Henry Stewart of the training company Happy draws attention to the positive correlation between staff engagement and profitability. Employee contentment is an underlying key to maximising growth and performance.
Key factors to a happy workplace include a noblame culture, a good work/life balance, transparency and a genuine commitment to the wider community.
Applying the ten guiding principles of the Happy Manifesto across many organisations has created happier and more productive workplaces.15 Ten steps to a happy workplace 1.Trust your team. Step out of approval. Instead, preapproveand focus on supporting your people.

2.Make your people feel good. Make this the focus of management.

3.Give freedom within clear guidelines. People want to know what is expected of them. But they want freedom to find the best way to achieve their goals.

4.Be open and transparent. More information means more people can take responsibility.

5.Recruit for attitude, train for skill. Instead of qualifications and experience, recruit on attitude and potential ability.

6.Celebrate mistakes. Create a truly noblame culture.

7.Community: create mutual benefit. Have a positive impact on the world and build your organisation too.

8.Love work, get a life. The world, and your job, needs you well rested, well nourished and well supported.

9.Select managers who are good at managing. Make sure your people are supported by somebody who is good at doing that, and find other routes for those whose strengths lie elsewhere. Even better, allow people to choose their own managers.

10.Play to your strengths – make sure your people spend most of their time doing what they are best at.

1.Explain fully how you relate the Happy Manifesto to the contents of this chapter. How you would place in order of importance the ten steps to a happy workplace?

2.Discuss how you view the relationship between a genuine commitment to the wider community and a happy workplace.

3.To what extent and under what circumstances do you believe people should be allowed to choose their own managers?