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1.3: A Successful Worker

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    Chapter 3

    Introduction
    What features do top workers share? How do they perceive their work? Do they
    face setbacks (at all)? Are they always excited about their work, or do they also
    have boring work tasks? Work cannot be all about sunshine, can it?
    These questions came to mind as we glanced at the work attitudes and personalities
    of Employees of the Year. In this chapter, we reveal their thoughts, allow
    them to describe their motivation, engagement and themselves as employees.
    Surprisingly, the Employees of the Year participating in our studies had many
    things in common – regardless of occupation.
    The chapter consists of three viewpoints of top workers’ descriptions of themselves
    and their work. First, their opinions on the most important features of their
    work and other relevant factors that enhance success are introduced. Second, we
    look at the top workers as persons following the ideas of positive psychology and
    human strengths. Finally, a new perspective on success is introduced: the experience
    of success. Here, we focus on experiences of success at work as described
    by top workers. All these contribute to a special perspective on the phenomenon
    of success when the analysis is limited to the employee as well as the workplace
    and its distinctive features.
    Work itself boosts motivation and provides
    experiences of joy and accomplishment
    Challenging work is most appreciated
    Some commonalities emerged as employees listed the most important factors that
    resulted in positive experiences at work. The most signifi cant factor concerned
    the challenges at work and opportunities to improve skills and/or work. They
    described such situations as those in which you can learn more and develop yourself
    through new challenges at work. The participants emphasised that recognising
    your core skills is essential as it becomes possible to concentrate on doing
    what is most suitable for you. Indeed, knowing your strengths and weaknesses as
    Chapter 3
    A successful worker
    30 A successful worker
    well as your values and interests is crucial for enhancing your career (see also
    Arnold et al . 1993 ).
    ‘I’m excited mostly in situations that enable me to develop something, to
    change something for the better, in a more reasonable direction.’
    ‘Every day is different. It’s challenging to see every customer as an individual
    and not as a group of clients!’
    ‘I can actually say that we have very diverse training at work. And all these
    courses help with doing this work as this environment is changing constantly
    and, of course, the whole society. Continuously educating yourself in this
    way is essential in order to maintain your profi ciency.’
    Surprisingly, participants were not mavericks at their work, but they highly
    valued successful and effortless cooperation with their co-workers. Similarly, it
    has been discovered that social support is an effective means of enhancing selfesteem
    and feelings of mastery (Rousseau et al . 2009 ), thus promoting success at
    work. Argyle ( 1987 ) points out that contentment with relationships in the workplace,
    both horizontally – between employees – and vertically – between
    employers and employees – is central to happiness at work.
    ‘I like working in teams. It’s interesting to work with different kinds of people.’
    ‘I think that my most powerful experiences at work are those in which we are
    working together as a group.’
    ‘I think that [good relationships in the workplace] are an unquestionable precondition;
    everybody works better when they feel good…. So, if you spend fi ve or ten
    minutes chatting, it doesn’t harm because it contributes to the system in general.’
    Thirdly, participants considered opportunities to work autonomously as a salient
    dimension of their experience. The Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) Model
    suggests that job resources (for example, autonomy, immediate feedback and
    rewards) are especially salient for resource gain, for example, true wellbeing and
    motivation at work, i.e., work engagement (Bakker and Demerouti 2007 ). In
    addition, individuals should be encouraged to rest, to engage in positive work
    refl ection, and to prevent negative work-related thoughts (Binnewies et al . 2009 ).
    ‘I can autonomously determine what I’m doing and when.’
    ‘I can determine the content of my work.’
    ‘Work drive, engagement, and the joy of work.’
    All Employees of the Year thought that their work was rewarding. According to
    them, new challenges, as well as opportunities to develop themselves at work,
    were most exciting to them. It seemed certain that they experienced work
    A successful worker 31
    engagement and joy of work. From the sub-scales of work engagement, the
    signifi cance of work refers to dedication. All participants were proud of their
    work and considered their work meaningful. Furthermore, the sub-scales of fl ow,
    namely, vigor and absorption, were apparent in their descriptions.
    ‘I am able to concentrate so deeply that I escape from reality. I can close my
    ears, and my husband tells me that I’m a closed book…. I am riveted by my
    work, and I see it as a blessing.’
    The interviewees were asked to describe how they focused on work. This was
    supposed to provide information about their fl ow experiences. In addition, they
    were asked to describe setbacks and hardships and their ways of handling such
    situations. Likewise, top workers described the challenges of their work and some
    aspects of work that had recently made them excited. One way of expressing top
    workers’ inspiration for their work was their descriptions of how pleasurable it
    was for them to go to work every day. Many of them spoke of how important it
    was to be able to develop their work.
    The experience of fl ow was familiar to almost everyone. Their descriptions
    were convincing; they kept talking about how fantastic it was to be absorbed by
    their work. However, the conditions leading to fl ow varied from person to person:
    some could reach this state in cooperation with colleagues, while others did so
    independently.
    ‘I become absorbed when the [work] space is as undisturbed as possible.’
    Inspiration and enthusiasm were concretely described as they said that they
    became riveted by work and did not remember to check the time or count the
    hours.
    ‘Sometimes I can come here during weekends if I am very enthusiastic about
    developing something, for example an initial idea, so the time can pass
    quickly and it can be that I come here to my offi ce on Saturday and Sunday.’
    Above all, the most extraordinary characteristic among Employees of the Year
    was their positive attitude, which was specifi c to informants. For instance, they
    did not give up in the face of confl icts. Instead, they saw such situations as opportunities
    to reassess their occupational skills and, if necessary, to study and
    develop. Thus, confl ict situations were seen as challenges that had to be solved.
    This kind of positive and optimistic attitude was at the very core of the participants’
    characteristics and may explain why they did not consider demanding
    situations to be stressful.
    ‘Firstly, you have to try again if it’s worth it. And if it’s not, it might be that
    you weren’t right after all. But then again, you can think that now is the time
    32 A successful worker
    to look in the mirror and accept the fact that that way isn’t leading you anywhere
    and fi nd another one. This I have done many times along my way. And
    what else can you do…?’
    ‘Sometimes I think that I’m a little bit stupid…. But I’m not because it might
    be that I don’t see those [confl ict situations]. I’ve always taken more responsibility
    than I should have and thus got more interesting duties….’
