At the World Congress of Positive Psychology (June 2013), Shane Lopez, Professor at the University of Kansas School of Business and Gallup senior scientist described research that showed how hope matters when it comes to work outcomes.

Dr. Lopez described hope as a belief that things could be better and that you can make them better. To be hopeful means that you believe that the future will be better than the present and that you can make the future better.

Hope Matters Research included a meta analysis of hope and work outcomes including 50 studies that as found that hopeful workers:

• are 14% more productive
• show up for work
• are more engaged and creative
• are better at times of adversity and change
• achieve more under pressure
• are happy

What can organisations and leaders do to build strategies to increase hope?

Dr Lopez shared the following tips:

• Encourage staff to become hopeful by identifying what goal they feel most excited about and facilitate discussions on how to work on this and connect it bigger work goals
• As a leader demonstrate stability, trust, compassion and hope
• Ensure you are hopeful about your own life and company and consider how you reflect this through your communication
• Create excitement about the future, as research has shown it results in 69% engagement at work
• To ensure success with future goals, ensure you plan for obstacles that might inhibit productivity and outcomes

Finally, “It’s hard to be successful without being hopeful…when you think the future will be better that the present, you start work harder today” (S. Lopez)