In a recent edition of the RSA journal entitled 21st Century Enlightenment, Lynda Gratton and a number of other industrial academics, gave their view on the important issues of work in the 21st Century. Gratton talked about the ‘hollowing out of work’ which is a reshaping of the labour markets so that middle skill jobs … Continued
Alain de Botton, philosopher, writes books that have been described as ‘a philosophy of everyday life’. Recently he was interviewed by an HR based job site about work and meaning (see the full interview here). In particular de Botton was scathing about education which didn’t equip youngsters for working life (nothing new here). But what … Continued
Most recently, the term ‘meaning’ has entered the business lexicon. So much so that McKinsey have developed a ‘meaning quotient’ to measure the level of meaning within an organisation. ‘Meaning’ and finding meaning in one’s work has become the new holy grail, the next big thing beyond employee engagement. And yet an interesting article by … Continued
Emotions are a crucial aspect of how we experience our day to day working lives. They are seen as useful markers of optimal well being and experiencing more positive than negative emotions contributes to our happiness. There are significant benefits to employing happy workers. Happy workers take less time off, are less stressed and demonstrate … Continued
What role do emotions play with regards to employee engagement? Experiencing positive emotions can raise well being, encourage creativity and broaden thinking. Experiencing negative emotions can lead to anti social behaviour, narrower thinking and negativity. All emotions are part of day to day life but the balance and the context in which we experience them … Continued
After another fascinating weekend at UEL learning about positive psychology applications – in the workplace, school and community – we have learnt how important it is to have a varied and engaging series of interventions to have real impact. This is because of the hedonic treadmill – people get ‘used to’ undertaking gratitude diaries, or … Continued
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