10 facts for flourishing at work

To help with all things 2012 and New Year themed, we decided to dig out a bit of research to share with you. Here's why a Practically Positive start to the year could help you get your best year yet.

At the individual level, flourishing (or some may say 'happy') people:

• Live longer¹
• Are healthier²
• Are more resilient³
• Are better at creatively solving problems⁴
• Are generally nicer to be around^*

Even better than that, having flourishing people in the workplace actually affects business metrics, with increased engagement strongly linked to:

• Greater productivity⁵
• Lower employee turnover⁵
• Higher profitability⁵
• Higher customer satisfaction⁵
• Greater discretionary effort⁶

All of that means money gained or money saved. Either way, with a happy workforce, employers are getting more for their money.

Contact us to talk more. And whatever you're up to, have a very Happy New Year.

If you're a manager and you need to look at the employee engagement of your team, check out our 'Engaging your team' session. We've designed it specifically for team leaders and managers.

*We don't have a reference for this, but think about the person you most like hanging around with and you'll see what we mean.

1. Danner, D. D., Snowdon, D. A., & Friesen, W. V. (2001). Positive emotions in early life and longevity: Findings from the nun study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(5), 804-813

2. Cohen, S., Doyle, W. J., Turner, R. B., Alper, C. M., & Skoner, D. P. (2003) Emotional style and susceptibility to the common cold. Psychosomatic medicine, 65. 652-657.

3. Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. (2003). Flourishing under fire: Resilience as a prototype of challenged thriving. In C. L. M. Keyes & J. Haidt (Eds.), Flourishing: Positive psychology and the life well-lived. (pp. 15-36). Washington, DC US: American Psychological Association.

4. Fredrickson, B. L. (2003). Positive emotions and upward spirals in organizational settings. In Cameron, K., Dutton, J. & Quinn, R. (Eds.) Positive Organizational Scholarship.

5. Harter J., Schmidt F., Killham E., Agrawal S. (2009) The relationship between engagement at work and organisational outcomes, Gallup Press.

6. Corporate Leadership Council. (2004). Driving performance and retention through employee engagement. Corporate Executive Board.

Employee engagement