Human Resource Management

Anatomy of..Hope

Section B
PGP05087

Praveen Singh

Abstract
"Hope is the fundamental belief in the potential of every person to be a force for good Jor El
This article tries to introduce a connection between Positive Organizational Behavior (POB) and
Hope. How can one manage Hope in an organization? In addition, Ive tried to uncover whether
Cynicism replaced Hope in the organizations?

Literature Review
As per an article on Forbes.com, These three observations are the ones to which I personally agree.

Hope Renews Faith

Hope Builds Self-Confidence

Hope Helps Increase Productivity and Underscores a Positive Work Ethic

But if everything is so goody-goody about hope then why there is Despair, Lie and Pessimism??
Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where
there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope. Margaret
Thatcher upon election as Prime Minister, 1979
I think it is the law of nature that there must be an opposition for all things. We need something
to encourage and inspire us such that we can rise again like the beam of sunlight rising up and
above the horizon.
Each time a hope is fulfilled it prompts more prominent hope. Our parents have taught us to
move forward and put faith and hope into action, not just worrying or wishful thinking, sustained
our family and me and gave confidence that present circumstances would give way to future
blessings. Infinite Power of hope [R]

According to Luthans (2002), POB is interested in the study and application of positively
oriented human resource strengths and psychological capacities that can be measured, developed,
and effectively managed for performance improvement in todays workplace (p. 59). Luthans has
argued that inclusion criteria for POB are being theory and research based, measurable,
developmental, and manageable for performance impact in the workplace. POB has emerged from
the recently proposed positive psychology approach. Psychology has been criticized as primarily
dedicated to addressing mental illness rather than mental wellnessthe four Ds approach. The
purpose of Positive Psychology ...is to begin to catalyze a change in the focus of psychology from
pre-occupation only with repairing the worst things in life to also building positive qualities
(Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000, p. 5).
Thus, to sum it up we can say that Positive Psychology studies the strengths and virtues that enable
individuals and communities to thrive. While going through this I thought why not google a
theory on hope, maybe I can find one. Luckily to my ignorance there is a theory on hope. Yes
theory on even hope.
According to Snyder (2000), HOPE has three necessary ingredients:

Goal-oriented thoughts Non-random human behaviors are directed by some goal, either
short-term or long-term. Goals need to be of sufficient value to the individual so as to
occupy conscious thought. Goals should be attainable yet challenging in nature - goals that
are 100% likely to be achieved do not give people hope.

Pathways to achievement - In order to achieve goals, people need to generate plausible

routes to achieve goals. This type of thought process begins in infancy when cause and
effect relationships are first being understood. Children see that certain actions influence
events that occur.

Agency Thoughts - In this motivational component to hope, people believe that they can
initiate and sustain the pathways to goal achievement. This type of thought begins after 1
year of age when children realize they are actors who can influence their environment and
initiate cause-and-effect relationships. Positive emotions equal perceived success in
achieving goals. Negative emotions equal perceived failure in achieving goals.

Negativity in an organization
There are factors which cause people not to feel excited about their work. For some work is
monotonous, for some there is always firefighting to deliver something. Some are overburdened
with processes. Overall picture is not very exciting. Mr. Aanad Rawat (Fiserv)
Every day can't be superb, and similiarly every day can't be worst too. Employees tend to go
negative Mr. Prakash Mehra (Open Solutions)
Have we ever wondered why the demoralized employees comes to workplace every day? I mean if
he or she is so unhappy with their job duties, the organization, or with management? Then why
doesn't the employee simply find another job where he or she will be happier?

Research
Aim: The aim of the study was to break down the quintessence of HOPE for individuals in
organizations.
Methodology: Respondents included people of both sexes aged 1840 years. Questionnaire
(Google Form) was floated within the friend circle about how do they feel about Hope? What
comes first when they hear the word Hope? I acknowledged it to be an adequate sample size for
qualitative studies. Help of social media was also taken whereas Telephonic invites were also sent
whether they were even interested or not.

Questionnaire included these questions:

What does hope mean to you?

Has Cynicism replaced Hope in the organization?

What would you do as an HR guy to keep your employees motivated?

On a scale of 1-5, how would you rate your work environment?

On a scale of 1-5, what do you think the chances of you getting a pay hike?

On a scale of 1-5, how likely are you to switch the company?

On a scale of 1-5, how optimistic are you?

On a scale of 1-5, do you ever feel depressed?

If yes to above question, please elaborate between the situations where you feel Optimistic
and when do you feel Depressed?

One to One Insights

1. I remember when you and I went for that movie Man of Steel, on your birthday. That
was the time when I first realized the value of hope. There was a scene where Superman is
questioned What is S?."It's not an S, on my planet it means HOPE Superman said.
Mr. Aashish Zaroo (Test Engineer, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd)
2. Ive worked with three companies of different domains, from startup to powerhouses, I see
hope as only single factor of success. If I am optimistic then I can work wonders Mr.
Tarun Sachdeva (Business Process Lead, CITI eServe)
3. Hope leads to good work. There may be times when we must settle on a brave choice to
hope actually when everything around us disaffirms this hope. So we must believe in
ourselves Ms. Nisha Kandhoul (Software Developer, Dunnhumby India)
4. I personally the love one particular quote from Shawshank Redemption: Fear can hold
you prisoner. Hope can set you free Ms. Milan Gupta (Technology Analyst, Tata
Consultancy Services Ltd)
5. Last but not the least, to me, Hope is MANCHESTER UNITED. I've supported them for
so long now (since 1998) that they're in my blood. I love them and they're a huge part of
my life. I feel bad when we lose matches and feel miserable when we lose due to referee
decisions (As against Real Madrid in UCL). Winning matches in the stoppage time. I love
Manchester United because of their traditions

Conclusion
So after analyzing all the data though it was not much, I came to a conclusion that since most of
the people of the sample were working professionals, they tend to vote down their current
organization. Though some of them were happy but most of them were looking for a greener grass.
Although participants mostly spoke of hope in a positive light, some revealed its dark side.
At the point when individuals feel lost and vexed in their careers once in a while all they need is
a dosage of hope. It requires the person to use sound judgment keeping in mind the end goal to
maintain its positive effects. The work environment culture, the individuals you socialize yourself
with are simply a couple of things that impact your level of hope. People just want to hear a leader
let them know that everything will be fine. They need an assurance that ALL IS WELL, an
indication that their stresses will soon be gone. Individuals plan to recover that minute in time
when they felt their best.

References

Managing Hope in a workplace by Dr. Robert Veninga

Positive Organizational Behavior in the Workplace by Carolyn M. Youssef and Fred

Luthans

Wright, T. A. (2003). Positive organizational behavior: An idea whose time has truly come.
Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24, 437442.

Luthans, F. (2002). The need for and meaning of positive organizational behavior. Journal
of Organizational Behavior, 26, 695706.

Turner, N., Barling, J., & Zacharatos, A. (2002). Positive psychology at work. In C. R.
Snyder, & S. Lopez (Eds.), The handbook of positive psychology (pp. 715730). Oxford:
Oxford University Press

Luthans, F., & Youssef, C. M. (2007). Emerging Positive Organizational Behavior. Journal
of Management, 33, 321349.

The Role of Hope in Cognitive-Behavior Therapies- C. R. Snyder, Stephen S. Ilardi, Jen

Cheavens, Scott T. Michael, Laura Yamhure, and Susie Sympson
http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2013/08/19/5-ways-leaders-keep-hope-alive-indifficult-times/

In Depth Interview with my 4-5 friends