Journal of General Management Vol. 34 No. 3 Spring 2009 21 Putting positive psychology to work in organisations Kevin Money Associate Professor, Director of The John Madejski Centre for Reputation, Henley Business School, University of Reading Carola Hillenbrand Subject Area Leader, Reputation and Relationships, Henley Business School, University of Reading Nuno da Camara Research Fellow, The John Madejski Centre for Reputation, Henley Business School, University of Reading This article takes positive psychology concepts from the domain of individual psychology and applies them to the workplace. The adaptation of the Approaches to Happiness Questionnaire Seligman, 2002), developed by Martin Seligman, suggests that the three dimensions of pleasure, engagement and meaning are relevant to employees in the organisational context. In addition, Seligman's 2002) classi®cation of Character Strengths and Virtues is explored and their relevance for workplace performance is discussed. The paper concludes by suggesting that positive psychology is a useful lens through which approaches to work and employee potential can be explored further and suggests some future research in the area. Introduction Since its inception at the beginning of this century, the positive psychology movement has generated a signi®cant following amongst academics and management practitioners alike. It is led by former president of The American Psychological Association, Professor Martin Seligman. A key belief of positive psychology is that for a long time, psychology has focused principally on understanding mental illness and dysfunctional behaviour. Whilst this line of enquiry has provided signi®cant bene®ts for people suering from psycho- logical distress, it is the view of positive psychologists that important insights into the study of psychological health can be achieved by studying the positive side of human experience. Positive psychology research has concentrated on understanding people's lives and the factors that are associated with life satisfaction. Surveys have compared the happiness of individuals in dierent countries and cultures and at dierent stages of life. A key ®nding is that beyond the threshold of a safety net, money adds little to subjective wellbeing Seligman, 2002, p. 165). As Seligman 2002, p. 166) explains, we are 21±36