The Journey to Create a Happy Workplace in Manufacturing
Derek Hill, managing director of Advanced Technology Solutions, came to the 2019 Happy Workplaces conference to talk about his organisation’s journey to create a happy workplace in manufacturing. Derek equates the company’s pithy mantra – “we make factories run better” – to the central philosophy of the book Will It Make the Boat Go Faster? The intention to make factories run better has been at the nucleus of ATS since its inception in 1985.
In this full length video for the 2019 Happy Workplaces conference, Derek explains how ATS employees have their purpose renewed by honouring the mantra to this day.
Transparency and Job Ownership at ATS UK Ltd
This year at Advanced Technology Services UK Limited, Derek Hill and his team have focused on increasing transparency and job ownership. This is particularly important as ATS has 185 locations across the globe, primarily in the US, Mexico and UK, and need ways to maintain and strengthen their company culture across borders.
In this short video from the 2019 Happy Workplaces Conference, Derek explains what ATS has done to increase transparency and job ownership across the business.
How to Make Human Resources More Human
Tracey Waters is focused on improving employee experience at Sky UK. She has implemented two new practices: design thinking and agile methodology. The two processes compliment each other — design thinking is about problem finding, while agile is about problem solving.
In this full-length video from the 2019 Happy Workplaces Conference, Tracey explains how these two methodologies work together.
How Sky UK’s HR Department has Embraced Design Thinking
At Sky UK, they have embraced Design Thinking to tackle common HR issues. Design Thinking is a methodology that provides a solution-based, human approach to problems. It aims to create multiple ideas during brainstorming, which can then be prototyped and tested in a empathetic way that people can easily understand. For Sky, in the final stage, they test people’s reactions and gauge if it ‘wows’.
In this short video from the 2019 Happy Workplaces Conference, Tracey Waters explains how they applied Design Thinking to the question ‘how might we help people at Sky have a fulfilling career?’
The Pursuit of Joy at Work at Happy
Cathy Busani’s goal for the staff at Happy is that they experience joy in at least 80% of their work.
In this video from the the 2019 Happy Workplaces Conference, Cathy explains how she aims to achieve this by focusing on strengths-based working — asking staff to think about what they are great at and seeing how they can incorporate it into their day-to-day working.
Mayden: Managing the Work, Not the People
Alison Sturgess-Durden is the Director at Mayden, a software business based in Bath with a staff of 80 people. Mayden’s software is specifically created for health professionals and patients. Their most prominent achievement is the creation of a patient management system that’s favoured by most psychological therapy services in the NHS.
In 2013 Mayden became a self-managing organisation, comprised of autonomous teams. In this video from the 2019 Happy Workplaces Conference, Alison explains the reasons behind the switch, how they did it and how it works (and some of the challenges they faced along the way!).
How Organisations Can Show Appreciation for Their Teams
At COOK, they believe that the key components of good working relationships at work are having a common purpose, clarity for staff on where they fit within the organisation, and finally by showing their staff that they are appreciated.
At the 2019 Happy Workplaces Conference, Rosie Brown of COOK explained how they manage this at an organisational level in this short 2.44 minute video.
How COOK Places Relationships at the Heart of Their Business
Rosie Brown sees great potential in human connection for creating positive, productive workplaces and generating great performance. As the Managing Director of COOK, Rosie has learnt that the best results nearly always come from a group of people working really well together. This has led her to pledge allegiance to the idea that the route to success is in relationship.
At the 2019 Happy Workplaces Conference, Rosie encouraged people to return to work and look at their respective organisations through a relational lens. In Rosie’s view, looking at things through a relational lens is a wily method for figuring out what’s working and what isn’t.
Watch the full talk or view the transcript below.
The Value of Vulnerability at Work
Would you invite 20 of your team round to your house for lunch? That is exactly what Simon Lawson, Chairman of Lawsons, has been doing regularly for the last six years. In this short video, Simon explains how the Values Lunches started, and how they have been contributed to creating a happy workplace.
How Webmart Maximise Their Competitive Advantage
What areas of your organisation do you monitor? In this 2:40 minute video, Simon Biltcliffe explains how at Webmart, they monitor the company’s Intellectual, Emotional and Financial return for true competitive advantage.