    This is also an instance of the rewards of a proactive (as opposed to reactive)
    attitude (see Covey 2006 ). Proactive people can change their behaviour, see
    things from a different angle, make choices, and know what they want. Reactive
    people, on the other hand, concentrate on things that they cannot control or
    change, such as other people’s weaknesses and poor circumstances. Accordingly,
    proactive people function in more effective and positive ways.
    Positive experiences at the core?
    This research has shown that one’s positive work experiences (both the work
    itself and the employee’s way of working) could be placed at the core of success.
    Employees of the Year found their jobs pleasing. Having a holistic positive experience
    is crucial to this (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi 2000 ; see also
    Mäkikangas et al . 2005 ). Moreover, fi nding a balance between an employee’s
    skills and work-related expectations, as well as between opportunities and challenges,
    is shown to lead to better performance at work, contentment, higher
    motivation and self-effi cacy (Mäkikangas et al . 2005 ).
    How then can success at work be outlined? The positive attitude that Employees
    of the Year demonstrated toward work and life in general was a common factor
    among them. As they outlined the phenomenon of success at work, the manner in
    which the participants experienced their work appeared to lie at the core of their
    success. Their positive experiences regarding their work and themselves as
    employees can be seen as a salient factor whereas the other features of work –
    professional profi ciency, life situation, work motivation and personality – merely
    appeared to be dependent on this positive experience. Notwithstanding, all these
    factors affect each other to a certain extent. Especially the above-mentioned
    features of work seemed to affect both the experience of work and work motivation.
    All features together form the basis and prerequisites for success at work. The
    interconnectedness of these factors is illustrated in Figure 3.1 .
    Placing the experience of work at the center is, in fact, a unique way of understanding
    success at work because it is not usually considered the most salient factor
    when compared with, for example, work motivation (cf. Ruohotie and Honka 2003).
    On the other hand, the positive development that leads to becoming a top
    worker cannot be considered separate from an individual’s environment
    (Magnusson and Mahoney 2006 ). Factors outside working life that
    infl uence success include one’s overall life situation, family, friends, hobbies,
    physical and psychological health, and so on.
    A successful worker 33
    Although the fi ndings are not generalisable as such, some recent research
    provides interesting guidelines regarding the types of attitudes that Finnish workers
    have toward work. For example, the National Research and Development
    Centre for Welfare and Health of Finland has studied working conditions and
    contentment (see, for example, Miettinen 2006 ) and has listed factors that
    employees value most about their work. Among employees who were mostly
    very pleased with their jobs, the factors that were most appreciated were the
    following: interesting content, autonomy, variation at work and social relationships
    with co-workers. Of these factors, autonomy and social relationships were
    also important to Employees of the Year. The difference between Finnish workers
    in general and the participants in this research was in relation to employees’
    attitudes toward opportunities for developing and educating themselves and the
    need for challenges at work. These were highly appreciated among Employees of
    the Year but not among workers in general.
    The variation between top workers and the general pool can also be studied
    from another perspective. Among Finnish workers in general, two-thirds of
    managers, half of subordinate managers and one-third of workers reported
    considering education and development at work as very important (Aitta 2006 ).
    – Intrinsic work motivation.
    Motivation:
    The positive work experience:
    – Work engagement and drive;
    – Regarding adversities as challenges;
    – Optimistic and enthusiastic attitude
    towards work.
    Life situation:
    – The combination
    of work and family.
    Personality:
    – social, optimistic, selfconfident,
    diligent, openminded,
    persistent, reliable,
    willing to learn and develop,
    etc.
    Professional proficiency:
    – Maintaining, updating and
    developing one’s
    professional skills;
    – Interest in developing the
    profession.
    SUCCESS
    AT
    WORK
    The features of work:
    – Challenging work;
    – Development
    opportunities;
    – Good working
    atmosphere;
    – Autonomy.
    Figure 3.1 The interconnectedness of the factors that explain success at work among
    Employee of the Year awardees (Uusiautti, 2008).
    34 A successful worker
    In our research, this kind of variation between different positions was not apparent.
    Instead, all Employees of the Year, regardless of their position, appeared to
    be extremely eager to educate themselves.
    These results are in line with previous research. For example, Kinnunen et al .
    ( 2008 ) have found that increasing the rewarding aspects of work – instead of
    decreasing effort – could be especially effi cient for increasing work engagement.
    Additionally, researchers have demonstrated that wellbeing is impacted by core
    concepts of positive psychology such as hope (see Snyder 1994 ), self- effi cacy
    (Bandura 1997 ) and optimism (Carver and Scheier 2002 ). These characteristics
    were common to participants – especially the optimistic attitude toward work and
    life in general.
    What can be learned from the experiences of Employees of the Year? It seems
    that having positive experiences is a key factor in success and wellbeing at
    work. Also, a lack of absenteeism and a willingness to stay in the same job –
    engagement, so to speak – are signifi cant. Employees of the Year could be
    described as true ‘try-harders’ because of their optimistic attitude both when
    confronting obstacles and when striving forward in their careers and other workrelated
    ambitions. According to Tugade and Fredrickson ( 2004 ), there are individuals
    who seem to ‘bounce back’ from negative events quite effectively,
    whereas others are seemingly unable to get out of their negative ruts. Our
    participants seemed to represent the former group. In addition, participants were
    passionate about working consummately. Indeed, it has been discovered that
    high work engagement magnifi es emotional responses to perceived success or
    failure (Britt 1999 ).
    Regardless of occupation or position, Employees of the Year appreciated wellbeing
    at work over hard values, such as making a good salary. In order to gain
    positive experiences from one’s work, an employee has to be (intrinsically) motivated
    to do this particular work, to accomplish tasks and goals set. Work itself
    can motivate. However, in the present research, it was also discovered that when
    the work content lacked interest but its other characteristics, such as challenges,
    autonomy and work environment, appealed to employees, positive experiences
    were more likely to be achieved.
    Strengths and success
    Employees are human beings working in a certain job or occupation. As the
    previous fi ndings show, success at work can be connected to challenging and
    inspiring work tasks but also to the intrinsic drive to work well. However, it is
    also interesting to think about the strengths that top workers possess and illustrate
    in their doings.
    Indeed, recent research has paid increasing attention to studying human virtues
    (Magnusson and Mahoney 2006 ). Now, the research concentrating on human
    weaknesses has had to compete with a strong interest in human abilities, healthy
    aptitudes and virtues. Researchers have become conscious that people’s
    A successful worker 35
    experiences can be studied from this perspective as well and not just in a way that
    is oriented toward fl aws and conditions (Mahoney 2002 ).
