Overview of the Global Happiness Council Certifications - Case Study Example

PROPOSAL By Name Course Instructor Institution City/State Date Global Happiness Council – Proposal Overview of the Global Happiness Council (GHC) Certifications Globally demanded and recognised, the GHC happiness certification will exhibit to clients, organisations, and individuals that happiness is valuable not only for organisation’s productivity but also for individual’s wellbeing. Given that happiness is a crucial factor for business success, organisations and individuals that will have happiness certification are those able to make their customers or employees happy and achieve successful organisational or individual results. Basically, the GHC will acknowledge the individual’s competence to play the happiness role, particularly experience in managing organisations and leading employees. After some years, the happiness certification will gain recognition globally and will also command a higher remuneration for certified organisations and individuals as compared to the non-certified. As mentioned by Fisher (2010, p.384), happiness can be defined as a form of amusing emotions and moods, positive attitudes, and well-being. Without a doubt, happiness is crucially important for the majority of people; therefore, it is an extremely valued goal in nearly all societies. Therefore, happiness in this standard will be defined as a joy manifested in the humans’ basic emotions. Clearly, the feeling of happiness is crucial to human experience; thus, the majority of people value being happy most of the time. According to Wesarat et al. (2015, p.78), improving the people’s well-being needs a robust evidence base which could enlighten the public and the policymakers when, for whom, and where life is pulling through. In the organisations, happiness connotes how people are satisfied not just with their work, but also their lives. The happiness idea of is associated with the subjective well-being of individuals. In the place of work, happiness is very important, especially in improving the organisation’s productivity. When people are happy, they become more productive, but when less happy they become unmotivated and less productive. Wesarat et al. (2015, p.78) emphasise that organisations capable of maintaining long-term happiness are inclined to sustain and improve productivity because it would be easier to understand the factors affecting employee happiness and ways of improving happiness in the organisation. Scores of business organisations need employees who are productive and capable of helping the organisation achieve organisational goals. Therefore, maintaining happiness is important because as mentioned earlier it increases individual and organisation’s productivity. Therefore, this standard will help organisations maintain happiness so as to improve performance and productivity and also improve individuals wellbeing. About GHC’s Certification Program This standard seeks to offer an approach for happiness maximisation at organisational and individual level. The standard would offer insights regarding how business organisations and employees can positively influence the indicators of happiness as well as well-being. The emphasis would be on institutions and rules instead of certain policy interventions. As indicated by Frey and Stutzer (2012, p.670) improving subjective well-being measurements could help reinforce political competition by facilitating organisation’s decision makers to effectively examine the public goods’ benefits and also to contrast different measures examining the society state. The quality of a person’s social relationships is a key predictor of happiness and well-being. Actually, when individuals are isolated in the society, they are inclined to feel unhappiness because of the pain they feel for being isolated. As pointed out by Helliwell et al. (2015, p.98), behaviour which improves social bonds improves individual’s happiness and well-being considerably. Happiness standard would provide an all-inclusive certification program for organisations and individuals regardless of their levels of experience and education. More importantly, the certifications will be created as well as maintained by means of a vigorous process. The program of certification would include: Happiness management certification Certified associate in happiness certification Happiness professional certification GHC professional in business happiness certification GHC will value the essence of fairness in conducting its certification-related processes, conflict of interest would be managed, and the certification activities neutrality would be guaranteed. GHC‘s certifications would be differentiated by their application and development at the global level, which would facilitate its transfer in different geographic borders as well as industries. The GHC happiness certifications’ strength will be sourced from their portability since they will not be tied to a particular technique, organisation, or standard. The GHC’s certification program will be created with the objective of ensuring that every individual or organisation holding the certificate has exhibited their capability through valid as well as fair measures. More importantly, steps will be taken in order to make sure that the testing measures utilised to assess applicants are very reliable. The GHC happiness certifications will be developed by practitioners with expertise in happiness and wellbeing. the process of certification would be steered by certification certified psychologists, happiness experts, and volunteers who will be spending most of their time refining and constructing exam questions that would be used while interviewing applicants for GHC happiness certification. The volunteers will signify the happiness market diversity, sourced from different parts of the world. The monitoring of the exam questions will be happening by means of