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,
On a scale of 1-5,
On a scale of 1-5,
If yes to above

how likely are you to switch the company?

how optimistic are you?
do you ever feel depressed?
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-in-difficult-times/
In Depth Interview with my 4-5 friends