Positive Organizational Psychology: What Is It And How To Implement It?
In the field of organizations, models and approaches have been proposed with the intention of understanding how companies work and what can lead to their success or failure.
Although traditionally both businessmen and organizational psychologists themselves tried to find what was not going well in companies, starting from a perspective more focused on the problem, others tried to focus on the positive.
Positive organizational psychology has tried to see what strengthens the organization , see what makes her move forward and how to enhance positive human values in her. Let’s take a deeper look at what this perspective is all about.
Positive organizational psychology, what is it about?
Positive organizational psychology or POP is an approach whose origins are in industrial psychology which focuses on how to achieve optimal functioning in the organization.
Before this model was developed, in the field of organizations, psychology focused on what bad happened to a certain company. Thus, the aim was to develop an action focused on correcting the imbalances and dysfunctions that the organization could be suffering.
Positive organizational psychology, unlike what has traditionally been done, takes the approach of enhancing the personal virtues of the company, with the intention of achieving maximum development and achieving success for the organization.
The origins of this approach lie Martin Seligman and Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi. Starting from a scientific approach to organizations, the intention when developing this model was to find out what companies need and how they achieve the best human development in the most successful cases.
This perspective, when trying to understand the human resources and abilities of those who are part of the organization, It allows a better performance of work life, in addition to promoting better health dynamics and social relations within the company A positive environment encourages productive behaviors in employees, with a greater sense of responsibility and camaraderie.
Companies trying to implement this approach in their organization first need to answer the following questions:
When these questions are answered, it is possible to develop a strategic plan that, if satisfactorily fulfilled, will facilitate the promotion of a positive environment in the organization.
Positive and negative organizations
For a company’s staff to work in the most appropriate and functional way possible, it is necessary for the organization to facilitate optimal working conditions and work environment
Companies in which a good work environment is generated are characterized by having and offering good resources to their employees, in addition to promoting the human values that the staff present. Social and proactive skills, good employee autonomy, realistic job demands and clear and accessible tasks contribute to a good environment in the office or any workplace.
In addition, bosses must act as leaders, give feedback to their employees and know how the first line of command is doing. Good health habits should be promoted, places where workers can ventilate and, if possible, group sports activities encouraged once a month. These types of measures promote social interactions between workers.
A very important point for the company to be seen as a good place to work is, of course, that it offers and respects a fair salary.
On the other hand, organizations that do not value their human resources or promote good workplace measures may suffer symptoms that lead to collapse. According to the positive organizational psychology model, andIn negative organizations, mistakes are made such as lack of leadership, excessive bureaucracy and too many controls which translate into general paralysis of the company.
Also, focusing on meeting individual objectives and leaving aside collective tasks seriously harms the degree of creativity of the organization as a whole. All of this translates into greater demotivation among staff, as well as a higher degree of absenteeism, more sick leave, and a clear lack of commitment.
According to the positive organizational psychology approach, positive workers have values such as courage, humanity, a good sense of humor, camaraderie, and responsibility toward the company. They are humble, prudent and show self-control.
It is essential that, for a good work environment to occur, there are employees who present positive emotions such as joy, pride in what they do , enjoyment and interest. These feelings generate ways of behaving that favor flexibility, creativity and efficiency, which are always very beneficial for the rest of the organization’s workers.
Among the models that this approach has originated, it is worth mentioning the PERMA model, which includes characteristics such as emotions and positive relationships to be able to give meaning to what is done in the workplace every day. Among the components of the model, there is “engagement” or commitment in the workplace, based on feeling part of something important and that generates pride.
According to Csikszentmihalyi, people feel much happier if they engage in an activity that makes them flow, that absorbs them completely through enjoyment and feeling useful.
How to manage the improvement of the company?
From the perspective of positive organizational psychology, to improve and achieve optimal development in the organization it is necessary, first of all, to question the entire company. That is, searching among the different levels of the organization to see how the human variable manifests itself, whether it works in an appropriate way, to see to what extent the maximum benefit can be obtained from it.
The company must review aspects such as the social environment, and look for the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of the organization. You must also be clear about the vision, mission, values and, in essence, where the company is going. Knowing this, we will know what needs to be strengthened and develop alternatives and improvements
Analyzing how the culture exists in the company is always a good measure, since it allows us to know how human interactions have been developing in the organization and, in case there has been an unforeseen event, to know how it has been dealt with. Observing how, collectively, creative, proactive and empathetic behaviors have emerged can be a good way to replicate them at other levels of the organization and, thus, generalize success.
Understanding how the most talented people in the organization have not left their jobs can be of great help to focus on showing the organization’s strengths in the labor market. You must understand the degree of autonomy that staff have and how they feel they are useful to the rest of the organization.
Finally, it is necessary to understand the degree to which staff feel comfortable in the organization. Promoting employee well-being and satisfaction is crucial to maintaining good organizational health.
All this offers the ingredients for the organization to develop an action plan, improve what it considers necessary and promote its strengths In addition to this, you will be able to take care of the most important thing in the company, which is its employees, and, through a positive work environment, achieve a higher degree of efficiency and productivity.