    The concept of human strengths can be considered as contextually dynamic
    because the function of a specifi c behaviour depends on its context and its
    outcome. In addition, contexts are dynamic and change during an individual’s life
    span. The concept of human strengths is also norm-dependent because the fundamental
    features of a society involve common knowledge about appropriate and
    appreciated behaviour (Baltes and Freund 2006 ).
    According to Baltes and Freund ( 2006 ), the concept of human strengths is (1)
    dynamic and unbound to context from the point of view of adaptation or
    general mechanism, (2) represents the state of life-long learning and fl exible lifemanagement,
    (3) regulates the direction of the goals in individual development as
    well as the ways in which the goals will be achieved, and (4) not only supports
    individuals’ development but also makes them more effi cient participants in
    creating the common good.
    Virtues can be dissected from a variety of viewpoints. The synchronic perspective
    tries to explain an individual’s behaviour on the basis of psychological and
    biological orientations at a certain moment, whereas the diachronic point of view
    is interested in those developmental processes that have led to the prevailing
    behaviour. This perspective focuses on the behaviour at a certain moment as part
    of an individual’s developmental history. Diachronic models consider individual
    development and the timing and emergence of important happenings in one’s
    environment, as well as the ways in which these factors interact in the course of
    time (Magnusson and Mahoney 2006 ).
    We leaned on a universal idea of human strengths and asked about the strengths
    that top workers recognised in themselves. The list of strengths was originally
    developed by Professors Seligman and Peterson and their research group. After
    having read all kinds of categorisations about human virtues – starting from
    Aristotle and Plato, to the Old Testament, Talmud, Buddha, Bushido and the Boy
    Scouts – they managed to defi ne six virtues that appeared common to all.
    Their criteria for the strengths and virtues selected among the list were the
    following: fi rst, a strength needs to be manifest in an individual’s behaviour,
    including thoughts, feelings or actions consistently across time and situations.
    Second, a strength contributes to various fulfi llments that comprise the good life.
    Third, although strengths can and do produce desirable outcomes, each strength
    is morally valued in its own right. Fourth, the display of a strength by one person
    inspires and encourages others rather than diminishes them. Strengths and virtuousness
    in this sense are not based on or evoke jealousy. Fifth, the wider society
    provides institutions and associated rituals for cultivating strengths and virtues.
    Sixth, it is possible to recognise people who are paragons of virtue. Seventh,
    strength is arguably one-dimensional and cannot be decomposed into other
    strengths (Peterson and Park 2004 : 436-436).
    The virtues listed were wisdom and knowledge, courage, justice, temperance,
    spirituality and transcendence, and love and humanity (Seligman 2002 ). Each
    36 A successful worker
    virtue was complemented with strengths that illustrate the particular virtue. In
    other words, the idea is that one can reach a virtue and manifest it through special
    strengths, for example, the virtue of love and humanity can be shown through
    social intelligence.
    The list of virtues and strengths is as follows (Seligman et al. 2005 : 412):
    1 Wisdom and knowledge (cognitive strengths that entail the acquisition and
    use of knowledge):
    Creativity (thinking of novel and productive ways of doing things);
    Curiosity (taking an interest in all of ongoing experience);
    Open-mindedness (thinking things through and examining them from all
    sides);
    Love of learning (mastering new skills, topics and bodies of knowledge);
    Perspective (being able to provide wise counsel to others).
    2 Courage (emotional strengths that involve the exercise of will to accomplish
    goals in the face of opposition, external or internal):
    Authenticity (speaking the truth and presenting oneself in a genuine way);
    Bravery (not shrinking from threat, challenge, diffi culty or pain);
    Persistence (fi nishing what one starts);
    Zest (approaching life with excitement and energy).
    3 Humanity (interpersonal strengths that involve ‘tending and befriending’
    others):
    Kindness (doing favours and good deeds for others);
    Love (valuing close relations with others);
    Social intelligence (being aware of the motives and feelings of self and
    others).
    4 Justice (civic strengths that underlie healthy community life):
    Fairness (treating all people the same according to notions of fairness and
    justice);
    Leadership (organising group activities and seeing that they happen);
    Teamwork (working well as a member of a group or team).
    5 Temperance (strengths that protect against excess):
    Forgiveness (forgiving those who have done wrong);
    Modesty (letting one’s accomplishments speak for themselves);
    Prudence (being careful about one’s choices; not saying or doing things
    that might later be regretted);
    Self-regulation (regulating what one feels and does).
    6 Transcendence (strengths that forge connections to the larger universe and
    provide meaning):
    A successful worker 37
    Appreciation of beauty and excellence (noticing and appreciating beauty,
    excellence, and/or skilled performance in all domains of life);
    Gratitude (being aware of and thankful for the good things that happen);
    Hope (expecting the best and working to achieve it);
    Humour (liking to laugh and tease; bringing smiles to other people);
    Religiousness (having coherent beliefs about the higher purpose and
    meaning of life).
    Top workers’ strengths and virtues
    We asked the top workers to rank their strengths by giving three points to their
    best strength, two to their second best, one to their third best and half points to any
    other strengths they considered typical of them. When all the data were combined,
    the results were interesting. Three strengths stood out: open-mindedness came
    in fi rst, social intelligence was ranked second and perseverance came in as the
    third important strength. We will now introduce the strength-based analysis in
    greater detail.
    Wisdom and knowledge
    The virtue of wisdom and knowledge consists of cognitive strengths (creativity,
    curiosity, open-mindedness, love of learning and perspective) that relate to the
    ability to acquire and use information. This virtue was the most important among
    the top workers. Based on their own perceptions, wisdom and knowledge as a
    virtue included those strengths that best described their passionate attitude toward
    learning new things, developing themselves and their occupation, as well as gathering
    versatile knowledge and skills. Therefore, their estimation also illustrated
    their attitude towards working.
    The top workers were not always able to recognise their strengths, for example,
    when they spoke about creativity:
    ‘I thought that I was not creative at all because I have always been really bad
    at drawing. But still, I compose music and write lyrics… and make up all
    kinds of gadgetries and apparatuses.’
    Creativity was appreciated, but not all the top workers recognised themselves as
    creative. In fact, the concept of creativity is not as self-evident as one might think.
    Seligman et al. ( 2005 : 412) state that creativity simply means ‘thinking of novel
    and productive ways to do things’ whereas Sternberg and Lubart ( 1999 ) have
    defi ned creativity as the ability to produce work that is novel and appropriate.
