Happiness at work
Encyclopedia
Despite a large body of positive psychological research into the relationship between happiness
and productivity, happiness at work has traditionally been seen as a potential by-product of positive outcomes at work, rather than a pathway to success in business. However a growing number of scholars, Boehm and Lyubomirsky included, state that it should be viewed as one of the major sources of positive outcomes in the workplace.
The use of positive psychology
in business has become an increasingly popular and valuable tool with which to manage and develop staff. This then has a flow-on effect for the community that they work in. When these practices are put in place in a community—in this case the business—generally the outcome is a real, direct benefit to the productivity of the business and to a happier and healthier employee as discussed by Rath & Clifton (2005).
With the major advances in technology, particularly in a modern office environment, a greater range of information has become easily available at employees’ fingertips. Staff today generally have a much broader knowledge of business environments, and therefore their minimum expectations of what a modern workplace should provide to keep them happy and motivated is fairly high. Very basic programs can be implemented to meet these needs and expectations. As an example, if we achieve target ‘A’, a new filtered coffee machine will be installed to replace the instant coffee in the staff room. These minor rewards can have a large impact on the staff’s happiness and moods—indeed, the frequency of minor positive rewards is critical for success.
One of the main benefits to a business with a well-planned and well-run program is increased productivity through greater output and less down time. Through a successful positive psychology program, staff can develop a deeper satisfaction in their workplace relationships, and therefore the quality of their work tends to improve, as well. A proactive business manager in today’s business world caters to the needs of his or her staff either by ensuring a well-run in-house program or by bringing in experts to facilitate the development of one.
Happiness
Happiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources....
and productivity, happiness at work has traditionally been seen as a potential by-product of positive outcomes at work, rather than a pathway to success in business. However a growing number of scholars, Boehm and Lyubomirsky included, state that it should be viewed as one of the major sources of positive outcomes in the workplace.
Defining Happiness at work
Dr Laurel Edmunds and Jessica Pryce-Jones have researched the issue of happiness at work at length and have produced the following definition from their findings:The use of positive psychology
Positive psychology
Positive psychology is a recent branch of psychology whose purpose was summed up in 1998 by Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: "We believe that a psychology of positive human functioning will arise, which achieves a scientific understanding and effective interventions to build thriving in...
in business has become an increasingly popular and valuable tool with which to manage and develop staff. This then has a flow-on effect for the community that they work in. When these practices are put in place in a community—in this case the business—generally the outcome is a real, direct benefit to the productivity of the business and to a happier and healthier employee as discussed by Rath & Clifton (2005).
With the major advances in technology, particularly in a modern office environment, a greater range of information has become easily available at employees’ fingertips. Staff today generally have a much broader knowledge of business environments, and therefore their minimum expectations of what a modern workplace should provide to keep them happy and motivated is fairly high. Very basic programs can be implemented to meet these needs and expectations. As an example, if we achieve target ‘A’, a new filtered coffee machine will be installed to replace the instant coffee in the staff room. These minor rewards can have a large impact on the staff’s happiness and moods—indeed, the frequency of minor positive rewards is critical for success.
One of the main benefits to a business with a well-planned and well-run program is increased productivity through greater output and less down time. Through a successful positive psychology program, staff can develop a deeper satisfaction in their workplace relationships, and therefore the quality of their work tends to improve, as well. A proactive business manager in today’s business world caters to the needs of his or her staff either by ensuring a well-run in-house program or by bringing in experts to facilitate the development of one.
Further reading
- Boehm, J K. & S. Lyubomirsky, Journal of Career Assessment. Vol 16(1), Feb 2008, 101-116.
- Diener E., & Biswas-Diener R., (2002) Will money increase subjective well-being? A literature review and guide to needed research Social Indicators Research. 57, 119-169 Diener E. and Biswas-Diener R.
- Forgas, J. P., (2002) Feeling and doing: Affective influences on interpersonal behavior, Psychological Inquiry. Vol 13(1) Jan 2002 1-28.
- Iverson R.D., Olekalns M., & Erwin P.J. (1998), Affectivity organizational stressors and absenteeism: A causal model of burnout and its consequences. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 52, 1-23
- Fredrickson B., & Branigan, C., (2005) Positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought-action repertoires Cognition and Emotion, Vol 19 (3), 313-332(20)
- Baas, M., De Dreu C.K.W., Nijstad, B.A., (2008) A meta-analysis of 25 years of mood-creativity research: Hedonic tone, activation, or regulatory focus? Psychological Bulletin. 134(6) 779-806.
- Cropanzano R., & Wright T.A., A 5-year study of change in the relationship between well-being and job performance, Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 51, 252-265
- Forgas, J. P. (1998). On feeling good and getting your way: Mood effects on negotiating strategies and outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 565-577.
- Goetz, M C Goetz, PW and Robinson, M D, (2007) What's the use of being happy? Mood states, useful objects, and repetition priming effects. Emotion Vol 7(3), 675-679.
- Watson, D. (1988). Intraindividual and interindividual analyses of positive and negative affect: Their relation to health complaints, perceived stress and daily activities. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1020-1030.
- Kobasa S. (1979) Personality and resistance to illness. American Journal of Community Psychology, (7) 4, 413-423
- Kubzansky L.D., Sparrow D., Vokonas P., & Kawachi I., (2001) Is the glass half empty or half full? A prospective study of optimism and coronary heart disease in the normative aging study Psychosomatic Medicine 63:910-916
- Danner D.D., Snowdon S.A., & Friesen W.V., Positive emotions in early life and longevity: findings from the nun study, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, May 2001, Vol. 80, No.5, 804-13
- Argyle M., (1987) The experience of happiness, London: Methuen
- Casciaro T., & Lobo S. L. (June 2005) Harvard Business Review, Competent Jerks, Loveable Fools and the Formation of Social Networks
- Staw B.M, Sutton R.I., & Pelled L.H. (1994) Employee positive emotion and favorable outcomes at the workplace. Organization Science, 5, 51-71
- Losada, M. & Heaphy, E. (2004). The Role of Positivity and Connectivity in the Performance of Business Teams A Nonlinear Dynamics Model. American Behavioral Scientist, 47: 40-765.
- Martin L.L., Ward D.W., Achee J.W. & Wyer R.S., (1993) Mood as input: people have to interpret the motivational implications of their moods. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 64, 317-326
- Staw B.M. & Barsade S.G., (1993) Affect and management performance: A test of the sadder-but-wiser vs. Happier-and-smarter hypothesis, Administrative Science Quarterly 38, 304-331
- Cropanzano R., & Wright T.A., (2001) When a “happy” worker is really a productive worker: a review and further refinement of the happy-productive worker thesis. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice& Research, 53, 182-199
- Folkman S., & Moskowitz J.T., (2000a) Positive affect and the other side of coping, American Psychologist, 55 (647-654)
- Folkman S., & Moskowitz J.T., (2000b) Stress, positive emotion and coping, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9,115-118
- Lai, J.C.L., Chong, A.M.L., Ho, S.M.Y., Siu, O.T., Evans, P.D., Ng, S.H., Chan, P., Chan, C.L.W. & Ho, R.T.H. (2005) Optimism, positive affectivity, and salivary cortisol. British Journal of Health Psychology, 10, 467-484.
- Pryce Jones, J. (Forthcoming) Happiness 9-5