Vocational Interests in the Workplace by Nye Christopher D.;Rounds James;

Author:Nye, Christopher D.;Rounds, James;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)
Published: 2019-10-16T16:00:00+00:00

Proposition 9: Organizational practices that foster Individuation, such as opportunities for challenge and development, and managerial styles that emphasize employee participation and initiative, should be most effective at increasing work meaningfulness for those with E, R, I, and A interests.

Organizational Role in Fostering Meaningfulness Through Contribution

Because meaningful work via Contribution is about having a positive impact on others (Rosso et al., 2010), organizational strategies to promote perceptions of impact should increase employee access to meaningfulness. Based on the theorizing above, these strategies should be most useful for those with S, E, and C interests. Two specific practices for improving meaningful work via Contribution are relational job design and transformational leadership. First, research on relational job design—connecting employees with the impact that their work has on others (Grant, 2007)—shows that when employees have contact with, or receive information about, the beneficiaries of their work they experience greater perceptions of social impact (Grant, 2008; Grant et al., 2007). This idea is supported by research establishing that people are more likely to perceive the positive impact of their actions on others when they have clear and objective opportunities to benefit others through their work (Batson, 1998; Latane & Darley, 1970; Grant, 2007). Work designed to promote a positive sense of impact on others contributes to greater task significance, which is associated with more meaningful work (Grant, 2007, 2008). Organizations can play a role in helping employees see how their work is contributing to others through such strategies as providing employees with customer testimonials and customer profiles (Grant, 2011), or by encouraging employees to reflect—perhaps during performance reviews or other feedback sessions—about how their work has a positive impact on others (Cardador, 2014).

A second practice associated with employees’ increased sense of meaningfulness via Contribution is transformational leadership. Transformational leaders articulate a vision that makes employees more aware of, and attentive to, how their work benefits others (Colby, Sippola, & Phelps, 2001; Grant, 2012; Podolny et al., 2004). Motivating employees to transcend self-interest by highlighting how and why employees’ work has important consequences for others can help improve meaningfulness via Contribution.

Based on this evidence:

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