20637
Chief Happiness Officer Henry Stewart is the founder of Happy Ltd., a corporation focussed on creating happy and productive workplaces.
Initially founded in his back room over three decades ago, it has now gained a reputation for enjoyable IT training and has won recognition for its innovative approach to management.
Happy was named one of the top 2 workplaces in the UK in 2022, in the SME section, and one of the top 15 in Europe.
Henry was listed in the Guru Radar of the Thinkers 50 list of the most influential business thinkers in the world. “He is one of the thinkers who we believe will shape the future of business”, explained list compiler Stuart Crainer.
“Imagine a workplace where people are energised 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 able to get the life balance they want. Imagine they are valued according to the work that they do, rather than the number of hours they spend at their desk. Wouldn’t you want to work there?”
Henry Stewart founded Happy Ltd in 1987 and has been the Chief Happiness Officer ever since. Together, the company looks at how leaders can adapt to make a happy and productive workplace, encourages the introduction of four-day work weeks, and provides consultancy on creating trust-based happy workplaces.
In 2009, Henry released the book Relax: A Happy Business Story, which told the story of a fictionalised stressed-out boss who goes from being unable to switch off, to a manager who finds the work/life balance. His second book, The Happy Manifesto, was released in 2013. It went on to be shortlisted for the Business Book of the Year.
In 2019, Henry appeared on the Meaningful Work, Meaningful Life podcast with Francine Beleyi, talking about how to create happy workplaces. Discussions included how to choose a happy organisation to work in, why mistakes build up resilience, why you should treat people the way they want to be treated, how to make happy workplaces the norm, and his own experiences through childhood and how that shaped his worldview as he got older.
Outside of Henry’s work at Happy Ltd., he has worked as the treasurer for Antidote, a charity building emotionally literature school environments, is the co-founder of Local Schools Network, an organisation looking to support local schools, and spent a decade as the Chair of Governors at Stoke Newington School. He is also a keen cyclist, and in 2016 he completed the Haute Route, a seven-day cycle through the Alps, the equivalent of three Tour de France Cols every day.
– Creating a happy workplace
– Avoiding bureaucracy to create a flat structure
– How to be productive and not just busy: 10 tips for being more productive
– How to make the four-day week work
Happy Workplace: Henry will challenge how leaders run a workplace but will leave delegates with specific ideas on building trust and freedom at work.
Productivity Blitz: Henry will provide 10 tips on how to become more focussed, solving your email overload and cutting the time spent in meetings.
Four-Day Week: Henry will explain how it is possible to get as much down in four days as you would typically in five.
Henry Stewart has spoken to thousands of individuals, leaders and businesses worldwide, including at events such as the Thinkers50 Conference. He has been named on the Guru Radar Thinkers 50 List as one of the most influential business thinkers in the world.
Clients include British Library, Hackney Council, House of Commons, Macmillan Cancer Support, Novartis, UBS.
Henry is a highly engaging public speaker whose charisma, clarity of thought and energy take an audience’s enthusiasm to a whole new level. He recently delighted a business audience at the Mayor of London’s Healthy Workplace Charter annual awards ceremony with his challenging and inspiring tale on what makes a healthy workplace. I saw people immediately sit up and listen and the feedback afterwards was fantastic.
Charlotte Hall, London Health Commission
We had the privilege of having Henry come along and spread his message of happiness at the CompTIA EMEA Event 2015. What an excellent way to end our day with Henry giving us a really interesting, entertaining and well presented session on creating happy, productive workplaces – transforming organisations and people. Henry will literally brighten up any room! Henry was also very accessible and easy to work with in the lead up to the event. It makes such a difference – thank you Henry and great job!
Estelle Johannes, CompTIA
Henry’s presentation to our leadership forum was pitched just right – it was lively and challenging but also relevant and left us with some practical steps to take. Highly recommended! Thank you so much, Henry.
Elizabeth Smith, Royal Academy of Dance
I’ve actually had the most productive week for months – I’m so much more focused on what needs to be done, and I’ve got it done. And it makes you feel super efficient and good at your job for a change!
Ann Hartland, Director, Cedar