Employee reactions to CSR in the pursuit of meaningful work: A case study of the healthcare industry

Abstract

With the growing interest in the microfoundations of corporate social responsibility (‘micro-CSR'), many questions linger regarding how the workforce reacts to CSR, which has consequences for their meaningful work experiences. To address this lack of understanding, we conducted an inductive, comparative case study of two healthcare organisations to examine how employees experience meaningful work through reacting to their organisation's CSR initiatives. We demonstrate how CSR triggers employees' meaning-making of work, which takes the form of a misalignment perceived between CSR at the strategic-level and CSR as it is implemented at the employee-level, limiting the experiences of meaningful work. We identify four proactive behaviours in which employees engage to infuse their work with meaning as a way of dealing with this experienced misalignment. We consolidate these behaviours into a typology of meaning-infusing behaviours in the context of CSR. Specifically, we found that when guided by the need for making a positive impact on their beneficiaries, employees engage in what we call ‘reshaping work for impact' next to ‘collectively enabling impact'. In contrast, when guided by the need for having a sense of meaningful membership, employees are guided by either ‘creating a sense of belonging' or ‘envisioning prosocial potential'. Through these behaviours, they either navigate within given organisational structures or enact new ones. Overall, we expand research on the CSR–meaningful work relationship, emphasising the role of employees' proactive behaviours in understanding their experiences and reactions to CSR initiatives in their pursuit of meaningful work. Moreover, we highlight implications for micro-CSR research and practice.

Calling for a meaningful contribution? Bridging contributing to society with motivation theory

“…While beliefs about contributions are dependent on the sense-making of that behavior (Wrzesniewski et al, 2003 ; Aguinis and Glavas, 2019 ), we have an insufficient understanding of how employees come to realize that their own work is contributing to beneficiaries (Bailey et al, 2019 ). As different individuals can have different sense-making processes for contributing is in their work, this could differ from an organizational process (Aguinis and Glavas, 2019 ; Girschik et al, 2022 ; Janssen et al, 2022 ). Qualitative work is useful.…”

CSR perceptions, meaningful work and innovative behaviors: the moderated mediation effects of co-worker instrumental and emotional support

“…This strengthens employees' alignment with the firm's objectives and their belief in its accomplishments (Glavas and Kelley, 2014;Hur et al, 2017). Moreover, perceiving organizational CSR activities can fulfill employees' need for meaningful existence, as they realize their efforts contribute to the betterment of others (Janssen et al, 2022;Lips-Wiersma and Morris, 2009).…”

“…, 2017). Moreover, perceiving organizational CSR activities can fulfill employees’ need for meaningful existence, as they realize their efforts contribute to the betterment of others (Janssen et al. , 2022; Lips-Wiersma and Morris, 2009).…”

Ethics and the Future of Meaningful Work: Introduction to the Special Issue

“…Yet, with a few exceptions, scholarship has rarely asked whether meaningful work must be good for others beyond ourselves (e.g., Michaelson, 2021 ; Veltman, 2016 ). The connection between meaningful work and business ethics has been also reflected in the growing research that explores how the experience of meaningful work is enabled by ethical and responsible leadership (e.g., Demitras et al, 2017 ; Wang & Xu, 2019 ; Lips-Wiersma et al, 2020 ) and corporate social responsibility (e.g., Aguinis & Glavas, 2019 ; Brieger et al, 2020 ; Janssen et al, 2022 ).…”