Positive organizational psychology: what is it and how to implement it?

This approach seeks to make the members of work teams happy and perform better.

In the field of organizations, models and approaches have been proposed with the intention of understanding how companies work and what can make them succeed or fail.

While traditionally both businessmen and organizational psychologists themselves tried to find what was wrong with companies, starting from a more problem-focused perspective, others tried to focus on the positive.

Positive organizational psychology has tried to see what strengthens the organization, to see what makes it move forward and how it can be improved.to see what makes it move forward and how to enhance positive human values in it. Let's take a closer look at what this perspective is all about.

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Positive organizational psychology - what is it?

Positive organizational psychology or POP is an approach whose origins lie in industrial psychology, which focuses on how to achieve optimal functioning in an organization.which focuses on how to achieve optimal organizational functioning.

Before this model was developed, in the field of organizations, psychology focused on the bad things that happened to a given company. Thus, the aim was to elaborate an action focused on correcting the imbalances and dysfunctions that the organization might be suffering.

Positive organizational psychology, unlike what had traditionally been done, takes the approach of enhancing the personal virtues of the company, with the intention of achieving the maximum development and success of the organization.

The origins of this approach are Martin Seligman and Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi. Based on a scientific approach to organizations, the intention in 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, by trying to understand the human resources and skills of those who are part of the organization, allows for a better performance of working life, in addition to promoting better health and social relations dynamics within the company.. A positive environment fosters productive behaviors in employees, with a greater sense of responsibility and companionship.

Companies seeking to implement this approach in their organization first need to answer the following questions:

• What are the characteristics, both individually and collectively, of those employees who work best?
• What are the characteristics of the organization that move it closer to or further away from a positive organization?

When these questions are answered, it is possible to develop a strategic plan that, if successfully implemented, will facilitate the fostering of a positive environment in the organization.

Positive and negative organizations

In order for a company's personnel to work in the most appropriate and functional way possible, it is necessary for the organization to provide optimal working conditions and an optimal working environment..

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

In addition, managers should act as leaders, give feedback to their employees and know how the front line is doing. They should promote good health habits, have places where workers can air themselves and, if possible, encourage group sports activities once a month. These types of measures promote social interactions among 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 wage.

On the other hand, organizations that do not value their human resources and do not promote good workplace measures may suffer from symptoms that will lead to collapse. According to the model of positive organizational psychology, tAccording to the positive organizational psychology model, negative organizations suffer from failures such as a lack of leadership, excessive bureaucracy and too many controls.This results in a generalized paralysis of the company.

Also, focusing on meeting individual objectives and neglecting collective tasks seriously harms the degree of creativity of the organization as a whole. All this translates into greater demotivation among 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, companionship and responsibility towards the company. They are humble, prudent and show self-control.

It is essential for a good working environment to have employees who exhibit positive emotions such as joy, pride in what they do, enjoyment and interest.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 organization.

Among the models that this approach has originated, it is worth mentioning the PERMA model, which includes characteristics such as emotions and positive relationships in order to give meaning to what is done in the workplace every day. Among the components of the model is "engagement" or commitment in the workplace, based on feeling part of something important and generating pride.

According to Csikszentmihalyi, people feel much happier if they are engaged 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, in order to improve and achieve optimal development in the organization, it is necessary, first of all, to question the entire company. That is to say, to look at the different levels of the organization to see how the human variable manifests itself, whether it works in an adequate way, to see to what extent it can be taken full advantage of.

The company must review aspects such as the social environment, and look for the organization's strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities. It should also be clear about the vision, mission, values and, in essence, where the company is headed. Knowing this, you will know what needs to be strengthened and develop alternatives and improvements..

Analyzing how the company's culture has developed is always a good measure, since it allows us to know how human interactions have been developing in the organization and, in case there have been any unforeseen events, to know how it has coped with them. 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 helpful in focusing on showcasing the organization's strengths to the labor market. Understand how much autonomy 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. Fostering employee well-being and satisfaction is crucial to maintaining good organizational health.

All of this provides the ingredients for the organization to develop an action plan, improve where necessary, and build on its strengths.. In addition to this it will be able to take care of the most important thing of the company, which are its employees and, through a positive work climate, achieve a higher degree of efficiency and productivity.

Bibliographical references:

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