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Book part
Publication date: 14 May 2013

Amy Wrzesniewski, Nicholas LoBuglio, Jane E. Dutton and Justin M. Berg

The design of a job is deeply consequential for employees’ psychological experiences at work. Jobs are collections of tasks and relationships that are grouped together and…

Abstract

The design of a job is deeply consequential for employees’ psychological experiences at work. Jobs are collections of tasks and relationships that are grouped together and assigned to an individual (Ilgen & Hollenbeck, 1992), and scholars have long been interested in the way these elements come together to constitute the experience of a job (Griffin, 1987; Hackman & Oldham, 1980). Research in this area has traditionally built on a core assumption that managers design jobs in a top-down fashion for employees, which places employees in the relatively passive role of being the recipients of the jobs they hold.

Details

Advances in Positive Organizational Psychology
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-000-1

Article
Publication date: 30 July 2020

Ilaria Buonomo, Paula Benevene and Caterina Fiorilli

Principals’ beliefs about their profession are of great interest for schools in terms of organizational development and success. Furthermore, as meaning is a dimension of

Abstract

Purpose

Principals’ beliefs about their profession are of great interest for schools in terms of organizational development and success. Furthermore, as meaning is a dimension of eudaimonic well-being, studying the principal meaning of work allows us to deepen the knowledge about their professional well-being, too. According to studies on non-educational contexts, the meaning of work is influenced by several organizational variables (such as possibilities for professional development and organizational commitment). Despite this, several school workers still lack to recognize the role played in this regard. Trying to fulfill these gaps partially, the purpose of this study is to verify the incremental effect of organizational dimensions and positive feedback from colleagues above and beyond positive beliefs about work.

Design/methodology/approach

An Italian version of the COPSOQ II adapted to school principals was administered to 1,616 school principals. Hierarchical multiple regression was conducted, considering three blocks of variables, namely, positive personal beliefs about work (job satisfaction and self-efficacy); organizational dimensions (role clarity, possibilities for development and sense of belonging to the workplace); positive feedback from colleagues.

Findings

Overall, the variables explained 45% of the variance of the meaning of work. While organizational variables accounted for an incremental 24% of the variance, above and beyond the personal experience of work (F (5, 1,610) = 267.378, p = 0.000), positive feedback from colleagues did not show a significant effect originality. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study regarding the meaning of work at school with specific reference to school principals.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study regarding the meaning of work at school and with specific reference to school principals.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 32 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 August 2019

Ashley Mandeville, Marilyn Whitman and Jonathon Halbesleben

The purpose of this paper is to extend the meaning maintenance model (MMM) by elucidating the meaning employees provide to both work and family during a furlough.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to extend the meaning maintenance model (MMM) by elucidating the meaning employees provide to both work and family during a furlough.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample consisted of 180 state government employees, who completed four surveys, starting at a time before a furlough was initiated through returning to work following a furlough. The authors used random coefficient modeling of a mixed-effects model for discontinuous change.

Findings

Findings suggest that a furlough is associated with increases in perceived psychological contract breach, an indication that the meaning of work is being threatened. Following the furlough, employees’ family identity salience significantly increased. Further, rumination about the furlough increased the shift in family identity salience.

Research limitations/implications

This research tests the MMM in the context of furloughs and work-family implications. The results suggest that employees experience fluid compensation, a key facet of the MMM, during a furlough. Further, rumination of the experienced furlough can strengthen the fluid compensation process.

Practical implications

The implications for organizations implementing furloughs and various methods for implementing furloughs are discussed.

Originality/value

This research extends the MMM by empirically examining it in the context of furloughs and work-family implications. Further, it extends the MMM by examining the impact of rumination on the fluid compensation process.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 48 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2005

J.J. de Klerk

The role of spirituality in the organization is a rapidly growing area of interest in management literature and conferences. This resulted in a call for more scientific inquiry…

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Abstract

The role of spirituality in the organization is a rapidly growing area of interest in management literature and conferences. This resulted in a call for more scientific inquiry into workplace spirituality. However, progress with empirical research on spirituality in organizations seems to be hampered by a lack of construct clarity. Whilst the construct of workplace spirituality is being clarified, spirituality can be approximated and operationalized through one of its major elements, meaning in life. Much knowledge and insights can be gained in the role and relationships of spirituality in organizations through this approach. One such postulated relationship with spirituality (meaning in life) is wellness. This postulation is based mainly on the results from research studies that consistently show relationships between meaning in life and psychological well‐being. As work is also an element of wellness, potential relationships between meaning in life and various aspects of work wellness are explored and conceptualized. This paper explores work‐wellness from a spiritual framework through the construct of meaning in life by focusing on the contribution that a person's sense of meaning in life can play to improve work‐wellness and wellness in general. A research agenda is developed of postulated relationships of meaning in life with various work wellness related constructs. Thirteen research propositions are proposed to provide direction for the empirical inquiry into workplace spirituality.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 September 2015

