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Positive psychology can be<br />
harnessed as a powerful force to<br />
create a culture where the workplace<br />
feels like a second home because<br />
people feel a sense of belonging<br />
and appreciation there. It can be<br />
used to create cohesive relationships<br />
amongst co-workers as the team and<br />
company work towards common<br />
goals. This helps to align individuals<br />
with the overall organisational identity<br />
and leads to greater employee<br />
satisfaction, which results in higher<br />
employee engagement.<br />
According to the VIA (Values in<br />
Action) Character Strengths in the<br />
Workplace model by the VIA Institute<br />
on Character, employees who are<br />
able to utilise their natural strengths<br />
in the course of their work tend to<br />
report higher job satisfaction and<br />
engagement. Thus, HR personnel<br />
ought to sort and match individuals<br />
to teams based on the different<br />
strengths of employees. If you are able<br />
to identify the core strengths of your<br />
employees, you can spend more time<br />
and resources training them in these<br />
areas to grow their strengths rather<br />
than try to improve their weaknesses,<br />
which most organisations tend to do.<br />
Strengths are a natural resource so<br />
if you harness employees’ strengths<br />
correctly, you will be better able to<br />
assign employees roles and tasks<br />
that are more aligned with what<br />
they are naturally good at, and this<br />
will increase the chance of them<br />
succeeding – and feeling more<br />
fullled – in the role or task.<br />
As positive psychology works to<br />
help people build their mindfulness,<br />
develop resilience and communicate<br />
more effectively, you can expect that<br />
your employees will also be able to<br />
manage family problems and work<br />
stress better. Sure, everyone will face<br />
occasional ‘downtimes’ at work or<br />
in their personal lives but if people<br />
have the psychological resources<br />
that positive<br />
psychology<br />
can provide<br />
them, their<br />
downtime<br />
will be a lot<br />
shorter since<br />
their ability to<br />
bounce back<br />
will be higher.<br />
Additionally,<br />
positive psychology<br />
increases social<br />
intelligence. People<br />
who have gone through<br />
positive psychology training<br />
are more authentic and selfassured,<br />
and better equipped to<br />
instill fairness at work, foster a spirit<br />
of collaboration, and create more<br />
harmony with the people around<br />
them. Together, these should serve<br />
to help reduce politicking in the<br />
workplace.<br />
We have witnessed a rather interesting<br />
phenomenon in which employees<br />
who have been exposed to positive<br />
psychology training become wiser<br />
and more selective about who they<br />
hang out with in the ofce. They then<br />
tend to avoid mixing with co-workers<br />
with a negative mindset and those<br />
who love to gossip – and naturally<br />
drift away from these ‘black sheep’ in<br />
an organisation.<br />
With more positivity and less toxicity<br />
in the workplace, people will be<br />
happier and more engaged with their<br />
work and this will undoubtedly lead<br />
to a more productive workforce.<br />
Speaking of productivity, if you<br />
want your staff to stop spending so<br />
much time on Facebook or other<br />
social media, send them for positive<br />
psychology training. You need to<br />
understand that the top reason that<br />
employees choose to spend time<br />
on social media during ofce hours<br />
is due to sheer boredom. They are<br />
simply not engaged in their work and<br />
COMMENTARY<br />
are looking for external stimulation.<br />
Here is where positive psychology<br />
can be used to activate and redirect<br />
your employees’ energy and attention<br />
towards work activities, leading to<br />
greater engagement and higher job<br />
satisfaction.<br />
Ultimately, positive psychology can<br />
have a fantastic effect on employee<br />
retention. Positive psychology<br />
advocates the expression of<br />
gratitude and appreciation amongst<br />
teammates so we suggest creating<br />
platforms that encourage employees<br />
to show their best at work. It can<br />
be something as simple as having<br />
regular ‘Gratitude Sessions’ where<br />
each employee writes down what<br />
or who they are grateful for without<br />
signing off and the team leader will<br />
read these out during the session.<br />
And as we all know, feeling a sense<br />
of appreciation can do wonders for<br />
anyone’s morale and employees who<br />
feel appreciated will be more loyal<br />
to their company and stick around<br />
longer. E<br />
Stephen Lew<br />
Founder<br />
The School of Positive Psychology<br />
JAN FEB 2014<br />
ENTREPRENEURS’ DIGEST<br />
15
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