    Simonton’s ( 2009 : 262) defi nition follows that of Sternberg and Lubart.
    Creativity can be defi ned on the basis of two conditions: fi rst, it must be original.
    This means that creative ideas are novel, surprising and unexpected; however,
    originality is not a suffi cient criterion. Creativity must also be adaptive, which
    38 A successful worker
    means that others should fi nd the created thing adjustable or the creation should
    be adaptable. Sometimes, creativity is defi ned only as a feature that produces
    concrete results (for example, Carson et al . 2005 ). Furthermore, creativity can be
    defi ned only in terms of the so-called divergent creative reasoning. In divergent
    working, several options for solutions are kept open and fl exible whereas the
    convergent way of working concentrates on one solution in order to achieve the
    right convincing result (Basadur and Hausdorf 1996 ; Runco 1993 ). From a
    psychological point of view, creativity is a very important human strength; it is
    most productive for those whose personality consists of features such as independence,
    strength, optimism, inner-direction, fl exibility, tolerance of confl icts,
    energy, as well as perseverance and goal-orientation (Csikszentmihalyi 1990,
    2000; Eysenck 1993 ; Maslow 1988 ).
    Furthermore, creativity must not only be understood as a feature of an individual
    (a lone genius) but more often as a result of group work (see Nijstad and
    Levine 2007 ; Simonton 2009 ). Indeed, Anderson et al . ( 2004 ) have suggested
    that creativity and innovations should be studied more comprehensively and in a
    more routinised manner as the modern, constantly changing working life requires
    it – not to mention other areas of life.
    Open-mindedness is associated with tolerance and courage to take part in
    new things. From the point of view of success at work, this is interesting
    because it can explain top workers’ willingness to tolerate changes and seize
    opportunities. Usually, people tend to resist information that confl icts with their
    personal views – even if new information is shown to improve understanding
    (Correll et al . 2004 ). Interestingly, people seem to be motivated toward
    discounting both the source and the content of a challenging message in an
    effort to protect their existing beliefs and by striving for positive self-regard by
    drawing on successes in important domains in their lives (see also Cohen et al .
    2000 ). For successful working, it is worth mentioning that research has shown
    that open-minded interaction leads to curiosity and information-seeking and the
    increasing likelihood of creative new knowledge emerging in work groups and
    teams (Mitchell and Nicholas 2006 ).
    In particular, the Police Offi cer of the Year, the Psychologist of the Year and
    the Farmer of the Year considered open-mindedness as an important characteristic.
    According to the interviews, open-mindedness aptly described all the participants,
    as did love of learning (for example, Nurse of the Year considered this to
    be his greatest strength), whereas creativity and curiosity were not. Curiosity was
    considered rather negatively: as nosiness. This might be a culture-specifi c fi nding
    since the concept seemed to have a negative connotation among interviewees.
    Notwithstanding, according to an American-Japanese comparative research, curiosity
    was connected with subjective happiness (Shimai et al . 2006 ), thus representing
    a very important human strength.
    Perspective was, to some extent, every top worker’s strength. It was understood
    as a sort of wisdom gained through experience, i.e., the ability to look at
    things from different perspectives:
    A successful worker 39
    ‘First, I thought of some tactics… The more experience you have the easier
    you notice that you have plenty of other options and tacks that you have to
    consider.’
    Thus, the virtue of wisdom and knowledge described the top workers well, a
    point also supported by the fact that none of these workers thought that these
    strengths should be improved or that they lacked one or some of these strengths.
    Courage
    The virtue of courage was defi ned as an emotional strength consisting of the will
    to achieve goals regardless of inner or outer resistance. Putnam ( 1997 ) distinguishes
    three dimensions of courage: physical courage is characterised by overcoming
    a fear of death or physical harm. The goals to be achieved by the exercise
    of physical courage are traditionally defi ned by society or by the requirements of
    survival. Moral courage deals with loss of ethical integrity or authenticity and
    social disapproval. For example, it refers to situations in which a person adheres
    to his or her moral principles regardless of the group pressure of the people
    surrounding him or her. The third form of courage is psychological courage,
    which refers to fear centering on a loss of psychological stability. In the classifi –
    cation of virtues and strengths (Seligman et al . 2005 ) courage is analysed through
    the strength of authenticity, bravery, persistence and zest, which can all contain
    elements of the aforementioned three dimensions as well.
    This virtue was evaluated as having secondary importance by the top workers,
    and they did not see any shortcomings in the strengths listed within this virtue.
    Nurse of the Year and Priest of the Year thought that authenticity was their most
    important strength, which is, indeed, especially crucial among professions that
    entail working closely with other people.
    ‘So you certainly have to be genuine when dealing with people and at work
    in general and I think that I try to express that I am what I am and what I
    do…’.
    Persistence is an interesting strength when it comes to success at work. The previous
    chapters have shown that, to some extent, success requires persistent and
    diligent work. Therefore, it could be assumed that persistence would score high
    among top workers. Furthermore, the strength itself is not as straightforward as it
    might appear. For example, Lent et al . ( 1984 ) have shown that high self-effi cacy
    positively affects persistence. Likewise, motivation and outer surroundings can
    infl uence how persistently people keep on doing something. But when regarded
    as a personal strength, persistence appears more stable, a constant feature that one
    manifests in many areas of life. It is also a question of a certain kind of attitude,
    a mental map (Achor 2010 ), that leads people to strive and try over and over
    again or to approach any long-term goal step by step.
    40 A successful worker
    Persistence as a strength was emphasised by Police of the Year, Psychologist
    of the Year and Priest of the Year and, according to the top workers, persistence
    was the third most important strength among them.
    ‘I can say that if I agree to take care of something, I’ll have a great need to do
    it; I rarely leave tasks unfi nished.’
    Every top worker also considered himself or herself to be typically zesty;
    however, bravery as a concept was diffi cult to grasp as many of them associated
    it with romantic images of brave heroes. Nonetheless, defi ned as everyday bravery,
    it seemed more familiar, and they described it as staying strong and sticking
    to one’s principles when accomplishing daily chores and making daily choices.
    Humanity
    The third most important virtue among the top workers according to their assessments
    was humanity. Within this virtue, they also recognised their second most
    important strength, namely, social intelligence. The concept of social intelligence
    can be perceived from various viewpoints. Salovey et al . ( 2004 ) sums up four of
    them: (1) perceiving emotions, (2) using emotions to facilitate thought, (3) understanding
    emotions, and (4) managing emotions in a way that enhances personal
    growth and social relations. If success at work was previously associated with
    opportunist, cold-hearted mavericks, top workers in our studies proved the opposite.