Mohammed Yasin Ghadi, Mario Fernando and Peter Caputi

Providing employees with meaning in their work has inspired numerous researchers to study the role of personal meaningful work and its related outcomes. Despite this high level of

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Abstract

Purpose

Providing employees with meaning in their work has inspired numerous researchers to study the role of personal meaningful work and its related outcomes. Despite this high level of interest, the theoretical views and methodological approaches used to explore this concept still require refinement and development. Without a comprehensive review of these views and approaches, the concept of meaningful work will remain an ill defined notion. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap with a review of the theoretical and empirical research on meaningful work.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper includes a discussion on the concepts ofmeaning” and “work”, and its importance and the sources for conceptual confusion, and a synthesis of the common features that form the idea of meaningful work in numerous empirical and theoretical studies.

Findings

The paper found meaningful work is derived when the employee has a perfect understanding of the nature and expectations of the task environment (i.e. the work has a clear goal, purpose and value that is connected to the employee), the employee feels a sense of fit or congruence between their own core values and the job requirements and organizational mission and goals, and when perfect understanding exists of how employees’ roles contribute to the purpose of the organization.

Practical implications

As part of an effective HRM strategy, organizations should actively encourage and develop managers’ abilities to redesign jobs and the climate to build enhanced feelings of meaning in work. Furthermore, organizations can promote greater experiences of meaningful work among employees by implementing the “job crafting” concept. Also, the role of top management is to focus on job elements that would possibly change personal needs of employees and hence perceive their jobs to be more meaningful.

Originality/value

Given the limited amount of recent literature focused on defining meaningful work, this paper provides valuable resources to help organizations succeed in their understanding of how to engage in creating meaningful work environment. It also examines the underlying features that constitute the meaningful work concept and offers guidance for future research by presenting the current state of knowledge about meaningful work.

Details

Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, vol. 2 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2051-6614

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 February 2019

Jonghun Sun, Jeong Won Lee and Young Woo Sohn

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of meaning of work as a linking mechanism between the perception of work context and turnover intention within the rarely studied…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of meaning of work as a linking mechanism between the perception of work context and turnover intention within the rarely studied context of social enterprises.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on meaning of work theories, an integrated research model was developed. Data were collected using questionnaires from 315 full-time employees at 114 social enterprises in Korea. Mediated and moderated structural equation models were used to assess the hypotheses.

Findings

Social mission was fully mediated by meaning of work to predict low turnover intention, and shared vision was partially mediated to predict the same. The authors also found that the positive relationship between social mission and meaning of work was stronger when shared vision was higher.

Originality/value

This study extends previous literature on managerial psychology (i.e. meaning of work and turnover) in the context of a new but increasingly prevalent organizational form, social enterprises. It also provides practical advice for managers seeking to retain employees and encourage the sustainability of the social enterprise sector.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 34 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 August 2013

Mohammed Yasin Ghadi, Mario Fernando and Peter Caputi

This paper reports the findings of a study examining the relationship between transformational leadership and work engagement through the mediating role of meaning in work.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper reports the findings of a study examining the relationship between transformational leadership and work engagement through the mediating role of meaning in work.

Design/methodology/approach

Transformational leadership, work engagement and perceptions of meaning in work were assessed in an empirical study based on a sample of 530 full‐time employees working in Australia.

Findings

The results from structural equation modelling reveal that the transformational leadership style influences followers’ attributes of work engagement. The direct relationship between transformational leadership and work engagement was found to be partially mediated by employees’ perceptions of meaning in work.

Practical implications

Industry reports show that globally, the number of unengaged employees have increased, costing nations billions in productivity losses. We present a model that could help reduce these losses by providing human resource managers with new insights into developing training programmes that could improve transformational leadership behaviours in the workplace. These programmes could help re‐design the context of work to make work more meaningful.

Originality/value

The relationship between transformational leadership style, perceptions of meaning in work and work engagement were explored theoretically and tested empirically in an Australian context.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 34 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 November 2011

Thomas Clausen and Vilhelm Borg

This paper aims to identify longitudinal associations between job demands, job resources and experience of meaning at work.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to identify longitudinal associations between job demands, job resources and experience of meaning at work.

