Download Understanding the Pathways to Meaningful Work

THE MEANING OF THE
JOB
Amy Wrzesniewski
Yale School of Management
Two Caveats
I (mostly) don’t study non-standard work.
 Most of my data are from the U.S.

A Resurgence of Interest in
Meaningful Work

Topic has been in and out of vogue

In the popular press, the topic has reemerged with increasing demands on
work as a source of meaningfulness
A Resurgence of Interest in
Meaningful Work

Topic has been in and out of vogue

In the popular press, the topic has reemerged with increasing demands on
work as a source of meaningfulness

Why Does Meaningful Work
Matter?

Meaningful work (and/or the meaning of work) has been
shown to influence key outcomes, including:
Work motivation (Hackman & Oldham, 1980; Roberson, 1990)
 Absenteeism (Wrzesniewski, McCauley, Rozin, & Schwartz, 1997)
 Work behavior (Berg, Wrzesniewski, & Dutton, 2010; Bunderson &

Thompson, 2009; Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001)
Engagement (May, Gilson, & Harter, 2004)
 Job satisfaction (Wrzesniewski et al., 1997)
 Empowerment (Spreitzer, 1996)
 Stress (Elangovan, Pinder, & McLean, 2010; Locke & Taylor, 1990)
 Organizational identification (Pratt, Rockmann, & Kaufmann,

2006)
Career development (Dik & Duffy, 2009; Dobrow, 2006)
 Individual performance (Hackman & Oldham, 1980; Wrzesniewski,

2003)
An Orienting Question

What makes work meaningful?
OR

What makes work worth doing?
What Does the Literature Say?
Four Main Sources of Meaningful
Work
The self (e.g., values, beliefs, motivation)
 Others (e.g., coworkers, leaders, groups)
 The work and its context (e.g., design of
the work, organizational context)
 Spiritual life (e.g., diety/ies, spirituality)


Often considered in isolation and in linear
relationship to meaningfulness
(from Rosso, Dekas, & Wrzesniewski, 2010)
How Does Work Become
Meaningful?
By positively influencing one’s sense of:
 Authenticity*
 Self-efficacy*
 Self-esteem*
 Purpose
 Belongingness*
 Transcendence
 Cultural and interpersonal sense-making
* - under threat?
Jobs, Careers, and Callings
Jobs: Work as income
‘If I was financially secure, I would continue
my current work even if I stopped getting
paid.’ (reversed)
Careers: Advancement in occupation
‘I view my job as a stepping stone to other
jobs.’
Callings: Fulfillment from the work itself
‘My work makes the world a better place.’
Work Orientation
Unambiguous in seeing work as a Job,
Career, or Calling
 Work orientations associated with
differences in behaviors at work (e.g.,
absenteeism, hours worked) and work and
life satisfaction
 Each orientation found both across and
within occupations and organizations
 Work orientation among temps

(Berg et al., 2010; Wrzesniewski et al., 1997;
General Findings

Work orientation related to:
 Age
 Income
 Education
 Prestige
of occupation
 Work and life satisfaction
 Absenteeism
 Job search outcomes

Findings consistent within occupation
and organization
A Second Question

What might people be doing to make
whatever work they’re in more
meaningful?
Job Crafting: A Path to Meaningful
Work?

Potential to move beyond mere
framing of work

Implications for how people engage
in their work

Focus on behaviors
What makes work
meaningful?
The University Hospital
Cleaning Crew
“…that’s not part of my
job. But that’s part of
me.”
What is Job Crafting?
“…what employees do to redesign their
own jobs in ways that foster engagement
at work, job satisfaction, resilience, and
thriving.” (Berg et al., 2010)



Task crafting: Alter number, type, nature of
tasks
Relational crafting: Alter number, type,
intensity of relationships; change style of
interactions
Cognitive crafting: Alter how one perceives
tasks and their meaning
Actual job = job design + job
crafting
Job Design
Top-Down: Designed by managers
Key assumption: One size fits all (universalism)
The actual job
Job Crafting
Bottom-Up: Crafted by employee
Key assumption: Everyone is unique (particularism)
Why Does Job Crafting Matter?

Influences what, how, when, and with
whom work is done

Is prevalent in work organizations

It changes the meaning – and purpose
– of the work
(Berg et al., 2010; Leana, Appelbaum, & Shevchuk,
2009; Lyons, 2008)
Is Job Crafting Good Or Bad for
Organizations?

Job crafting relates to several positive
outcomes
 Satisfaction
 Commitment
 Attachment
to the job
Is Job Crafting Good Or Bad for
Organizations?

Job crafting creates several positive
outcomes
 Happiness
at work
 Performance
 Mobility to new roles
A Final Question

How does a focus on the person’s view
and experience of the job help us think
differently about what individuals need
from work?
Implications

Changes our understanding of sources of
meaningfulness
 Inherent
in job
 Inherent in individual
 Inherent in the intersection

Suggests a more stable source and set of
practices for facilitating meaningfulness in
work
 Frequent
managerial and organizational changes
 Portable, agentic enactment of work