want to hear more about the programmes that ASK offer, from Cultural Change to Coaching, get in touch with our team here, or email hello@askeurope.com – or call the team on 01234 757575