T P
he ositive Psychology of Employee
Engagement

Transactional to transformational
Transactional engagement Transformational engagement;
Act on feedback from survey A way of doing business
Set of activities and targets Employees integral
Reactive engagement Pro-active
Is an add on, separate activity Insight regularly sought,
Not integral to business harnessed and acted on
Set of transactions Integrated

3
Time for a new approach – but what does
this look like?
Employees
Leaders What can we learn
from
Champions positive
psychology?

Focus on the (positive) psychology of
engagement
The current paradigm:
Work More Win/
harder Success happier

This formula is scientifically broken
1. Every time we have a success the goalposts change. We
reach our sales targets, we get set higher targets
2. So we’re continually pushing happiness over our
cognitive horizon
3. And in fact…. The opposite is true – positive brains
perform significantly better than negative, neutral or
stressed brains
4. So if we focus on creating happy, positive brains we are
more successful
5. Research shows increases in intelligence, creativity and
energy
6. This translates into business outcomes

Positive thinking
Lyobomirsky 2005 found:
•31% increase in productivity
•Improved resilience
•Less burnout
•Less employee turnover
•Increased sales -37%
•When your brain is in a positive state it performs better then
in a neutral, negative or stressed state

Why is this?
The formula is the wrong way round
Happier Work More
positive harder Success
state
Being in a positive brain state releases Dopamine
This makes you feel happier
But it also turns on all your learning centers in your
brain

Creating a positive lasting change
• You can rewire your brain by doing the following everyday
for 21 days:
– 3 gratitude's each day
– Journaling
– Exercise
– Meditation
– Random acts of kindness
• This will help train your brain to scan for the positive rather
than the negative

Thank you!
emma@peoplelab.co.uk
Emma Bridger: 07595 465515

Thank you!
emma@peoplelab.co.uk
Emma Bridger: 07595 465515