More and more, we are seeing governments talk about a gross happiness index (GHI) and about their citizens’ emotional wellbeing. This psychological component was entirely missing in previous measuring tools, which, looking back, is surprising, because the whole point of a government is to serve the needs of individuals. Emotional wellbeing is a significant part of that.
As someone who has worked in human resources, I know that to create a successful organisation, the focus should not just be on making it financially profitable, but to ensure all its employees are actively engaged and involved in its success. If companies focus on people’s happiness, they are bound to be successful. It is a collective goal, where the stakeholders and the employers work together towards success.
Learning from customer relationship management, good governments seek out special relationships with the people under their care. What do the finest customer service personnel do? They listen to you and try to do their best, and if they cannot help, they explain their limitations to you and say they are working on a solution. This builds trust. Governments can do this too. I saw this first-hand in Tamil Nadu, India, during the 2015 floods that displaced thousands of people. As long as rescue officials were engaging with people on the ground, people would work with them and rally support. But when officials refused to meet with them or stopped communicating, they would get upset.
UAE is moving forward with healthy engagement from citizens, and people know they can communicate with the government, whether through suggestion boxes in public departments or on social media networks like twitter. Naturally, with such open communication, it would add to the GHI and help the country progress with the complete buy-in of citizens and residents.
- The reader is the director of a technical company, based in Dubai.
