Welcome to the December issue of Happy Workforce

Over the past six months of Happy Workforce, we’ve been looking into how we can create and foster happiness in the workforce. In previous newsletters, we have looked at the value of building adaptability skills in the public sector, the opportunity for leaders to be authentic in how they show up and lead others, the link between learning and development in positively contributing to improving mental health and wellbeing, and how changing our perspectives and being open to others can contribute to improved employee engagement and happiness.

We’ve also had some truly inspirational conversations with people leaders from the public sector in our Thriving in Uncertainty weekly podcast series. These trailblazers have enlightened us with their words of wisdom, including the often unsaid and understated power of mentors, champions, and even other peers who have helped to uplift and support their decisions and helped them carve out their own path in their leadership journey.

This week, we’ve posted the second part of our special podcast episode with Dr Rachel Bacon, Deputy Commissioner of Integrity, Reform, and Enabling Services at the Australian Public Service Commission , on a growth mindset approach to change. In part one, Rachel distilled what it means to have a growth mindset and how that plays out in practice, adapting how we respond to change from the instinct of being threatened to asking curious questions and seeing change as an opportunity. Rachel took us through the importance of honesty, vulnerability, and openness in leadership. In part two, Rachel explains the process they took in designing the implementation and delivery architecture for a ten-year endeavour to support and achieve government outcomes on the APS Reform and how adopting a curious mindset was crucial in the process. You can listen to both parts on our website or through Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Next week, we are joined by Kate Driver , CEO of IPAA ACT and co-founder and board member of the CoRE Learning Foundation , as we talk about future workforces and talk through the possibilities of what workforces in the 22nd-century will look like, what skills will be important in the next five to ten years, how organisations can prepare their workforces for the future and the importance of thinking about the impact of what we are delivering.

We look forward to bringing you many more of these engaging stories with inspirational leaders in 2025. You can keep updated with all of our episodes and trailblazers on our website.

As the year draws to a close, many of us may start to think about what we want to work towards, try, or do differently in the New Year. Often, these centre on health, lifestyle changes, and finding happiness. Equally as important as personal goals are organisational ones, especially for leaders in helping their workplaces be healthier and happier. And who better to take inspiration from than the amazing trailblazers who have inspired us through their professional stories? We’ve extracted twelve essential aspirations that everyone, whether you’re a people leader or a team member, can contribute to creating a healthier and happier workplace in 2025 and beyond and presented in our new article: 12 aspirations for People Leaders in 2025.

Before the lights go out in the offices before the holidays, teams often engage in planning sessions or team-building days to set their sights on the year ahead. These positive and engaging experiences can contribute to making teams work more effectively together by valuing and respecting each other’s unique perspectives to achieve the best outcomes.

Sometimes, though, teams can be hindered by a range of factors, including team members having a more fixed mindset approach to working in a team. A valuable exercise we teach as part of our Elevate Strategic Insight for Maximum Impact course is “Uncover the Stinky Fish.”. The metaphor is that the longer we don’t talk about issues (or the fish), the worse (or stinkier) they’ll get. It’s a valuable tool for teams to practice discussing things openly and asking questions that might feel uncomfortable but ultimately get to a much better outcome. Download it free from our website.

Thank you for subscribing to our Happy Workforce newsletter this year. We hope that you have found our insights and perspectives to be thought-provoking and helpful in helping you lead others and create a happier and more engaged workforce, and we look forward to continuing to share these in 2025 with you.