statistical industry-standard procedures that would be supervised by volunteers. The whole certification program will be supervised by the British Accreditation Council. The candidates/applicants’ competencies will be examined using: Testing Competence, whereby they will be required to apply the experience and concepts of happiness to potential life or on-the-job situations using numerous scenario-based questions. They will also be examined using Ongoing Development; wherein GHC happiness certification will be maintained through accumulating ongoing education or professional development or, re-certification. GHC Happiness Certification Mission Administering, evaluating, initiating, and establishing a certification program that would help support and promote happiness at the individual and organisational level. GHC Happiness Certification Process Timeline The timeline for the process of GHC happiness certification as evidenced in the figure below will involve numerous steps: Submission of application Review of application completeness Payment process Audit process Choosing examination eligibility Certification cycles Credentials maintenance, renewal, suspension and expiration Figure one: GHC Happiness Certification Process Timeline GHC will carry out studies for role delineation in all certifications after every five years. The study will be conducted by a third party, one that is not regulated by GHC and it will involve professionals from across the globe. Such individuals will deliberate on the particular roles related to all certifications as well as the responsibilities and tasks which will be conducted in the specified role. Specifically, role delineation would be akin to job analysis since it will offer an exam outline and would also connect the role to the exam questions. Applicants for the GHC’s happiness certification would be monitored while carrying out their tasks and duties and will be accountable for every aspect of happiness at organisational or individual level. Importantly, the applicants will have to show that they have adequate experience and knowledge to utilise a methodology and other deliverables to arouse happiness properly. Application and Payment The applicants will have to complete an online application since GHC seeks to utilise the online certification system in order to issue certifications. Still, GHC will offer a printable application version but on the case-by-case basis. In this case, the candidates would have to submit a request by contacting the customer care. The applicants will have to ensure that they meet the certification eligibility requirements before starting the application process. When the applicants start the online application, they cannot cancel it, but they can edit the information they have already entered before submitting. In case the applicant saves his/her application before completing it, it will remain open for the duration of three months before GHC sends a reminder through email for the application to be completed. Therefore, the applicants would be required to provide valid email address since it will be used as the main means of communication from GHC all through the process of certification. Even though GHC will be emailing the applicants reminders during the certification process, it will be the responsibility of the applicants to plan for their examination within the eligibility duration of 12 months. Prior to the submission of the application, the applicants will be supposed to read and agree to the Certification Application Agreement, the Professional Conduct as well as GHC Code of Ethics which would be accessed through GHC.org. The applicants would also be able to use the online certification system to view their eligibility status, the status of the submitted application form, and to submit payment. The time of processing the application will depend on the mode of submission; for instance, application submitted online will be processed in five days while those sent through the postal mail will take much longer. Submitting Payment After the online application has been processed, the applicant will get a payment request from GHC electronically. In this case, the applicant will take a number of steps in the online certification system: choosing the method of examination delivery then submit payment. The payment will be submitted through various ways: credit card, money order, or wire transfer. For those submitting their applications through postal mail, they will be expected to attach the payment receipt with the application. Happiness Certification Fees For individuals, the payment of certification fees will depend on their status of the GHC membership as well as the type of examination delivery (paper-based or computer-based). Organisations Only Exam Administration Type GHC Member Status US Dollars Happiness Management members $1550 Non-members $1700 Certified Associate in Happiness Members $1405 Non-members $1500 GHC professional in business Happiness Members $1555 Non-members $1650 GHC certification renewal Members $505 Non-members $805 For the members of GHC, the membership rate will be applicable when submitting the certification payment. When individuals and organisations will be applying for membership prior to the applying the certification, they will have to ensure that they get their membership confirmation before making the certification payment. If the membership processing is not complete before making the certification payment, the non-member charges rate will be used. There will be no refund in case the applicants get membership after submitting payment. Basically, all charges and fees, paid once will be non-refundable. Still, individual’s professional status will be recognised. Membership Levels Membership will not be the same for all members; GHC will have five membership levels customised to meet the needs of members at different stages of their careers. Membership Levels