Positive Organisational Behaviour: A South African Perspective

By Siphiwe Moyo

Organisational Behaviourist, Siphiwe Moyo received a rather peculiar call from an owner of one of South Africa’s leading speaker bureaus in 2016. “There’s an organisation that would like you to speak at their multi-country roadshow in 2017 but they would like you to come see one of their conferences next month because they are like nothing you’ve ever seen before.” Observe? That’s weird, he protested. But he obliged. So, on Monday, 16 September 2016 he drove to Bela Bela, a small town in the Limpopo Province of South Africa to observe this conference. Still not convinced. But very curious. What he saw on that day inspired him to write this book. Positive Organisational Behaviour: A South African Perspective is about the application of positive psychology in organisations. It's about creating positive organisations that will ensure that employees flourish. It is science based but practically oriented.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Siphiwe Moyo
• Release date: Aug 23, 2020

Siphiwe Moyo

Siphiwe Moyo is a Professional Speaker based in South Africa. He researches and speaks on career progression, employee engagement, employee morale, and employee motivation and on strategies aimed at nipping the entitlement culture in the bud. Siphiwe was divisional Head of Learning & Development for at least three JSE listed companies with market caps averaging R120 billion.Siphiwe holds an Executive Development Programme, a Masters in Business Administration, a BCom (Hons) in People Development and a B Tech HR (cum laude). He is a Certified International Retail Banker awarded by the International Academy of Retail Banking. He is the Chairman of the Board at the South African Board for People Practices (SABPP), a Past Chapter President at the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa (PSASA) and a Member of the Global Speakers Federation (GSF).Email: [e-mail]

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INTRODUCTION

It was mid-August 2016 when I received a rather peculiar call from an owner of one of South Africa’s leading speaker bureaus. There’s an organisation that would like you to speak at their multi-country roadshow in 2017 but they would like you to come observe one of their conferences next month because they are like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Observe? That’s weird, I protested. He assured me that I won’t regret it. I wasn’t convinced. So, on Monday, 16 September 2016 here I was driving to Bela Bela, a small town in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Still not convinced. But very curious. I was wearing a suit like I normally would at conferences. It was blazing hot. There’s a reason why the town was formerly called Warmbaths. As I approached the conference venue, I was greeted by uncharacteristically loud singing and cheering. The type I’m used to when cheering for my favourite football team, Orlando Pirates in our home ground, Orlando Stadium. I concluded that I was lost but I wasn’t. As I came closer, it became evident that what I was witnessing were different regions of the organisation I was going to. Each region entered the conference room singing and dancing to a different song. The chanting type of singing. The South African football stadium, or dare I say ANC conference, type of singing. (Not that I’ve ever been to an ANC conference but it is always lit, as young people would say). The mood was electrifying and contagious. I parked my car quickly and literally ran to the conference venue. I had never rushed to a conference venue like that before. But it was already evident that this was no ordinary conference. The host welcomed me warmly and took a polite but slightly disapproving glance at me. He didn’t say anything. But I figured it out quite quickly. Not a single person wore a suit in that conference. I looked weird. I figured the last thing I needed was to stand out. So, I quickly drove to Bela Mall and bought myself jeans and sneakers and rushed back to the conference. What I saw in that conference will stay with me forever. Literally everyone was so happy. Everyone was singing. I had never seen so many hi-fives in my entire life. Remember those days when we weren’t afraid of touching each other? Oh man. It looked like everyone really loved working there. I subsequently became their guest speaker the next year and I saw the same thing again and again. In 12 different cities, in 5 different countries. You can’t fake that. With the theory I had been teaching at business schools, it became very clear that what I was seeing in that particular South African retailer was indeed a positive organisation. What fascinated me even more was that the organisation was also a high performing organisation. They were consistently outperforming their peers. They were able to hold each other accountable. Yet there was still an undeniable gees (spirit/soul) in the organisation. Incredible. Every employee wants to work for a positive organisation. Leaders can and should transform their organisations into positives ones, where there is an abundance of positive emotions. But is that what a positive organisation is? Partly.

As an organisational behaviourist, I’m fascinated by the application of positive psychology in organisations. It was on the afternoon of 31 January 2019 when I first thought of writing this short e-book. My then business partners and I were sitting with the divisional CEO as well as the Head of HR of one of South Africa’s top banks in Ferndale, Johannesburg. We were there to pitch for business but ended up having a fascinating conversation about creating positive organisations. True to form for us, we were disagreeing among each other ever so slightly in front of clients. We never really shied away from this. We always chose to be our authentic selves. After the meeting, the CEO asked me to send him more information on a particular topic I spoke about in the meeting. As we were driving back to our offices in Sandton, I remember thinking to myself that I teach this concept so often, I should have something on hand that I could send to leaders like him when they ask. This is what this is. A short e-book for executives who want to find out how they can transform their organisations into positive organisations.

Positive Organisational Behaviour defined

Positive Organisational Behaviour according to (Luthans, 2002), is 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 today’s workplace. It is not mumbo jumbo fluffy stuff. Although Positive Organisational Behaviour (POB) research is relatively new, its core ideas are based on ideas of earlier scholars. POB origins developed from the Positive Psychology movement, initiated in 1998 by Martin Seligman and colleagues. Positive Psychology aims to shift the focus in psychology from