How to find success at work so that it creates well-being? How to enjoy work and succeed without them requiring ever-increasing workload or sacrificing other areas of life? What is the psychology of becoming a successful worker? These questions are answered by Uusiautti and Määttä in their new book “The Psychology of Becoming a Successful Worker: Research on the Changing Nature of Achievement at Work”.

Success at work is often perceived as the continuous and accelerating efficiency among persons pursuing top careers. But simultaneously success is associated with stress and fatigue as well as imbalance between work and other areas of life. A viewpoint of people enjoying and succeeding at work and work producing joy and well-being has been less studied.

Satu Uusiautti and Kaarina Määttä define success at work in a new way through positive psychology. Their book focuses on personal and communal factors fostering success. Success at work means the sense of expertise, experiences of competence and self-efficacy alongside with achievements and productivity. Success at work produces joy and successes that influence positively other areas of life as well.

- Work life does not have to compete with other areas of life, quite the opposite. At its best, success at work provides resources and joy that have the positive influence in life in general, states Satu Uusiautti.

Success at work is based on intrinsic motivation, willingness to develop, pride in work, and satisfaction with work and life. Success is concretely manifested as fine work quality, commitment, and laudable productivity.

Employees’ of the Year experiences

The book preliminary is grounded on a study among Finnish employees of the year. They were studied in Satu Uusiautti’s doctoral dissertation. In the study, interviewees represented several occupations from the Cleaner of the Year to the Doctor of the Year, from the Priest of the Year to the Police Officer of the Year, and they all had in common their public award from succeeding at work. With them, Uusiautti researched how to become a successful worker, what is common to these top workers, and how the awardees describe their success. Important viewpoints are also the characteristics of work units, leadership and encouragement as well as home background and family.

- It is clear that success at work is not bound to just the successful worker’s personal features. He or she needs a supportive and inspiring work unit and encouraging family or home background, sums up Kaarina Määttä.

The book is preceded by Satu Uusiautti’s and Kaarina Määttä’s extensive research on the phenomenon of success at work. They have written dozens of international, scientific articles about human beings’ positive development, human strengths, and success. This book puts together the key factors of success at work and holistic well-being and contributes to the study of the psychology of success.

The book can serve as a text book in many studies at universities and universities of applied sciences, such as in the fields of psychology, educational psychology, and other behavioral and human sciences. In addition, it is useful to careers counsellors and work consultants. The book serves leaders and employees in different fields offering positive thoughts and methods that based on successful workers’ experiences that can be used for the development of not only one’s work and work units but also of well-being and personal life.

The book is published by a distinguished international publisher Routledge.

The book can be ordered from internet book stores and directly from the publisher’s internet site

View inside the book

Further information:
Adjunct Professor Satu Uusiautti
satu@uusiautti.fi
tel. +358-50-3551280+358-50-3551280

Professor Kaarina Määttä
Kaarina.Maatta@ulapland.fi
tel. +358-400-696480+358-400-696480