    Artisan of the Year, Priest of the Year, Police of the Year, and Nurse of the
    Year all thought that social intelligence described them extremely well. Of
    course, the later three are occupations for which social intelligence can be seen
    as one of the basic requirements to perform well. One of the top workers paralleled
    social intelligence with social skills, and he was of the opinion that his
    social skills were not perfect but should be improved. One interesting remark
    concerning social intelligence was made by Artisan of the Year who pointed out
    that social relationships are important for success at work:
    ‘You don’t create your success all by yourself; it’s the others who create your
    success.’
    However, those employees who lacked social skills can also be rewarded, but
    whether it is more likely that social personalities are rewarded is a different question
    altogether.
    Justice
    Among the strengths (fairness, leadership, teamwork) that describe the virtue of
    justice, the top workers named fairness as their most important feature, especially
    Farmer of the Year, as he considered it as a component of good leadership. Treating
    A successful worker 41
    his employees fairly was important for creating and sustaining a good working
    atmosphere and trust in the workplace. Leadership can be defi ned as a leader’s
    personal characteristics or behaviour, style and decisions (Arnold et al . 1993). The
    top workers regarded leadership merely as a skill, instead of a strength, that one
    should have. Indeed, leadership can be seen as an innate characteristic – or
    strength – that can be cultivated and that can fl ourish along with one’s development
    (see, for example, Murphy and Johnson 2011 ). On the other hand, leadership
    can also be considered as a profession that can be taught and learned for the benefi t
    of oneself and others (see, for example, Uusiautti 2013 ; Uusiautti et al. 2012).
    One of the top workers recognised the shortcomings in her leadership skills
    whereas another considered it as one of his most important strengths.
    ‘I want to be in the lead and take the group forward… Yet, I am not a dictator…
    but I consider myself as a leader and a trend-setter in order to make
    good for other people as well.’
    Teamwork skills varied among top workers according to their assessments. Those
    who evaluated their social intelligence as good assessed their teamwork skills
    similarly, whereas two of the top workers who held managerial positions saw some
    defi ciencies in their teamwork skills; one of them wanted to improve his skills.
    Temperance
    This virtue was not deemed very important, but downright distant, because of its
    connection with modesty and prudence. The top workers found it somewhat diffi –
    cult to assess how this virtue and its associated strengths (forgiveness, modesty,
    prudence and self-regulation) would characterise them. However, after persistently
    defi ning them together during the interviews, the workers began to have an
    idea of which strength typifi ed them and which did not.
    Not surprisingly, the ability to forgive did depict all top workers to some
    extent. They also emphasised that one has to be able to apologise as well.
    According to the top workers, their forgiveness was tested by the social confl icts
    in the workplace.
    ‘I am able to forgive and apologize… but it is hard if you are accused of
    something that you have not done.’
    Modesty as a strength was considered paradoxical; on one hand, modesty is a
    desirable trait, but one has to be able to be genuinely proud of one’s achievements
    without unnecessary or excessive modesty. Indeed, a study by Shimai et al .
    ( 2006 ) also showed that modesty had a strong negative correlation with happiness
    among both Americans and Japanese, which means that having modesty as a
    signature strength was associated with less happiness. The contradictory nature
    of this concept was also discussed in our studies. Although, traditionally, modesty
    42 A successful worker
    in people has been appreciated, the top workers were critical. For example, some
    old proverbs were questioned:
    ‘“Modesty makes you prettier” is not necessarily good for success at work
    but “you would foster your own achievements” would be.’
    However, feeling proud assumes that one cannot be proud of something to which
    one has not contributed oneself (see also Varila and Ikonen-Varila 2002 ). Two of
    the top workers associated modesty with humbleness.
    ‘I would like to be humble but do I want to be… “the one who reaches high
    ends up low” – this proverb has stumped us.’
    In work life, unwritten emotional rules determine what emotions are approved
    and how, to whom, and in which situation one is allowed to express them, and
    how emotions are interpreted.
    Half of the participants saw prudence as one of their strengths, and they
    explained it as their special skill in deliberating their actions and making justifi ed
    decisions at work. Therefore, prudence merely resembled a professional skill or
    a work-related strength rather than a personal attribute, unlike self-regulation,
    which was seen as a strictly personal characteristic and as an aspect of temperament.
    Half of the top workers assessed that their self-regulation could be better.
    ‘Still, there are many dimensions that could be smoothened… my nature can
    be stretched to many directions.’
    Transcendence
    Transcendence as a virtue was also considered paradoxical because they did not
    agree with all the strengths (appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude,
    hope, humour, religiousness) included in this virtue. For example, it was diffi cult
    to imagine religiousness as a strength – except for the Priest of the Year.
    However, the top workers did spend a signifi cant amount of time contemplating
    how appreciation of beauty and excellence was manifested in working life. They
    explained this virtue as the ability to recognise good performances and achievements
    instead of using one’s energy on envying. This had to do with their positive
    attitude and ability to understand achievements earned (Pajares 2001 ).
    Gratitude is an important human strength that contributes to subjective happiness
    (McCullough et al . 2002 ; see also Otake et al . 2006 ). Gratitude was considered
    as gratefulness for being able to have rewarding and pleasing work.
    ‘This lies deep in our culture; you cannot say when another does something
    good. We haven’t had such a working culture either. I want to give feedback
    if I see that someone is seriously doing something really great.’
    A successful worker 43
    One of the top workers saw hope as one of her most important strengths. Hope
    was seen as the foundation of an optimistic attitude.
    ‘So that you believe that you’ll cope with this although there are diffi culties;
    that you’ll just try again or some other route.’
    Indeed, hope and optimism are neighbouring concepts, but Finnish people
    (Ojanen 2002 ), for example, are traditionally seen as optimistic rather than hopeful.
    Ojanen ( 2002 ) defi nes hope as realistic optimism which has trust at the
    center.
    The top workers appreciated humour although some of them did not consider
    themselves very humorous. The ability to look at things from a distance and see
    humour in them was, however, considered important as humour helped to process
    problematic issues and handle tough situations. For example, the Police of the
    Year emphasised the meaning of humour in police work as a connective factor
    among police offi cers and when there is a need to confront the most diffi cult situations
    at work. The Priest of the Year saw similarities in humour and religion:
    ‘They are at least cousins, if not downright siblings; both create hope in
    people.’
