A positive work environment is one where employees feel good about coming to work and have motivation that sustains them throughout the workday. What they do matters. And more importantly, it matters that they are the ones doing the work. With the new emphasis on work/life balance (thanks Millenials!) a juggling act between fulfilling the personal needs of employees and getting the job done can be an organization's key challenge.
Positive psychology differentiates two types of positive work environments showing that not all positves are equal. The first uses positive organizational behavior; where the environment is organization driven to increase well-being with a goal of getting the best out of employees for the benefit of the workplace. The second is called positive organizational scholarship and although this title might lead you to believe its' focus is the study of positivity, it's actually about getting the best out of an organization for the benefit of the employees. This well-being model recognizes that employees aren't stupid- they can see the difference between a boss who really wants them to be healthy and one who doesn't want the production decline that accompanies sick days.
The resources in any office can be broken into the physical, the psychological/social, or organizational aspects. Every type of employee training will fall into a category of:
- being functional in achieving work goals
- reducing job demands and associated physiological and psychological costs
- stimulating personal growth and development
Although the third option speaks more about an individual than a worker we know that individuals with higher levels of well-being and positivity are more productive, creative, workers who miss less time due to work-related stress and burnout and are more productive.
A positive organization isn't only training you in the hard skills (impact work productivity directly like training on a new software program) but also on the soft skills, interpersonal skills which affect the morale of the organization.
Looking at an individual workers' strengths specifically through the lens of the VIA classification of character strengths we know that individuals who cultivate their strengths are happier and more successful than those whose primary focus is improving areas of weakness.
In business,team leaders, managers, or coaches with specialized training can be deployed to help cultivate strengths. Once the strengths have been cultivated it leads to four key qualities:
- self-efficacy
- optimism
- hope
- resilience
A strengths focused worker has confidence to take on the roles they need and to succeed at challenging tasks. They make positive contributions toward goals, they persevere, and even when setbacks occur they bounce back and work with resilience to attain success.
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We know from thought leaders like Simon Sinek and this TED talk, that aligning with purpose is important. If you can't get a member of your team to see their role as important and meaningful it's hard to keep them engaged.
Sinek's talk led to much conversation about whether you're at a job (making money without connection to a personal sense of meaning), a career (a route to achievement), or a calling ( intrinsically fulfilling).
Mental wellness comes from a harmonious relationship between one's work identity and the other identities you choose. An animal rights activist couldn't work for a pharmaceutical company who tests on lab animals. In an ideal world we would all do jobs that incite curiosity, have us spending time in a state of engagement or flow and that reward us both intrinsically and financially.
Want to know if your work is truly positive? Try this psychometric scale called the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale.
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