Tens of billions of dollars are spent worldwide every year on employee training and development, but often the long-term return on investment (ROI) remains questionable. 

A new ground-breaking study from researcher and author of ‘The Happiness Advantage’, Shawn Achor investigates this issue and finds that a new kind of positive psychology training exhibits a valuable and measurable ROI. 

A single training session on the principles of positive psychology was shown to improve the overall happiness, energy and stress management skills of 77 managers against a control group.  The principles of positive psychology was pioneered in the late 1990’s by American psychologist Dr Martin Seligman.

Positive psychologists seek "to find and nurture genius and talent", "to make normal life more fulfilling", and "the science of optimal human functioning".

Since then, a vast amount of international research has emerged exploring the value of positive emotions, positive traits (or character strengths) and positive social institutions (eg, families, schools, workplaces, communities). In the 2010, “Making Australia Happy”, documentary, coaching psychologist Dr Tony Grant touched on these three pillars of positive psychology, road testing a series of evidence-based strategies. www.makingaustraliahappy.abc.net.au  

With Achor’s study, subjects were evaluated four months after the initial evaluation, and impressively, the benefits of significantly higher life satisfaction (quality of life) continued compared to the control group.  

By measuring participants over a period of time against specific standards, training providers are able to identify how and why training and development initiatives work, and therefore provide value for money and a return on investment for personal and professional development, particularly to the ‘bean counters’ of the organisation.  

In December, 2008 as the worldwide economic crisis was beginning to take shape, a ten minute survey was administered to 77 KPMG managers getting a baseline reading of 14 different metrics including stress, social support and optimism. 

Then, Achor delivered a three hour training course entitled “Positive Psychology: the Science of Happiness and Potential” to the 77 mangers.   A week after the training, the survey was re-administered to the experimental group and compared with a control group (managers who did not go through the training but took the surveys). 

In April 2009, both groups were tested again.  Even after four months, the group of trained managers showed significant increases to optimism and life satisfaction - one of the greatest predictors of performance and success. 

Extensive studies have shown that employees with higher levels of life satisfaction are more productive, produce greater sales, and are more resilient in the face of challenge. 

Essentially, the study revealed three findings:

1. Teaching the principles and strategies of positive psychology is vital to preparing managers to deal better with the challenges of a modern work environment.

2. Extensive research has already found that employee life satisfaction is a direct contributor to productivity and performance; thus, a training that conclusively enhances this quality could have far-reaching implications.

3. Most importantly, this research indicates that even a short training session on positive psychology will create a clear and long lasting ROI  - an indication that it may be increasingly important for companies to start training their employees on the skills of positive psychology. 

If you are interested in implementing Positive Psychology training or, any other training and development designed to improve your workplace performance and productivity, please contact PINNACLE Business Solutions today.

Reference: Shawn Achor: The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology that Fuel Success and Performance at Work.