The Power of Positive Thinking

In this series of three articles we will be discussing the impact of happiness in work and how positive thinking can impact on a range workplace issues. The series provides insight into why happiness is important, what positive thinking looks like and how we can implement techniques to make us happier.

Happiness

Happiness is a subject that has risen to prominence in recent years for a number of reasons. From a psychology point of view over 90% of research has historically concentrated on ailments of the mind. Famously humanistic psychologists such as Maslow, looked at those influences that might make us happier in the workplace however, it wasn’t until the late nineties that the term ‘Positive Psychology’ entered the mainstream. In 1998 psychologist Martin Seligman chose the subject of ‘Positive Psychology’ as the theme during his term as president of the American Psychology Association. The subject grew in prominence from 2004 when Harvard psychologist Tal Ben-Shahar shot to fame delivering his Positive Psychology modules at the University.

In more recent years changes in culture and mindsets, particularly as Millennialshave become a driving force in the workplace, have led to more and more people seeking greater meaning from work. Indeed the most common answer nowadays to the question, “What do you want from life?” is invariably ‘Happiness’.

How does the business and employee benefit from happiness?

Imagine the following scenarios:

1. You are having a terrible day. You’ve got up late, it’s raining, you know the boss is going to be watching the clock when you walk through the door. How do you think the day is going to go?
2. You’ve had a great night sleep and woke up 10 minutes before the alarm is due to go off. You’ve had breakfast in good time, arrived in work in plenty of time, the Sun is shining and things are going great. How is this day going to go?

We can all relate to these types of scenario. Although very basic the scenarios open us up to a very obvious truth that happier employees, in general, make for a more successful workforce. In terms of productivity some reports suggest that happier employees can be 10% more productive.

Ask yourself this – what would a 10% more productive workforce mean to my company?

As a Business Coach, Mentor and Consultant in Lancashire & the North West, working with ambitious, enthusiastic and passionate business owners I have experienced other benefits as well. Happy staff are more engaged with the company. Happier staff lead to higher levels of retention and lower levels of turnover. Furthermore happier staff tend to be more creative and capable of selling more.

What do happy staff look like?

This is a great question, what are the things that make up happy staff? One of the models which highlights this most effectively remains Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

The Hierarchy of Needs works on the basis of a pyramid where each level of need must be satisfactorily met in order to progress up to the next. The Physiological human needs such as food, water & sleep are basic human requirements. These are followed by Safety needs such as shelter and warmth. Then we move onto Love, Belonging and Inter-relational needs.

It’s when we move into the top two sections of the hierarchy however that we really start to find happy employees.

Esteem Needs

At the Esteem level people are starting to master roles. They are gaining the respect of those around them and earning status within their surroundings. In a modern workforce this could mean being promoted, becoming a ‘go to’ person or just being a reliable person doing a good job. These people tend to be happy and engaged.

Self Actualisation

At this level individuals are realising the height of their potential. They are achieving goals and peak performance. At this level staff are super happy and incredibly well engaged.

How happy are you?

Now we have an insight into happiness, why thinking positively is important and a basic barometer of how to measure happiness. Working with business owners in a Leadership & Management Coaching capacity has identified that business owners often find it difficult to evaluate happiness, so I’ll leave you with these questions: If you are an employee where do you fall on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs? If you are a business owner where are your staff on the Hierarchy?

In Part 2 we’ll be looking at some of the happy people around us and how we can use their happiness for our benefit.

Paul Aisthorpe, Imaginative Coaching, is a Business Coach, Mentor and Consultant in Lancashire and the North West