    In addition, humorous people understand things widely and do not remain stuck
    on details; in his opinion, religion has the same dimension.
    Other virtues and strengths
    The top workers also named some other strengths that were not included in the
    CVS Model. Five of them highlighted the signifi cance of their own personality;
    they allowed their strong personalities to surface in their work. Many of them
    associated this with authenticity or being themselves. This was important for
    Nurse of the Year, Priest of the Year and Police of the Year. But those who
    worked as supervisors also emphasised the signifi cance of acting in a genuine
    way and bringing out one’s personality. In this way, followers’ trust can be
    achieved.
    Another important characteristic that most of the top workers mentioned was
    diligence and dedication. They thought that success at work could be achieved
    through industriousness. This was also a trait that was mentioned when they were
    asked to identify one trait that they would like other workers in their work
    community to possess.
    Half of the top workers emphasised their positivity and joviality. Positivity
    appeared as an optimistic attitude towards working. In addition, it was seen as
    providing resources to the entire work community. Indeed, optimism is one of the
    most salient concepts in positive psychology. It can be defi ned as a steady attitude
    and view of life and the future (Pajares 2001 ).
    44 A successful worker
    On the connection between virtues and strengths
    and success and wellbeing at work
    Arnold et al . ( 1993 ) state that awareness of one’s strengths and weaknesses as
    well as values and interests is of primary importance for enhancing one’s career.
    Optimism has a clear connection with success because, among other things, it
    involves the ability to set reasonable goals, to achieve these goals, and to use
    effi cient learning strategies. According to Carver and Scheier ( 2002 ), optimistic
    people achieve their goals because they organise their actions in an intellectual
    way in order to achieve these goals. Furthermore, the top workers appeared to
    have proactive (Covey 2006 ), as opposed to reactive, attitudes. A proactive attitude
    embodies a way of thinking according to which people are able to change
    their behaviour, look at things from various perspectives, make choices by themselves,
    and know what they want. Proactive people concentrate on things that
    they can affect and thus, their action is positive and more effi cient by nature.
    This kind of attitude can also be dissected with the use of the concept of resilience.
    Being able to move on, despite hardships, demonstrates the resilience of
    those successful individuals. Therefore, psychological resilience refers to effective
    coping and adaptation when faced with loss, hardship or adversity – a
    common feature among the top workers.
    The strengths that the top workers recognised most in themselves – openmindedness,
    social intelligence, persistence, optimism and authenticity – all
    relate to positive behaviour. If these features explain success at work, at
    least partly, wellbeing and happiness are most certainly not irrelevant to the
    workplace.
    Experiencing success alone and together
    Thus far, we have talked about the process of success or the phenomenon of
    success. We have referred to the idea of success as a (developing) state. However,
    the phenomenon of success at work also includes various experiences of success.
    Success is related to work and life in general and can be seen as a positive
    outcome of working.
    What is an experience of success and what kinds of successes do top workers
    recognise in their work? This question was also posed to the top workers. They
    were eventually able to describe their experiences of successful situations or
    events at work in numerous ways. However, some categorisations could be made.
    The most fundamental categorisation concerned whether the experience of success
    was achieved alone or in a group. These are thus divided into personal experiences
    and communal, teamwork-based experiences. These two categories include various
    elements that illustrate the origin or nature of the experience of success.
    Here again, the model of human strengths and virtues was applied for analytical
    purposes as it appeared that the two main categories could also be illustrated
    on the basis of personal strengths that are connected to the experience of success.
    A successful worker 45
    In addition to individual strengths that can partly explain the origin of experiences
    of success, and that also appear on Seligman’s list, teamwork-based experiences
    of success also seemed to necessitate human strengths that are social by
    nature. The categories somewhat overlap, but their purpose is to highlight the
    connection between individual strengths and experiences of success both at the
    individual and communal levels.
    Personal experiences of success
    Persistence, bravery and hope: experiencing
    (concrete) accomplishments
    The list provided by Seligman et al . ( 2005 ) includes strengths that can be seen as
    relevant to accomplishing work-related tasks. Specifi cally, persistence as the ability
    to fi nish what one starts; bravery as not shrinking from threat, challenge, diffi –
    culty or pain; and hope as expecting the best and working to achieve it, appeared
    in the participants’ descriptions. Firstly, the experience of success results from
    quite concrete accomplishments at work. On one hand, the top workers described
    their experiences of success as hands-on experiences such as, for example,
    performing well in some concrete task (for example, compiling a manual for guidance
    at work). On the other hand, these experiences could result from achieving a
    more high-level goal, sometimes through practical action. Furthermore, concrete
    successes may be born when some larger entity at work is directed in the right
    way. These kinds of experiences were described in the interviews as follows:
    ‘So it is an orientation fi le. We began to compile this kind of bible…. The
    operation of our workplace is described in a very comprehensive manner, and
    all the practices are printed in it. Our boss always remembers to mention it.
    I think that our employees appreciate it as well. I think it is something that has
    been very useful.’
    ‘I have thrown myself in new tasks. Supervisors have asked about my willingness,
    and I guess that they have seen in all their wisdom that I am able and
    capable of taking on new tasks. There [in the participant’s work unit], it went
    like that, and I think it was something like one year since I had started as the
    section leader when my boss asked whether I was willing to change over to
    the duty offi cer’s task. My boss thought that I would be good at that, so I took
    the duty offi cer’s post… And I can tell that I had an excellent group at that
    time; it was this so-called car offence group. Many really good fellows worked
    in it and we really produced great results; the best of Finland at that time.’
    ‘We created a new training program for occupational health psychologists…so
    that’s my thing, you know… This task came to me at the end of the 1990s, and the
    head of department assigned me for it. And I have managed to create a team of it.’
    46 A successful worker
    Moreover, the experience of success could result from such occasions in which
    employees were able to control or solve a situation at work. Therefore, accomplishment
    could be concrete but not always material in nature:
    ‘There are phases when everyone fl ounder. So, I might have given a speech
    or address that solved that situation… When you hurl yourself into the situation
    and manage to reach the goal.’
    ‘I have had the experience of “oh how good was it that I intervened the situation
    and was able to handle it”.’
