Gallery Presentation International Positive Psychology Association 7th IPPA World Congress 2021

Achieving Engagement through Positive Leadership (#346)

Mario Toledo 1 , Mercedez García 1
  1. Institute for wellbeing and happiness , Universidad Tecmilenio, Monterrey, Nuevo León, México

In an increasingly competitive global economy, employers require a healthier, more engaged workforce. To this end, employers are implementing various programs to promote employee engagement. Research has shown that engaged employees have better physical health and are more productive (Crabtree, 2005). Companies with engaged workforces have higher earnings per share (EPS). In a study conducted by Gallup, they found that Companies with an average of 9.3 engaged employees for every actively disengaged employee experienced a 147% higher EPS compared with their competition (Crabtree, 2013). In 2017 the banking institution “AABB” reported high levels of employee engagement (M=4.27) on the Q12 Gallup engagement assessment, positioning themselves on the third quartile in Gallup´s ranking. Because of this, the bank set a goal to keep improving employee’s engagement into the highest quartile. Since 2018, the bank deployed a massive strategy based on a positive Leadership framework that includes three focuses: on the positive, on strengths and positive communication. Along the many actions implemented since 2018, we will mention some of the most significant: 1) Character strengths assessment, using the VIA test, 2) Design of Positive communication and feedback tools, and 3) Leadership Training. Since August 2019 the bank implemented a 24-hour training in positive leadership for all their employees, as it today 2000 employees have completed the training. Preliminary results show a 4% increase in employees engagement (M= 4.42) from 2017 to 2020. In addition, we have found some other positive outcomes, for example, since 2017 to 2020 the percentage of absenteeism due to health issues has dropped form 8% to 1%. These results provide evidence of the importance of increasing engagement and positive leadership within the organizations. Further results will be presented and discussed.

  1. Crabtree S. (2005). Engagement Keeps the Doctor Away: A Happy Employee Is a Healthy Employee. https://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/14500/engagement-keeps-doctor-away.aspx
  2. Crabtree S. (2013). Worldwide, 13% of Employees Are Engaged at Work Low workplace engagement offers opportunities to improve business outcomes. https://news.gallup.com/poll/165269/worldwide-employees-engaged-work.aspx
  • Keywords: Leadership/Management, Strengths
  • Select your presentation sub-category: Intensive program analysis and description