'Happy-performing managers' proposition

Abstract

Few conundrums have intrigued organisational researchers and practitioners as has the 'happy-productive worker' thesis. Proponents of this idea are convinced 'a happy worker is a good worker'. Despite mixed empirical evidence from decades of research, there is support in the literature for the notion the 'happy-productive worker thesis'. An account is provided of a study on variation on the enduring debate of the happiness-productivity theme, the 'happy-performing managers' proposition. An empirical study is presented to establish which aspects of Australian managers' job happiness predict certain aspects of their performance. The emphasis was on investigating an aspect of human behaviour with the potential to enhance managerial performance. A contribution of this study was to provide qualified support for the 'happy-productive worker thesis' by linking managers' affective wellbeing, intrinsic job satisfaction with there contextual and task performance to propose the 'happy-performing managers' proposition. Managerial implications on these findings are considered.