Psychology and Work
There is an
antiquated belief that if you work really hard overtime you might become
successful, and when you become successful, you can finally be happy. This may
seem like a long, arduous road to endure just for a scant chance at success and
happiness, but fortunately extensive research reveals that the inverse of this
statement is more accurate (Achor, 2010; Linley, Harrington, & Garcea, 2010).
Happy people perform better and are more successful. When fueled by optimism and
empowered by insight, most people only need to make a few small changes in
their life to open unforeseen possibilities, which emanate success and
happiness. The key is to harness one’s natural drive for happiness and success.
This begins by utilizing the psychology behind why we work and implementing
empirically supported solutions tailored for naturally driven performance,
which cultivates happiness, focused motivation, and meaningful engagement in
work. This is essentially the science for lasting happiness and success.
The Problem:
When stress runs high, it compromises our well-being and job performance. Additionally, we can regress to less successful ways of functioning, such as job burnout, distress, illness, and the most detrimental, presenteeism. Presenteeism refers to people who are at work but not doing their work, and it is believed that presenteeism accounts for 61% of an employee’s total company cost, which includes everything from medical expenses to lost productivity (Goetzel et al., 2004). However, properly designed trainings and wellness initiatives when implemented correctly can lower healthcare related costs, decrease presenteeism, reduce turnover, increase productivity, and ultimately improve the bottom line (Ilies, Dimotakis, & de Pater, 2010; Laliberte, 2010;). Additionally, it is predicted that for every dollar a company spends on adequate wellness initiatives the organization gains three dollars. For some initiatives, this return on investment (ROI) can be as high as six dollars for every dollar spent. However, it is not strictly about the bottom line; imagine how different your life would be if everyday your work inspired you to be better than next.
Promoting happiness and success at work is not a novel concept; yet, many company sponsored trainings and wellness initiatives are still limited to a specific focus, such as physical fitness, nutrition counseling, or smoking secession. While these initiatives are great for promoting a healthy work environment, they are only accessing a fraction of what generates happiness, well-being, and improved performance. Additionally, many companies try to emulate the progressive wellness initiatives of competitors without considering the unique aspects of their own corporate environment. This approach does not capture the idiosyncratic character, which distinguishes your company from the next, and it could render these initiatives ineffective resulting in a poor ROI. Most importantly, these job performance approaches do not fully utilize the psychology of work to generate naturally driven performance, which reduces presenteeism, improves performance and well-being, and maximizes the bottom line.
The Solution:
Dr. Wilson provides progressive consultation services, which implement knowledge from the latest job performance research of top institutions to give your organization the leading edge as a positive and productive workplace. Firstly, these services promote positivity and happiness. Extensive research shows that a happy employee is a productive employee, and there are unique ways cultivating happiness at work, which do not demand a lot of time and resources. Secondly, these services tap into people’s natural motivation to work. Psychological research and theory suggest that there are specific ways to focus this motivation to avoid burnout and maintain physical and mental health. Thirdly, these services ignite meaning in work. Finding meaning in work could be the most valuable and pervasively important factor for increasing job performance while improving well-being.
Dr. Wilson’s trainings and consultation services provide more specific details on the science and psychology behind his methods. Additionally, he is available for speaking engagements to help educate and inspire your business leaders and employees.
References:
Achor, S. (2010). The happiness advantage: The seven principles of positive psychology that fuels success and performance at work. New York: Crown Publishing.
Goetzel, R. Z., Long, S. R., Ozminkowski, R. J., Hawkins, K., Wang, S., & Lynch, W. (2004). Health, absence, disability, and presenteeism cost estimates of certain
physical and mental health conditions affecting U.S. employers. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 46(4), 398-412.
Ilies, R., Dimotakis, N., & de Pater, I. (2010). Psychological and physiological reactions to high workloads: implications for well-being. Personnel Psychology, 63,
407-436.
Laliberte, J. (2010). Wellness works. Bangor Daily News [Online]. Retrieved January 4, 2011, from new.bangordailynews.com.
Linley, P. A., Harrington, S., & Garcea, N. (Eds.). (2010). Oxford handbook of positive psychology and work. New York: Oxford.
The Problem:
When stress runs high, it compromises our well-being and job performance. Additionally, we can regress to less successful ways of functioning, such as job burnout, distress, illness, and the most detrimental, presenteeism. Presenteeism refers to people who are at work but not doing their work, and it is believed that presenteeism accounts for 61% of an employee’s total company cost, which includes everything from medical expenses to lost productivity (Goetzel et al., 2004). However, properly designed trainings and wellness initiatives when implemented correctly can lower healthcare related costs, decrease presenteeism, reduce turnover, increase productivity, and ultimately improve the bottom line (Ilies, Dimotakis, & de Pater, 2010; Laliberte, 2010;). Additionally, it is predicted that for every dollar a company spends on adequate wellness initiatives the organization gains three dollars. For some initiatives, this return on investment (ROI) can be as high as six dollars for every dollar spent. However, it is not strictly about the bottom line; imagine how different your life would be if everyday your work inspired you to be better than next.
Promoting happiness and success at work is not a novel concept; yet, many company sponsored trainings and wellness initiatives are still limited to a specific focus, such as physical fitness, nutrition counseling, or smoking secession. While these initiatives are great for promoting a healthy work environment, they are only accessing a fraction of what generates happiness, well-being, and improved performance. Additionally, many companies try to emulate the progressive wellness initiatives of competitors without considering the unique aspects of their own corporate environment. This approach does not capture the idiosyncratic character, which distinguishes your company from the next, and it could render these initiatives ineffective resulting in a poor ROI. Most importantly, these job performance approaches do not fully utilize the psychology of work to generate naturally driven performance, which reduces presenteeism, improves performance and well-being, and maximizes the bottom line.
The Solution:
Dr. Wilson provides progressive consultation services, which implement knowledge from the latest job performance research of top institutions to give your organization the leading edge as a positive and productive workplace. Firstly, these services promote positivity and happiness. Extensive research shows that a happy employee is a productive employee, and there are unique ways cultivating happiness at work, which do not demand a lot of time and resources. Secondly, these services tap into people’s natural motivation to work. Psychological research and theory suggest that there are specific ways to focus this motivation to avoid burnout and maintain physical and mental health. Thirdly, these services ignite meaning in work. Finding meaning in work could be the most valuable and pervasively important factor for increasing job performance while improving well-being.
Dr. Wilson’s trainings and consultation services provide more specific details on the science and psychology behind his methods. Additionally, he is available for speaking engagements to help educate and inspire your business leaders and employees.
References:
Achor, S. (2010). The happiness advantage: The seven principles of positive psychology that fuels success and performance at work. New York: Crown Publishing.
Goetzel, R. Z., Long, S. R., Ozminkowski, R. J., Hawkins, K., Wang, S., & Lynch, W. (2004). Health, absence, disability, and presenteeism cost estimates of certain
physical and mental health conditions affecting U.S. employers. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 46(4), 398-412.
Ilies, R., Dimotakis, N., & de Pater, I. (2010). Psychological and physiological reactions to high workloads: implications for well-being. Personnel Psychology, 63,
407-436.
Laliberte, J. (2010). Wellness works. Bangor Daily News [Online]. Retrieved January 4, 2011, from new.bangordailynews.com.
Linley, P. A., Harrington, S., & Garcea, N. (Eds.). (2010). Oxford handbook of positive psychology and work. New York: Oxford.