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Dr. Kathryn Fonner, Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, explains that although telecommuting is more efficient, it also adds another layer of complexity to the organization. To solve this issue, employees and managers should negotiate how their organization can effectively incorporate telework.

Some questions to consider are:

• How will teleworkers communicate when they are out of the office?
• When are teleworkers expected to be “at work?”

So what exactly does it mean to empower people in the workplace? In Successful Diversity Management Initiatives (1996), I wrote that “Empowerment refers to a sense of personal power, confidence and positive self-esteem. Empowerment involves a process of change that can be achieved in relation to specific goals.” Make no mistake, empowerment of self or others involves thoughtful planning, having actionable alternatives and of course, following through. Did I make the changes or succeed as desired?

The term empowerment is not an all or nothing proposition; empowerment needs to be personalized and contextualized. It can mean giving a new employee support and guidance to meet their first six-month goals. For mid-career professionals, it may mean ensuring they have the appropriate professional development and workplace experiences and exposure to move to the next level in the organization.  For more senior employees an organization wants to retain, a sponsor may identify opportunities and lobby to develop the individual’s talent with new assignments and perhaps other perks.

Contemporary organizations are flatter than ever before making “upward” progress unlikely or very slow at best.  Employees at our school have discussed the limits in upward mobility and their desire to have new career challenges and opportunities.  How can I empower advancement in an educational system where career progression is narrowly defined by years of experience, assuming more responsibility and delivering on goals?

Participation in employee-led work groups like the Green Teams, Wellness Committees, Inclusion and Engagement Committees and reading circles, among other opportunities to continue learning, can get employees involved in leadership activities. I encourage individuals to attend conferences relevant to their work or invite them to attend with me. Finally, because of the flatness of our school, I assign projects that increase individuals’ responsibilities and scope of influence, and then help them be successful.

Organizations and managers must consider how they frame and apply the term empowerment in their organization. Indeed, disempowered employees can be a drag on business goals.  Remember, “Empowerment involves a process of change that can be achieved in relation to specific goals.”

Alexa Thompson has written several articles for a psychology resource site about the types of jobs and careers available to graduates of psychology programs. Today, she writes about the effects of positive psychology on employees’ well being.

More Positive Psychology in the Workplace Leads to Increased Employee Well-Being

Prior to the widespread implementation of positive psychology within the workplace, many corporate leaders viewed businesses as elaborate machines – and workers as essential inputs for driving profit and production. Today, many business experts recognize the significant impact that positive psychology has on not only human resource management in particular, but also corporate culture in general.

The term ‘positive psychology’ has been traced back to earlier innovators like William James, John Dewey and Abraham Maslow in the 1950s. However, the concept is generally credited to Martin Seligman, who chose it as the theme of his tenure when he became president of the American Psychological Association in 1998.

During his inaugural speech, Seligman argued that psychology had taken too clinical an approach. As a result, psychologists had neglected two fundamental tenets of their field – helping people to lead productive, fulfilling lives and identifying and nurturing talents. His address initiated a widespread shift within the field, and positive psychology was applied to virtually every area of daily human life – including the workplace. Since that time, many psychological innovators have postulated theories of their own about the effect of positive psychology on both employee attitudes, which in turn can greatly influence corporate prosperity.

In “The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success? (2005),” professors Sonja Lyubomirsky, Laura King and Ed Diener note two key observations: positive effects produce success, and success makes people happy. These points suggest that the employment of individuals who value success is a pre-condition to achieving productive results from the implementation of positive psychology in the workplace. For this reason, applicants should be thoroughly screened in order to ensure positive contribution to their workplace. This measure benefits the employer, as well as the employee. “Individuals high in subjective well-being are more likely to secure job interviews, to be evaluated more positively by supervisors once they obtain a job, to show superior performance and productivity, and to handle managerial jobs better,” the report reads. “Happy, satisfied workers…are less likely to show ‘job withdrawal’—namely, absenteeism, turnover, job burnout and retaliatory behaviors.”

In his 2012 article, “Why the Workplace Needs Positive Psychology,” Dr. Orin C. Davis notes that major changes – including a highly globalized economy and inherent uncertainty within high-tech markets – have affected corporate culture in the 21st century. Dr. Davis encourages supervisors to take proactive steps toward improving the efficacy, resourcefulness and adaptability of each employee, once they have been hired and made aware of their responsibilities.

These steps include routine performance reviews, engagement monitoring, mentoring and facilitating team projects. Ultimately, these measures not only create more productive employees, but they also allow the company to function as a tightly knit unit of satisfied individuals. “Whether in showing management how to develop and use human capital, guiding organizational policy, or enabling workers to make their best contributions, positive psychology has been, and will continue to be, a boon to the workplace,” he writes.

In less than 15 years, positive psychology has evolved from a conceptual term to standard workplace practice. Regardless of industry or company size, business leaders nationwide have noted the myriad of outcomes that occur when positive psychology is applied to the workplace, including content workers, increased productivity and healthy profits.