Positive psychology research demonstrates the impact of positive emotions on employee wellness, overall group productivity, less turnover and job satisfaction (Diener, S. & Biswas-Diener, 2008; Fredrickson, B. 2009). Psychologist Peter Warr (1999) has contributed to the field of positive organizational psychology and identified 10 characteristics that support employee wellness (Biswas-Diener, 2010):
The closer organizations come to fulfilling these characteristics, the greater positive emotion and benefits of workplace wellness. Gaining feedback in this regard is important, especially in neutral environments. Biswas-Diener (2010) provides six guidelines for supervisors to utilize and motivate their supervisees: 1) expectation: understanding of feedback/evaluations and what they are meant to accomplish, 2) accuracy: "This puts the onus on the person giving the feedback, and suggests thoughts that might be superfluous or might be seen as a criticism of character rather than performance (p. 56)." This is especially true and unethical if attacks on character are false and given without supporting examples 3) feedback is future-directed: provide steps to show how the supervisee can accomplish areas of challenge, 4) "Believing in the project": Supervisors must be introspective and believe in the feedback they give and believe in their supervisee, 5) Be specific: Give examples of strengths and if there is an area(s) of challenge, give examples of how it is so and how the supervisee can move forward positively, 6) Feedback is a relational space: Understand to whom you are giving the feedback. Each supervisee is unique and understanding each member of the team will allow supervisors to give feedback in which there is accountability and promotion of trust.
- Opportunities for personal control
- Opportunities to use skills
- Externally generated goals
- A variety of tasks
- Clear understandings of expectations and accurate feedback
- Adequate pay
- Safe workplace
- Supervision that is supportive
- Interpersonal contact
- Social rank or position
The closer organizations come to fulfilling these characteristics, the greater positive emotion and benefits of workplace wellness. Gaining feedback in this regard is important, especially in neutral environments. Biswas-Diener (2010) provides six guidelines for supervisors to utilize and motivate their supervisees: 1) expectation: understanding of feedback/evaluations and what they are meant to accomplish, 2) accuracy: "This puts the onus on the person giving the feedback, and suggests thoughts that might be superfluous or might be seen as a criticism of character rather than performance (p. 56)." This is especially true and unethical if attacks on character are false and given without supporting examples 3) feedback is future-directed: provide steps to show how the supervisee can accomplish areas of challenge, 4) "Believing in the project": Supervisors must be introspective and believe in the feedback they give and believe in their supervisee, 5) Be specific: Give examples of strengths and if there is an area(s) of challenge, give examples of how it is so and how the supervisee can move forward positively, 6) Feedback is a relational space: Understand to whom you are giving the feedback. Each supervisee is unique and understanding each member of the team will allow supervisors to give feedback in which there is accountability and promotion of trust.
RSS Feed
