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 mean their success or failure.

Although traditionally both businessmen and the organizational psychologists They tried to find what was not going well in the 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 makes the organization stronger, see what makes her move forward and how to promote positive human values ​​in her. Let's take a deeper look at what this perspective is all about.

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Positive organizational psychology, what is it about?

Positive organizational psychology or POP is an approach whose origins lie 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, it was intended 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 empowering the personal virtues of the company, with the intention of achieving the maximum development and obtaining the success of the company. 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.

This perspective, when trying to understand the human resources and skills of those who are part of the organization, allows a better performance of working life, in addition to promoting better dynamics of health 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:

• What are the characteristics, both individual and collective, of those employees who work best?
• What are the characteristics of the organization that make it closer or further away from a positive organization?

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 the staff of a company to work in the most appropriate and functional way possible, the organization needs to provide optimal working conditions and work environment.

The 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 presents. Social skills and proactive, good employee autonomy, realistic job demands and clear and achievable tasks contribute to a good environment in the office or in any workplace.

Besides, bosses should act like leaders, give feedback to your employees and know how the first line of command is doing. Good health habits should be promoted, places where workers can be ventilated and, if possible, encourage group sports activities 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 and do not promote good measures in the workplace can suffer symptoms that lead to collapse. According to the model of positive organizational psychology, andIn negative organizations there are mistakes such as lack of leadership, excessive bureaucracy and too many controls, which translate into a general paralysis of the company.

Also, focusing on meeting individual objectives and neglecting collective tasks seriously undermines the degree of creativity of the organization as a whole. All this translates into greater demotivation in the staff, as well as a higher degree of absenteeism, more sick leave and a clear lack of commitment.

Positive people and great workers

According to the positive organizational psychology approach, positive workers have values ​​such as courage, humanity, a good sense of humor, camaraderie and responsibility towards the company. They are humble, prudent and show self-control.

It is essential that, for a good work environment to be produced, there are employees who present positive emotions such as joy, pride in what is done, 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 workers in the company. organization.

Among the models that this approach has originated, it is worth mentioning the PERMA model, which includes characteristics such as positive emotions and relationships in order to give meaning to what is done in the workplace every day. Among the components of the model, there is the "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 get involved in an activity that makes them flow, that completely absorbs them 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, to search among the different levels of the organization how the human variable is whether it works properly, to see to what extent you can get the most out of it. maximum profit.

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 headed. Knowing this will know what should be strengthened and develop alternatives and improvements.

Analyzing how culture occurs in the company is always a good measure, since it allows us to know how it has gone developing human interactions in the organization and, in case there has been an unforeseen event, knowing how it has coped. Observe how, collectively, creative, proactive and empathetic behaviors have emerged It can be a good way to replicate them at other levels of the organization and, thus, generalize the success.

Understand how the most talented people in the organization have not left their job It can be of great help to focus on showing the strengths of the organization in the face of the market. labor. You must understand the degree of autonomy that staff have and how they feel that 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. Fostering 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 are its employees and, through a positive work environment, achieve a greater degree of efficiency and productivity.

Bibliographic references:

• Forbes-Alvarez, R. (2013). Positive organizational psychology and organizational improvement. Cegesti, 227, 1-3.
• Salanova, M., Llorens, S. and Martinez, I. m. (2016). Contributions from positive organizational psychology to develop healthy and resilient organizations. Papeles del Psicólogo / Psychologist Papers, 37(3), 177-184.