Attributes Honorary Member This membership rank will be awarded for well-known eminent happiness experts and professionals who will be chosen by GHC committee that will focus on honours Fellow Individual at this level will comprise of those have performed exceedingly well in the happiness tests. More importantly, members at the Fellow level will be important individuals in the society tasked with promoting happiness at every social level. Members Members will be individuals with a lot of experience with regard to happiness. To become members, applicants would be required to pass the GHC happiness professional test. Affiliate These are individuals who are not happiness experts, but are personally or professionally involved on issues associated with happiness. Refund Policy In order for the applicants to get a refund after applying for happiness certification, they will have to make a request to GHC 30 days before the expiration date of exam eligibility. In this case, a US$150 processing fee will be retained by GHC if exams have not been done yet. Besides that, the processing fee will be refunded less US$150 for both individuals and organisations after failing to meet the requirements for an audit. However, a refund will not be provided in a number of cases; for instance, after the expiration of the one-year eligibility period and the applicant has not scheduled for the happiness exam, he/she will not be refunded. Also, a refund will not be received if the applicant failed to sit for the scheduled happiness exam and fails to offer the needed rescheduling or cancellation notification to GHC. Certification Procedures as well as Policies Every challenge towards happiness certification will be governed by the exclusive as well as comprehensive rules formulated by GHC. The appeal procedures with regard to happiness certification will be conducted by the GHC happiness Certification Appeals Office which will be mandated to review every certification appeal associated with certification that an applicant or a certified holder has submitted. The Appeals Office together with the manager of PMI Certification will make the final decision on the issue. More importantly, the applicants will be expected to submit their appeal requests in writing through postal mail or the provided email to the office tasked with handling the appeal issues. To facilitate credibility and promote integrity, the Appeals Office will be required to keep the records of all the submitted appeals, the actions that were taken, as well as the final decision. In addition, the Office Appeals Office will be tasked with the responsibility of communicating with the individuals who have submitted an appeal. The process of appeal will be the only credible way of reviewing an ever decision that GHC makes with regard to certification eligibility, applications, assessments, administration of tests as well as results. Utilisation of Happiness Certification After the applicants have passed the happiness test, the will be granted the GHC happiness certification. Therefore, they will consider themselves as holders of GHC happiness certification provided that their certification status remains active. The holders will be allowed to utilise the GHC happiness designation on their email signatures, personal letterhead, business cards, websites as well as resumes. It would be imperative for the happiness certification holders to understand that observing the Certification Application Agreement, Professional Conduct as well as GHC Code of Ethics is part of the application process. Therefore, they would have to utilise the GHC happiness designation in an ethical manner, and will not be allowed to use the designation in an unauthorised manner such as domain names, company names, or product names. As mentioned by Rooney and Ostenberg (1999, p.2) the process of certification can only be achieved after the authorised body recognises that an organisation or an individual adheres to the pre-determined criteria or requirements. In this case, certification is used because it is applicable not just to individuals but also organisations. Summary For the organisation, happiness certification will exemplify that the organisation capacity and service are beyond those normally found in the ordinary organisations. The level of happiness for organisations will be sad (no happiness), normal (level of happiness is normal) and superior (high level of happiness). The organisations applying for the happiness certification will have to undergo a number of tests, and upon completing the assessments successfully, they will be certified as happy organisations. To ensure the happiness is sustained, GHC through volunteers will be monitoring the certified organisations and will also be offering updates on how they can maintain a high level of happiness. For individuals, certification will connote that they have received extra training as well as education, and exhibit competency in happiness beyond the certification’s minimum requirements. As mentioned earlier, there will be different membership levels for individuals, and it will be determined by assessments they have undertaken. References Fisher, C.D., 2010. Happiness at work. International journal of management reviews, vol. 12, no. 4, pp.384-412. Frey, B.S. & Stutzer, A., 2012. The Use of Happiness Research for Public Policy. Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 659–674. Helliwell, J., Layard, R. & Sachs, J., 2015. The World Happiness Report 2015. Happiness Report. New York, NY: SDSN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Rooney, A.L. & Ostenberg, P.R.v., 1999. Licensure, Accreditation, and Certification: Approaches to Health Services Quality. Quality Assurance Project. Bethesda, MD: Center for Human Services. Wesarat, P.-o., Sharif, M.Y. & Majid, A.H.A., 2015. A Conceptual Framework of Happiness at the Workplace. Asian Social Science, vol. 11, no. 2, pp.78-88. Read More