Download - Positive Psychology in Organisations

8/11/2019 Positive Psychology in Organisations

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How Positive Psychology can Add Value to Businesses and

Organisations

The Value of the People in an Organisation

The value of "intangible assets" which include everything fromskilled workers to patents to brands has increased from 20% to70% of the value of companies in the S& !00 according toa ay #roup 200$ study n 200!' the intangible capital of theworld(s largest )!0 companies was *7! trillion compared to*+00 billion in ),+!

-ercer and ./ 1esearch Services find that companies spend an

estimated $% of their revenues on human capital uman capital practices are a leading indicator of corporate

financial performance 3 200! 4atson 4yatt study found the !

year shareholder return for companies with strong human capitalpractices was nearly double that of companies with weak humancapital practices 5)0% vs !%6

There is a growing trend in both -edicine and rganisational

Science towards evidencebased practices 5feffer & Sutton'200$6

The Incremental Value of Employee Engagement

4orldwide' the vast ma8ority of employees across all levels of

organisations are less than fully engaged in their work3ccording to a recent study completed by Towers errin' only)9% of employees worldwide indicate that they are highlyengaged 1oughly a :uarter are actively disengaged' and $2%are only moderately engaged

The #allup organisation has been measuring employee

engagement since 2000' and their recent studies found resultsconsistent with Towers errin #allup estimates the annualeconomic costs associated with disengagement as high as ;2billion in the uros in /rance' and *70 billion inthe


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The Field of Positive Psychology

ositive sychology is an evidencebased science studying what?s rightwith people t includes a classification of strengths' the deployment of

strengths to enrich development' meaning' purpose and virtue'constructive relationships' the impact of optimism' hope and resilienceon optimal performance' and the role of positive emotions t appliesthe same discipline as traditional psychology' but with a very differentpurpose

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The eed for ew Approaches

3ll organisations are now broadening their remit to include anemphasis on Sustainability' 1esponsibility and Gong Term ealth 3

review of the challenges facing organisations suggests some keythemes that will contribute to these goals@

)6 Cew levels of >mployee >ngagement26 Heveloping Geaders fit for the 2)st.entury6 ncreased adaptability' speed of response and creativity96 and 5of course6 sustained high performance

The !ole of Positive Psychology

"# ew $evels of Employee Engagement

rganisations are enhancing >mployee >ngagement by focusing onstrengths' meaning and purpose

3t Toyota(s Corth 3merican arts .entre' 900 employees went

through strengthsbased interventions@o 3fter one year' perpersonproductivity at the warehouse

increased by $%' compared to the normal yearly variationof around I)% to )%

o The two teams who underwent a more intensive strengths

based program saw a ,% productivity increase after only $months 5.onnelly' 20026

4achovia Bank saw an increase in performance of )% with a

group of employees who they actively engaged in the purpose ofthe Bank Js a control group

3 metaanalysis of more than 00'000 employees in !)

companies showed that work teams who scored above themedian on the number of employees who get to use their topstrengths daily had@

o +% higher productivity scores

o 99% higher customer loyalty and employee retentionscores 5arter & Schmidt' 20026

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%# &eveloping $eaders Fit for the %"st'entury

The latest ideas in this area reflect an emerging model of leadershipthat is :uite different 51esonant Geadership 5BoyatAi6' 3uthentic

Geadership 5#eorge6' Gevel ! Geadership 5.ollins6 Terms such ascompassion' hope' optimism' resilience' authenticity and humility areentering the Geadership Jocabulary and sit firmly in the remit ofositive sychology

.>s who rated high on positive affect 5ie the eEperience of

positive emotions6 were more likely to have employees whorated themselves as happy and healthy' and who reported aclimate conducive to performance rganisational climate wasthen correlated with productivity 5r )6 and profitability 5r $65/oster' ebl' 4est' & Hawson' 20096

Teams lead by managers who eEhibit positive leadershipbehaviours 5eg focusing on strengths' giving fre:uentrecognition and encouragement' and maintaining a positiveperspective6 are more engaged and have higher pro8ectperformance 5#reenberg and 3rkawa' 20076

Service departments with happy leaders were more likely to

receive high ratings from customers 5#eorge' ),,!6

There is a positive relationship between rganisational Geaders?

level of hope and the profitability of their units and thesatisfaction and retention of their employees 5eterson and

Guthans' 2006 ptimistic .>s receive higher performance ratings from the

chairpersons of their boards and head companies with greaterreturns on investment 5ritAker' 20026

# Increased adapta(ility) speed of response and creativity*

.ertain psychological characteristics such as hope and optimismincrease our ability to effectively deal with challenges' whilst theeEperience of positive emotions 5sometimes enabled by a focus onstrengths6 allows us to broaden our thinking and build new ideas

ptimism and 1esilience can be taught 5Seligman' ),,+6 andhas been linked to@

o .oping better with crisis' coming up with more effective

coping strategies and improving the :uality of decisionmaking 5/redrickson' 2006

o The development of more innovative problem solving

techni:ues 5sen' 20006

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o The ability to thrive and flourish 5rather than 8ust survive6

inevitable difficulties and uncertainties 51yff & Singer'2006

The >Eperience of ositive >motions leads to increases in lateral

thinking and creativity 5/redrickson' 2006 eople who focus on negative events tend to show less creativity

in problem solving 5Gyubomirsky' ),,!6

3 positive relationship eEists between the amount of positive and

constructive interaction within a team and the performance ofthat team 5/redrickson & Gosada' 200$6

>mployees are more willing and able to adapt to change and new

challenges that are aligned to their strengths 5Ginley' arrington& ill' 200!6

Strengths use and strengths knowledge is associated with

psychological wellbeing and vitality 5#ovind8i & Ginley' 20076

9# +ustained High Performance

The above all link to erformance' but some studies show a directrelationship between 8ob performance and positive psychological states5such as hope' optimism and selfefficacy6 and constructs 5such asstrengths based approaches and high :uality relationships6

3 study of ),'000 employees found that an emphasis on

performance strengths led to a $% increase in performance'whereas an emphasis on weakness saw a decrease in

performance of 27% 5.orporate Geadership .ouncil' 200)6 ne study shows that the level of hope of over )000 employees

and managers is positively related to their performance' 8obsatisfaction and organisational commitment 5Koussef' 20096Specific approaches have been developed that increase hope inan organisational setting 5Guthans' Koussef and 3volio' 20076

ptimistic Gife nsurance Salesmen sell more insurance

5Seligman and Schulman' ),+$6 This may be due to theoptimistic eEplanation for setbacks that led to a focus on selfdevelopment and creative problem solving 5Guthans' Koussef and3volio' 20076

The -arriott otel .hain saw an increase in sales of $% Js a

control #roup when they were given Strengths Based /eedback5#allup 20096

3 metaanalysis of ))9 studies showed a strong positive

correlation between Self>fficacy 5the probability that we believewe will succeed in a particular endeavour6 and 8ob performance5Sta8kovic and Guthans' ),,+a6 There are wellestablished

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techni:ues for increasing workrelated Self>fficacy 5Guthans'200$6

>ngagement' leadership' innovation and performance are inherently

linked and' when taken as a whole' there is growing evidence tosupport a role for ositive sychology in helping organisations flourishin the 2)st.entury

>mma Ludgeositive rganisations3pril 200+

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