Creating a Happy Workplace at Heart of Kent Hospice

Here are some ideas for creating a great culture from Sarah Pugh, now Chief Executive of Whizz Kidz, about her time as CEO at Heart of Kent Hospice — all taken from her talk at the 2021 Happy Workplaces Conference.

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?

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.

Banish appraisals: “We had them for years, nobody was keen on them. Instead we use a snapshot three times a year, built around our behaviours and values and personal development.”

Pets at work: “We let colleagues bring their pets into work in our Hospice. Definitely a way to help people feel happy and our patients loved them.”

Liberating Structures: “I attended Happy’s Liberating Structures workshop. They were revolutionary for me, to enable me to fully engage everybody in our meetings and events.”  

Colleagues not staff: “Don’t use the word staff. Use ‘colleagues’, it is just more adult-to-adult.”

Stop making decisions: “Remove yourself as a leader from decision-making. Leave your people to make the key decisions.”

Weekly survey: “We introduced a weekly happiness rating, just 4 questions: what’s good, what’s not, what’s changed and how happy do you feel.”

Key behaviours to fulfil the values: “I care. I learn. I own. I improve.”

The key mindset: “I am curious about improving care.”

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat: “Continually reinforce the behaviours.”

Share the book: “Once I discovered the Happy Manifesto, I gave it to all staff, at both HOKH and now at Whizz Kidz.”

Freedom within boundaries: “Set the guidelines and give people freedom within them.”

Break the rules: “Encourage colleagues to find the rules that don’t make sense, and banish them.”

Need to feel valued, their health and wellbeing: Send thank you and birthday cards to every member of the team.

Create a safe space: Add a ‘freedom to speak up’ guardian — somebody to help someone who has a concern, they won’t do it for them but will support them through that process. 

Learn the 10 core principles to create a happy and productive workplace in Henry Stewart's book, The Happy Manifesto.

Hi, we are Happy

We help organisations create happy, productive workplaces, where people feel trusted, work to their strengths and are confident with their IT software.

We want everyone to find joy in at least 80% of their work, everyday.

Our workplace solutions include:
– Workplace consultancy
– Leadership and personal development programmes
– Government-funded management apprenticeships
– AI and Excel training

And much more. Get in touch with our friendly team to discuss your current challenge and find out how we can help you.

Henry Stewart

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.

What you should look at next

The Happy Manifesto

Outline the 10 core principles for a happy workplace. It has since helped thousands of leaders build trust-driven, empowered teams.

Thanks.

We've received your message and will get back to you soon. In the meantime, you may find these of interest.

The Happy Manifesto

The Happy Manifesto features ten core principles for creating happier, more engaging places to work. We offer all of Henry's books as free downloads.

Want more ideas for creating happy, productive workplaces?

Sign up for our Happy Manifesto newsletter and discover fresh ways to ignite joy and productivity at work. Get expert tips, insights, and ideas that challenge the norm—straight to your inbox. Join our movement and start your journey for a trust-based, values-led organisation.

Want more ideas for creating happy, productive workplaces?

Sign up for our Happy Manifesto newsletter and discover fresh ways to ignite joy and productivity at work. Get expert tips, insights, and ideas that challenge the norm—straight to your inbox. Join our movement and start your journey for a trust-based, values-led organisation.