Importance
of Flow
For
the employee - mental health
Despite the significant advances
in therapeutic interventions and drug therapies that are now readily
available to treat many of the mental illnesses today, they still fail
to reduce the suffering. Positive Psychologists state that, “the science
of mental illness has produced effective treatments for more ‘broken
down’ people, it remains ineffective for preventing more people from
‘breaking down’” (Synder & Lopez, pg 46, 2002). Could the increasing
levels of disengagement in the workplace, be related to the rise in
mental illness? We as employees (if in full time employment) spend much
of daily life at work, if we are unhappy and or disengaged at work,
it is possible to suggest that this may have a negative impact on our
mental health.
Research has shown that those who
are disengaged at work are more prone to stress, which is known to lead
to ill physical health, cardiovascular complications, anxiety and depression.
Could flow activities at work be encouraged, to help prevent more people
from ‘breaking down’? Emerging research into flow has shown that those
who experience more flow in their daily lives, also score high on psychological
well-being measures. Could flow activities act as a buffer to prevent
mental illness? This research aims to explore flow as a predictor for
mental health. It is proposed in this present research that flow activities,
may be responsible for higher levels of mental health.
For
the employer - engaging staff
Evidence indicates that on average
only a third of all employees are engaged in their work lives, suggesting
that organizations are only functioning at a third of their full capacity.
Managers are fast realizing that employees are their greatest investment;
the high cost and destruction that the not engaged have on organizations
and economies is clearly evident, and despite all the current incentives
and training organizations use to engage employees, more employees are
becoming disengaged. Today more so than ever, it is of great importance
for organizations to identify appropriate environments that have the
potential to increase engagement.
Given that flow is considered a
form of optimal intrinsic motivation where an individual operates at
full capacity, the conditions responsible for the flow experience, may
prove helpful in engaging our growing disengaged workforce. For example,
research has found a link between flow (optimal experience) and happiness,
suggesting that those who engage in flow experiences show increased
levels of happiness (Synder & Lopez, 2002). The importance of happiness
in the workplace has largely been overlooked, but research now shows
that happiness is strongly related to organizational performance, engagement,
increased ability to handle higher levels of stress and happy employees
are also found to experience more positive relationships with others
in the workplace ( Kruger & Killham, 2005). This research proposes
that the experience of flow in the workplace may be responsible for
many positive outcomes, with happiness being just one of them.