    One way of achieving the experience of success is to work systematically and
    persistently. Therefore, daily practices and actions are not always that peculiar
    but the result may be:
    ‘Then there are sort of exceptional crimes that I was allowed to help [solve]…
    I headed it here in the district. We quizzed people; and every time we had a
    small hint, we would start off, even at nights. And that is something immemorial
    and so exceptional that we could solve things like that.’
    Zest and love of learning: experiencing success through
    the joy of work and flow
    Seligman et al . ( 2005 ) defi ne zest as the ability to approach life with excitement
    and energy, and love of learning as a desire to master new skills, topics and
    bodies of knowledge. These strengths surfaced in the top workers’ interviews in
    the form of various positive emotional states toward their work. In this research,
    the top workers showed high levels of joy of work (Varila and Lehtosaari 2001 )
    and fl ow (Csikszentmihalyi 2008 ) that resulted from putting their soul into work
    or learning new skills. When viewed from this perspective, the experience of
    success can also entail these positive feelings. The top workers described their
    moments of joy and fl ow in the following way:
    ‘I am riveted by it and it is a blessing that you can be so wrapped up in your
    work so much.’
    ‘Maybe the best feedback is those numbers and successes; in other words, we
    have good results to show the things that I want.’
    Curiosity and open-mindedness: experiencing success and
    expertise through challenges and new opportunities at work
    Top workers also emphasised the signifi cance of challenges and new development
    opportunities in their work. Of the strengths categorised in the list by
    Seligman et al . ( 2005 ), this attitude especially resembled curiosity as workers
    A successful worker 47
    were open-minded, were actively interested in ongoing experience, thought
    things through, and examined them from all angles. The experience of success
    could often result from a situation in which the outcome was not always clearly
    known beforehand or if worker had to learn or study something new. These
    events were described as follows:
    ‘I always take up the gauntlet although a bit clueless… Huge challenges
    [I have accepted]. And then if you can contribute in a developing manner…’
    ‘Then I considered criminal investigation challenging since I had worked [as
    a patrol offi cer] for two and half years, and I didn’t know anything about
    criminal investigation. And I had so many questions on how I should handle
    this… So I thought I should put myself in criminal investigation for a couple
    of years so that I could learn it. And then I went, and I did not regret it. Of
    course, after a few months, I found working there quite awkward, but then it
    started to run smoothly.’
    The experience of success is certainly closely connected to the experience of expertise.
    Top workers were extremely willing to educate themselves and gather knowledge
    either from various areas of their occupation or gain increasingly profound
    knowledge in their special fi eld. The experience of success may thus consist of the
    self-effi cacy and perceived feelings of capability and competence (see also
    Bandura 1997 ; Carver and Scheier 2005 ; Judge et al . 1997; Paloste et al . 2011):
    ‘But then… as I qualifi ed as a leader and had that training, it gave me such
    sources in a positive way, that I thought that someday I could go after that
    kind of position.’
    ‘Oh yeah, I have taken all sorts of them [training sessions]. Of course, quite
    quickly, I reached the level that no one could teach me anymore.’
    ‘And then, I have been developing quality work and pursued an auditing
    qualifi cation, and then I was able to evaluate other units with my co-worker.’
    At its best, work provides employees with opportunities to develop, fi nd meaning
    in life and achieve social, emotional and mental wellbeing. Therefore, more attention
    should be paid on increasing employees’ possibilities in workplaces (Snyder
    and Lopez 2002 ) since the opportunities to achieve experiences of success could
    also increase.
    Communal, teamwork-based experiences of success
    Seligman et al . ( 2005 ) allude to strengths that appeared especially important
    among top workers when they discussed teamwork-based experiences. They
    defi ned teamwork as working well as a member of a group or team; social intelligence
    as being aware of the motives and feelings of self and others; fairness as
    48 A successful worker
    treating all people the same according to notions of fairness and justice; and
    kindness as doing favours and good deeds for others. Although the experience of
    success is a personal positive emotion, it may spring up after or while of working
    together with co-workers, clients or other people who are closely connected to the
    task at hand. When everyone in a team is excited and inspired by the task, developing
    successful outcomes may produce the most delightful experience of success
    (see also Losada and Heaphy 2004 ), as described in the following utterances:
    ‘It is most fruitful when we all are excited about developing things.’
    ‘What is most important is that you see together that something works, that
    the orchestra works and plays, and that everyone even plays the same melody.’
    Furthermore, it is easier to carry out diffi cult work tasks when you are supported
    by colleagues and share ideas with them. According to the participants, when you
    have a good network or work community, you can succeed better than before.
    Naturally, however, one has to be willing to share and work for the team:
    ‘It is a problem when you have to do it [make decisions] alone. When you
    think of whether you are blind to something or whether you have forgotten
    something crucial; it is a little bit harassing, but on the other hand, you’ll fi nd
    help from your network. I mean you can ask your colleagues.’
    ‘Quite a few people come to talk to me about things and have the courage to
    say if there is something wrong or what they cannot take up in the negotiations
    by themselves. Many times I have been the channel through which the
    issues are discussed and thought over and their anxieties are released… It’s
    one of those experiences.’
    ‘But then I was called for this locum post, and it was something that I felt
    that I could work with real professionals, and somehow I worked well and
    felt supported and was in a really good team. The work was a regular nineto-
    fi ve job, and it was a success even though I was a mother of a small child.’
    The notion of the communal nature of the experience of success also highlights
    the fact that supportive and positive atmosphere at the workplace may be an
    important contributor to the experiences of success. Boreham ( 2004 ) uses the
    concept of collective competence to refer to making collective sense of events in
    the workplace, developing and using a collective knowledge base, and developing
    a sense of interdependency. Indeed, a common feature of the new ways of
    organising work is their emphasis on teamwork. Thus, the top workers’ perceptions
    of teamwork and the support received from co-workers are essential from
    this point of view. It is important to notice that the experience of success can also
    be communal by nature. However, it requires strengths of a social character (see
    Seligman et al . 2005 ).
    A successful worker 49
    Experiencing work
    The experience of success is only one way of dissecting positive experiences at
    work. However, the top workers’ experiences are also interesting because of their
    connection to overall success at work. In this research, the experiences of success
    were categorised in a data-driven manner, being aware that there are other ways
    of categorising these experiences. For example, Lutgen-Sandvik et al . ( 2011 )
    used a more detailed categorisation structure when they studied American workers’
    experiences of success. However, some similar categories could be found in
    these two studies; for example, appreciation, challenge, success, opportunity,
    relationships, social support and teamwork, climate, supervisor/mentor, resources
    and triumphs were apparent in the participants’ descriptions in both studies.
