Edited by Dena Michelli
Allen & Unwin, 2005
$32.95
A happy workforce is a productive workforce, or so the saying goes, and this practical book can help achieve both. Targeted at individuals more than organisations it outlines some key steps to professional happiness.
Make it Happen: How to get ahead and be happy at work is introduced and edited by Dena Michelli, the author of Assertiveness in a Week, and includes short sections which cover important, but fairly straightforward topics like building self-confidence, writing great emails, managing your time and solving difficult problems.
The getting the best from your career section is interesting with its focus on – among other topics –making sure you are in the right job, creating a career plan, entering a new field, coping with burnout, going freelance and making yourself promotable.
The section dedicated to getting the best from others is a good starting point for managers and the question and answer approach which runs through the whole book makes this a handy, easy-to-use guide.
Most of us spend about 70 per cent of our week at work so being happy there is an important part of our overall well being. Where this book is most useful is in its plain English approach (it is blissfully free of jargon) to offering solutions to some of the causes of unhappiness in the workplace.