Design/methodolgy/approach

Using data from a longitudinal survey study among 6,299 employees in Danish eldercare who were divided into 301 work‐groups, experience of meaning at work was predicted from a series of job demands and job resources measured at individual level and group level.

Findings

A combination of individual‐level and group‐level measures of job demands and job resources contributed to predicting meaning at work. Meaning at work at follow‐up was predicted by meaning at work at baseline, role ambiguity, quality of leadership, and influence at work at individual level and emotional demands at group level. Individual‐level measures of job demands and job resources proved stronger predictors of meaning at work than group‐level measures.

Research limitations/implications

Psychosocial job demands and job resources predict experience of meaning at work.

Practical implications

Experience of meaning at work constitutes an important organizational resource by contributing to the capacities of employees to deal with work‐related stresses and strains, while maintaining their health and well‐being.

Social implications

Experience of meaning at work is positively associated with well‐being and reduces risk for long‐term sickness absence and turnover. Attention towards enhancing employee experiences of meaning at work may contribute towards the ability of western societies to recruit the necessary supply of labour over the coming decades.

Originality/value

This is the first study to provide longitudinal, multi‐level evidence on the association between job demands, job resources and experience of meaning at work.

Article
Publication date: 30 October 2009

Machteld van den Heuvel, Evangelia Demerouti, Bert H.J. Schreurs, Arnold B. Bakker and Wilmar B. Schaufeli

The purpose of this paper is first, to test the validity of a new scale measuring the construct of meaning‐making, defined as the ability to integrate challenging or ambiguous…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is first, to test the validity of a new scale measuring the construct of meaning‐making, defined as the ability to integrate challenging or ambiguous situations into a framework of personal meaning using conscious, value‐based reflection. Second, to explore whether meaning‐making is distinct from other personal resources (self‐efficacy, optimism, mastery, meaning in life), and coping (positive reinterpretation, acceptance). Third, to explore whether meaning‐making facilitates work engagement, willingness to change, and performance during organizational change.

Design/methodology/approach

Cross‐sectional survey‐data were collected from 238 employees in a variety of both public and private organizations.

Findings

Confirmatory factor analyses showed that meaning‐making can be distinguished from other personal resources, coping and meaning in life. Regression analyses showed that meaning‐making is positively related to in‐role performance and willingness to change, but not to work engagement, thereby partly supporting the hypotheses.

Originality/value

The paper focuses on meaning‐making that has not yet been studied empirically in organizational change settings. It shows that the new construct of psychological meaning‐making is related to valuable employee outcomes including in‐role performance and willingness to change. Meaning‐making explains variance over and above other personal resources such as self‐efficacy, optimism, mastery, coping and meaning in life.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 14 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 January 2023

Sanket Dash and Garima Saini

Knowledge sharing is increasingly important in today’s information age and extant literature considers knowledge hoarding as an undesirable form of knowledge-withholding behavior…

Abstract

Purpose

Knowledge sharing is increasingly important in today’s information age and extant literature considers knowledge hoarding as an undesirable form of knowledge-withholding behavior. As knowledge hoarding is a generic, nonintentional behavior, specific attitudes and organizational processes are unlikely to curb it. Hence, the study postulates that reflection, awareness and group identification are necessary to combat innate tendencies toward knowledge hoarding. To test these hypotheses, this study aims to explore the role of mindfulness and relational systems in reducing employees’ knowledge hoarding by increasing their meaning-making through work.

Design/methodology/approach

The study results are based on a cross-sectional survey of 203 employees in India working for different organizations. Standardized scales were used for capturing data, and partial least squares structural equation modeling was used for analysis.

Findings

Mindfulness and team cohesion were positively related to an increase in meaning-making through work. Supervisor support improved perceptions of team cohesion. However, contrary to expectations, team cohesion and meaning-making through work were positively, rather than negatively, related to knowledge hoarding.

Research limitations/implications

The cross-sectional nature of the study prevents strong inference of causal relationships. Future studies may use a longitudinal design to test the relationships.

Practical implications

It highlights the role of meditation sessions and supervisory support in improving employees’ perceptions of meaning-making through work. It exhorts managers to systematically assess the impact and societal perceptions regarding knowledge hoarding rather than automatically assume a negative attitude.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the impact of mindfulness, team cohesiveness and meaning-making through work on employees’ knowledge hoarding behaviors. The study results suggest that knowledge hoarding may be perceived positively in certain cultures. It highlights the inconsistencies in the conceptualization and operationalization of knowledge hoarding and suggests the need for better construct delineation and empirical studies related to knowledge hoarding.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 27 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 325000