    Based on the results, we constructed a model to illustrate the connection
    between individual and communal factors to the possibility of experiencing
    success at work (see Figure 3.2 ). Figure 3.2 includes the dimensions of both individual/
    communal and positive/negative. Next, we will introduce the four starting
    points for the experience of success at work in greater detail:
    1 Firstly, there is the state in which both negative individual and communal
    factors are present. The employee is belittled not only by himself or herself
    but also by the work community. This situation is not likely to further the
    development of positive emotions at work – neither at the individual nor at
    the communal level. Instead, it can be considered as hindering the emergence
    of successes or other positive feelings.
    2 Secondly, there is the possibility that the work community acts as a positive
    factor but the individual employee may still have low-esteem. Success as
    well as feelings of joy are diffi cult to achieve on the personal level as people
    usually tend to feel genuinely happy about achievement if they feel entitled
    to it (see, for example, Deci and Moller 2005 ).
    3 The third part of the illustration describes a situation whereby the work community
    acts as a negative factor, but the individual has a positive perception.
    Therefore, the individual employee may have strong self-esteem, regardless
    of the work community’s disregard – although the employee’s self-regard in
    this situation may be low (Baumeister 1993 ; see also Baumeister et al . 1996).
    4 The fourth section presents the so-called ideal situation whereby both the
    individual and communal factors are positive. This kind of starting point
    might be the core factor for the emergence of positively-toned experiences
    such as fl ow (see Csikszentmihalyi 2008 ) and joy of work (Varila and
    Lehtosaari 2001 ). Likewise, experiences of success, both alone and as a
    team, become more likely than in the other above-mentioned situations as it
    can, for its part, lead to maximal performances (see Avey et al . 2010 ; Kanfer
    and Ackerman 2005 ). Furthermore, for example, intelligent thought and
    social inclusion have also been seen to have a positive, direct relationship
    (Baumeister et al . 2002 ). Our idea is that this kind of combination of positive
    individual and communal factors will also lead to wellbeing at work.
    50 A successful worker
    Employees of the Year found their jobs pleasing. Furthermore, fi nding a balance
    between an employee’s skills and work-related expectations as well as opportunities
    and challenges leads to better performance at work, contentment, higher motivation
    and self-effi cacy (Mäkikangas et al . 2005 ). As Myers and Diener ( 1995 : 11)
    point out, ‘Positive wellbeing is not just the absence of negative emotions’. Thus,
    no one has only positive experiences or experiences of success – one would not
    even know what these experiences are if one had not experienced the opposite.
    Employees of the year considered diffi culties as challenges and moments for
    stocktaking. This behaviour resembles realistic optimism (see also Chapter 2).
    Schneider ( 2001 ) illustrates this way of thinking felicitously. According to her
    defi nition of realistic optimism and its benefi cial consequences, the term ‘problem’
    (with synonyms such as predicament, obstacle and diffi culty) implies that the
    current state is negative and that actions must be successful to establish a satisfactory
    state. When this problem is seen as a challenge, the current state is considered
    acceptable, offering a potential opportunity for bringing about a benefi cial change.
    Indeed, this framing can be quite powerful and explain the fundamental attitudes
    enhancing the process of success. Thus, they were able to eventually turn these
    situations into experiences of success – although it did not necessarily happen in
    an instant (see also Mitchell et al . 2004).
    Bravery was not the only strength among the participants. Employees of the
    Year could tackle obstacles and strive forward in their careers and other workrelated
    ambitions. In addition, participants were passionate about working
    POSITIVE INDIVIDUAL
    FACTORS
    Strong self-esteem
    regardless of the
    work community’s
    disregard
    Flow, joy of
    work
    POSITIVE
    COMMUNAL
    FACTORS
    NEGATIVE
    COMMUNAL
    FACTORS
    Belittled by the work
    community and
    oneself
    Low self-esteem
    regardless of the
    work community’s
    appreciation
    NEGATIVE
    INDIVIDUAL FACTORS
    Figure 3.2 The connection of individual and communal factors with the perceived success
    at work (Uusiautti and Määttä, 2013).
    A successful worker 51
    consummately. Indeed, it has been discovered that high work engagement magnifi
    es emotional responses concerning perceived success or failure (Britt 1999 ).
    The positive attitude that Employees of the Year had toward work and life in
    general was the common factor among them. Their experiences of success can be
    seen as a salient factor in the perceived happiness at work. Of course, other
    features of work – professional profi ciency, life situation, work motivation and
    personality – are also important for the positive experience. However, all factors
    affect each other to a certain extent. All special features together form the basis
    and prerequisites for success and wellbeing at work. In order to gain positive
    experiences from one’s work, an employee has to be (intrinsically) motivated to
    do this particular work and to accomplish the tasks and goals that are set. Brown
    and Ryan (2003) suggest that mindfulness may also directly contribute to wellbeing
    and happiness. They defi ne mindfulness as a pre-refl ective state, which
    includes both self-focused attention and, for instance, experience. Furthermore,
    happy people are seen to possess adequate resources for making progress toward
    valued goals (Diener et al . 1999 ). This is interesting especially from the point of
    view of performing well and experiencing success at work because people who
    have a high perception of their self-effi cacy tend to devote more to their work and
    are more persistent workers than those who make lower assessments of their
    abilities (cf. the second part of the model in Figure 3.2) (see Bandura 1997 ;
    Mitchell 1997 ).
    The above-mentioned matters are important but, on their own, they are not
    enough. The results encouraged us to also consider success from the perspective
    of a work community. Therefore, the results of our study suggest that success is
    not only matter of a single employee; participants also highlighted the importance
    of a good working atmosphere and a supportive and healthy work community.
    Quick ( 1999 : 123) maintains that ‘healthy work exists where people feel good,
    achieve high performance, and have high levels of wellbeing’ – in other words,
    where people are happy. Could it be, then, that success could be enhanced by
    creating happy and functional work communities? It seems that feeling positive
    emotions toward work produces not only a quantitative improvement by increasing
    effi ciency but also a qualitative one by making a better product or outcome
    that results from the virtue of pride, belief and commitment to one’s job (Wright,
    2004 ). Indeed, Arnold et al . ( 2007 : 201) point out that ‘it is possible that humanistic
    work values (the normative beliefs individuals hold about whether work
    should be meaningful) are an important infl uence on the likelihood of fi nding
    meaning in current work and psychological wellbeing.
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