Work and Organizations: Mission and Charter

The IPPA Work and Organizations Division’s mission is to serve as a bridge between research and practice and facilitate collaboration to increase the incorporation of positive psychology in academic research related to organizations and the practice of positive psychology in the organizational context, thereby positively transforming the way the world works.

Following a meeting at the Third World Congress on Positive Psychology (WCPP), held in Los Angeles, CA (USA), during June of 2013, a group of dedicated volunteers formed a launch committee and worked with IPPA Leadership to draft an initial vision and charter for the IPPA Work & Organizations Division. In May 2014, Division members elected their inaugural President, President-Elect, and Secretary to the Division leadership team.

Purpose

The Division acts as a member-driven international forum for academics, researchers, practitioners, and organizations from around the world to discuss research and applications to transform organizations and the experience of work. This forum allows practitioners and researchers to discuss and collaborate in the development and application of positive psychology principles aimed to improve individual, team and organizational well-being and performance across various contexts and cultures. The overarching purpose of the Division is to empower individuals and organizations across the globe to create and shape environments that enable them to thrive and flourish.

Vision Statement

The Work and Organizations Division of IPPA will be one of the most important visionary international go-to forums for debate, exchange, collaboration, and best practices on the integration of positive psychology in the world of work. We will accomplish this by focusing on the following five objectives:

1) Identify existing or needed research to address and engage real world organizational issues and opportunities (e.g., increasing employee engagement because disengagement costs the US economy $300B). Critical to this is actively engaging researchers across various disciplines (e.g. business, management, economics, public policy and administration, organizational and social sciences) interested in using a positive lens to study constructs, processes or outcomes (e.g. positive leadership, positive work relationships, flow at work, identity in the workplace) relevant to the organizational context. Equally crucial is gaining the support and cooperation of prominent leaders of organizations and institutions interested in applying positive psychology principles and methods in their contexts.)

2) Translate research into practical, evidence-based solutions

3) Test the impact of positive psychology interventions on organizations, including the impact on individual, team and organizational goals and metrics.

Act as a “learning lab” for sharing resources on how best to implement evidence-based practices from the growing body of positive psychology theory and research.
Via collaborative studies and evaluation, help influence the research and application of positive psychology in organizations.

4) Collaborate and communicate to publish results and promote best practices for positive organizational psychology with an international focus.

5) Represent organizational interests to IPPA. Positively influence future policy development, initiatives, and development of IPPA.

Like other Divisions within IPPA, this Division’s objectives are aligned under the three strands of IPPA’s overall strategy:

• To promote the science of positive psychology and its research-based applications
• To facilitate collaboration among researchers, teachers, students, and practitioners of positive psychology around the world and across academic disciplines
• To share the findings of positive psychology with the broadest possible audience

Microsoft Word – IPPAWorkandOrgCharterFINAL1.docx

Membership

The Division was initially formed by a volunteer-led launch committee4. Our desire is to grow a strong membership base with a productive mix of academics, researchers, and practitioners. Moving forward, there will be two levels of division participation with the following responsibilities and benefits:

• Division Membership (Open to all Members, Associates, and Students of IPPA; must participate in at least one committee or topic group during their membership, thus sharing and building knowledge in a particular practice area; Eligible to vote in division elections and contribute to ongoing dialogue about division activities; Division members who wish to join committees must commit to participating in at least 50% of committee meetings

• Division Mailing List (IPPA Affiliates – along with Members, Associates, and Students who do not wish to participate as division members – can sign up for a mailing list to receive regular updates and access publicly available Division resources)

Leadership Positions

Three 2-year elected officer positions will head the responsibilities for the Division, in addition to a non-voting Immediate Past President:

• President
• President-Elect • Secretary

Elected officers are expected to add additional positions.

Election Process

With the support of the IPPA Leadership, the launch committee invites nominees from the IPPA Membership base. Members must opt to join the Work & Organizations Division as a Division member prior to submitting their nomination. We believe this will ensure not only an engaged election process, but will build a strong membership base with which to begin our Division’s work. Candidates will be asked to indicate whether they work primarily in scholarship or practice, and they must submit a one-paragraph biography and statement of purpose5 by the identified deadline in order to be considered. These submissions will be shared with all Division members for a period of time before voting, wherein members may submit questions via a general forum for candidates to respond. Once the Division’s officers have been elected, these leaders will have the opportunity to finalize this charter and put it to a vote by members to ratify or provide any final commentary.

Meetings

Thus far, the launch committee has held two (monthly) meetings to discuss and outline the group’s proposed mission and goals. Moving forward, we propose that meetings are convened as follows:

Monthly meetings to share and discuss progress made towards the Division’s vision, coordinated and sanctioned by elected officers
Quarterly report to IPPA Leadership and Board of Directors by the President (see Appendix A for details)
A meeting of the Division to be held at the bi-annual IPPA conference
Committee-specific meetings may be held outside of the general Division meetings Communication Our primary means of communication between members has been via direct email. A group list-serve or Division-specific webpage are future potential possibilities.

Resources and Support Available:

The main area of support IPPA will provide the Division is with access to membership and the Board. Depending on available resources and as appropriate, IPPA Leadership will help to promote the opportunities and activities of the Division to members and contact lists, encouraging greater participation. IPPA will also help make appropriate introductions to relevant researchers and scholars on the Board or within its network. Where possible, IPPA will share access to existing communication systems. IPPA will also work with the Division to determine the best way to house information online, whether on the IPPA website or via a new cross-linked website.

For more information, please download the Division charter for review by clicking here.