How Positive Psychology Improves the Workplace

Companies have long believed that good morale raises productivity. Positive psychology takes that idea further. It asks managers to treat each employee as an individual and to help people find and build on their own strengths. The payoff can reach past output to retention, employee health and company culture.

What positive psychology changes

Positive psychology puts the person ahead of the task. It trains managers to see employees as people with specific interests and abilities, and people who feel valued tend to give more energy and attention to their work.

Getting started is rarely quick. It usually means extensive training for leaders and managers and a rethink of what the workplace is for. A Forbes article on developing and retaining talent called for "a deep-rooted conviction, among business unit heads and line leaders, that people really matter." Its five keys included serving as a role model, reinforcing shared values and using problems as opportunities.

Dan Pink’s work on motivation points the same way. His argument, covered in our look at how employees are motivated, is that people do their best creative work when they have Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose. Wikipedia is a good example. Dedicated contributors can become administrators, with responsibility for articles read by millions. Public recognition and added responsibility can motivate more than a cash incentive.

Two places to apply it: team culture and hiring

A research article from the Australian Psychological Society suggested that interventions need to substantially change how team members behave with each other to succeed. It named two pathways to lasting improvement: change the culture that shapes how teams work together, or substantially change who the organization selects and hires.

Hiring is often where the approach starts. Interviewers look at personality and strengths outside work as well as the skills on a résumé. The aim is a workplace with a mix of ideas and personalities, where people are valued for who they are as well as what they contribute.

You can give every employee that same sense of fit. Our two-step approach to staff engagement starts with staff placing sticky notes on the strategy map where they see their daily work. Then each person picks three to five objectives they can help achieve and builds a personal scorecard. A conversation with their supervisor makes sure it aligns with the organization’s goals and is within the employee’s influence.

What companies get from it

Employees are usually happier when they feel valued and respected, and that tends to show up as better mental health and better productivity. The bottom line often benefits too, but that should not be the main goal. The reason to adopt it is a balanced workplace, with financial gains as a byproduct.

The United Nations Federal Credit Union (UNFCU) made strategy part of everyday culture. It communicated its strategic plan and Balanced Scorecard to all staff using videos, progress reports, brochures, posters, and its internal corporate social network, and strategy came to be widely recognized as part of its culture. Rossana Creo, AVP, Strategic Planning, put it this way: “UNFCU's management team believes that strategy needs to take place 365 days a year.”