|
|
|
|
|
July 2008: |
|
My husband (Paul) and I took a
mid-winter break and headed to The excuse to
travel to Here is a brief summary of the some of the
conference presentations relevant to organisations, executives, leaders,
managers, and teams. Engagement,
motivation, burnout: Well-being
(including increased engagement and reduced burnout) is responsive to the
quality of job resources one has such as skills, capabilities, appreciation
from colleagues, social support, tools, equipment etc. Our well-being is not
only our responsibility, it’s an organisational and
leadership responsibility. “Happy people are cheaper” - more
productive, better team players, cost less in healthcare, sickness,
absenteeism. Job
satisfaction: Work that puts you ‘in the zone’, where you are
‘in flow’ and absorbed in challenging jobs, is well
known to improve satisfaction. Numerous European studies support and
emphasise that helping employees to find more ‘flow’ at work results in
increased job satisfaction, wellbeing, growth, engagement at work. It
was suggested that finding ‘flow’ is more important than simply trying to
increase happiness at work. Goals:
High striving goals, which have an appropriate intrinsic /
extrinsic balance, increase satisfaction and wellbeing, and improve
psychological functioning and self esteem. Negativity
Bias: We have a negativity bias which means we need regular
practices to build offsetting positive emotions, and we need practices to
adjust our mindsets. Negative language creates a ‘cognitive interrupt’ i.e.
our mental, emotional, physical systems are interrupted. We need to devote
more cognitive effort to deal with things which drain our energy.
Research confirms that at least a 3:1 positive to negative ratio is needed to
thrive. Meaning and
purpose: Living and working in congruence with purpose
produces a self-sustaining source of meaning, which in turn enhances our
performance and well-being. It’s about who we really are and who we
want to be. Finding meaning at work contributes to increased general
well-being, work-related well-being and reduced depression. Authenticity: Authentic living and working (behaving in accordance with oneself) results in increased life satisfaction, increased positive affect / reduced negative affect, improved self-esteem, reduced anxiety, improved subjective well-being and psychological well-being, better coping and enhanced resilience. Autonomy and
self-directedness: Having more autonomy and personal power
i.e. being less controlled by external influences and people/circumstances,
results in better performance, improved subjective well-being and higher
career motivation. Being the owner of our own behaviour leads to better
health, creativity and happiness, from which is experienced
growth and thriving. Thus, command/control leadership styles are
not as productive as those styles which help enhance autonomy and
self-directedness. Positive
Organisational research: There is a deepening and broadening
academic research in positive psychology and how it relates to organisations.
This is in response to the growing interest and need for evidence-based
approaches and rigorous research in what makes positive organisations and
workplaces. Teamwork:
Just being in a team is not enough to improve satisfaction, well-being
and reduce stress. Other conditions are required: Good job
design, clear job content and objectives, and constructive / positive
feedback from peers and supervisors. This research was presented in one
of the final presentations of the conference, by This email… …aims to provide you and your teams with information for your professional and personal development. Topics are based on areas of interest raised by clients and colleagues, with material drawn from journals, books, articles and shared experiences. Add / Remove: Please send an email to: info@amandahorne.com.au For previous articles: www.amandahorne.com.au/html/resources.html © Amanda Horne Pty Ltd, 2008 |
|
|
|
|
