Page 46 - Middleborough 2024 Town Report

H U M A N
RESOURCES
In June of 2024 I was fortunate to attend a Leadership
and Happiness Symposium at the Harvard Kennedy
School Center for Public Leadership. The main
presenter was Arthur C. Brooks. Brooks has served as
a Professor at the Harvard Business School and
Harvard Kennedy School where he runs the
Leadership & Happiness Laboratory at the Center for
Public Leadership. His “Leadership and Happiness”
class has gained immense popularity and attention in
the press. He also began hosting podcasts on
happiness such as The Art of Happiness and wrote the
book Build the Life You Want with Oprah Winfrey.
Other presenters included Laurie Santos, a Professor
of Psychology at Yale University who teaches Yale’s
most popular course “The Psychology of Happiness”
to thousands of undergraduates and Dr. Lisa Miller
who has been studying happiness and spirituality
across multiple levels of scientific analysis and began
the Mindfulness Program at Columbia University.
Some key takeaways from this symposium
Happiness leaders model and teach happiness:
• Understand – the most efective leaders do not
leave their own happiness to chance.
• Apply – they manage their own levels of afect and
life satisfaction for higher levels of efectiveness
and career endurance.
• Share – they manage to the well-being of those
they lead for both ethical and practical reasons and
this cements their happiness.
Two aspects of meaningful work that bring happiness
to you and those you lead:
• Earned Success – accomplishment of hard work
rewarded.
• Service to Others – job makes life better for others
in a tangible way.
In collaboration with the Town Manager and
Wellness Working Group, we hosted several events
throughout the year including an employee
appreciation cookout, walking challenge, hydration
stations, Town meetup events, Boo Buddies (a fun
Halloween tradition where a small handmade treat
or git is randomly given to another employee
between 10/1 through 10/31), Friendsgiving with a
Gratitude Tree and Acts of Kindness, holiday party
and vision board activity to help our employees
establish goals or choose a word of intention for the
upcoming year to articulate what motivates them to
do better every day.
Employees are the heart of our municipality, which
focuses on uniting employees, navigating
challenges through diverse perspectives, and
elevating customers’ needs. We strive to bring
clarity and eficiency to human resource processes
and structures through cross-team collaboration
and transparent communication. We are
committed to promoting a quality work
environment that positively inluences our
employees.
Respectfully submitted,
Allison Ferreira
Allison Ferreira
Human Resources Director
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