Extracting Meaning and Relevance from Work

Abstract

This manuscript explores an organization’s listening environment as a mechanism used by employees to interpret organizational information and translate signals into meaning and relevance, culminating in identification with and commitment to the organization. Firmly grounded in theory and research from diverse academic literatures and research traditions, especially Social Learning Theory from Social Psychology, hypotheses are developed and then tested in a carefully designed study. Data collected from employees in a high-performing manufacturing organization offer an ideal setting for testing hypotheses, while holding other contextual variables constant. Statistical findings imply that employees who perceive work environments as being facilitative of interactive communication between and among employees respond with heightened attachments to organizations. The study’s results admonish scholars to include listening in future studies of business communication and organizational behavior, while managers are encouraged to assess the mechanisms their organizations use to facilitate an organizational listening climate at work.

A Study in the Relationship Between Supportive Work Environment and Employee Retention: Role of Organizational Commitment and Person–Organization Fit as Mediators

“…Supportive HR practices, for instance, involvement in decision-making, career development prospects, and equality of rewards act as driving forces for OC. Employees feel committed to their job if they are communicated and listened by supervisors and peers (Reed et al, 2016). The findings are consistent with the theory of equilibrium and SET perspective holding people stay committed and attach affective emotions with their organizations to pay off and reciprocate the rewards and support received from the environment.…”

Collective Responsibility in the Workplace and its Effects on COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance Among Employees: The Role of Strategic Internal Communication

“…A plethora of studies have attempted to explore potential outcomes of internal communication ( Lee & Yue, 2020 ). A well-documented theoretical conclusion from these studies is that organizations with effective communication practices have the power to affect their employees’ psychological state ( Reed et al, 2016 ). For example, internal communication with an emphasis on listening was found to resonate among groups in the workplace, thereby building employee connectedness, generating collective meaning, and encouraging prosocial behaviors for organizational success ( Reed et al, 2016 ).…”

“…A well-documented theoretical conclusion from these studies is that organizations with effective communication practices have the power to affect their employees’ psychological state ( Reed et al, 2016 ). For example, internal communication with an emphasis on listening was found to resonate among groups in the workplace, thereby building employee connectedness, generating collective meaning, and encouraging prosocial behaviors for organizational success ( Reed et al, 2016 ). Specifically, knowing what needs to be known and being listened to cultivate a sense of community and facilitate employees’ readiness to advocate for their organizations ( White et al, 2010 ).…”

Directives and Dialogue: Examining the Relationship Between Participative Organizational Communication Practices and Organizational Identification Among IT Workers

“…The “oneness” conception is widely attributed to Mael and Ashforth (1992), who define identification as “the perception of oneness with or belongingness to [a collective], where the individual defines himself or herself in terms of the [collective] in which he or she is a member” (Mael & Ashforth, 1992, p. 104). Because OI as conceived by Mael and Ashforth emphasizes identity and oneness, it is conceptually distinct from its closest cousin, organizational commitment, which emphasizes the willingness to work to advance the organization’s goals (Ashforth et al, 2008; Barge & Schlueter, 1988; Lammers et al, 2013; Michael, 2005), but some evidence suggests that OI may operate as an antecedent of organizational commitment (Reed et al, 2014). Beyond its positive relationship with organizational commitment, OI has generally been a significant topic of interest to both organizational researchers and managers because of the important outcomes with which it has been associated.…”

“…Although the topic of OI has received a lot of attention from organizational and business scholars over the past 30 years (Ashforth, Harrison, & Corley, 2008; Scott, 1997, 2001; Scott & Stephens, 2009), the fast changing economic context and job market today as well as the unique profile of highly educated knowledge workers who generally aspire for greater autonomy, voice, and control in organizations (Davenport, 2005; Liu, 2004; Sheridan, 2008) compels us to examine and reexamine how to best design workplaces and what strategies or practices can be implemented to positively impact employees’ identification (Davenport, 2005). While previous studies (e.g., Reed, Goolsby, & Johnston, 2014; Scott, 2001; Scott & Stephens, 2009; Smidts, Pruyn, & van Riel, 2001) have examined the impact of various communication constructs on identification, our approach in this study differs, if only slightly, in that we view and put the “dialogue” or communicative interactions between the organization and the employee, as well as the impact of that dialogue on employees’ work experiences, as the centerpiece of the OI challenge among knowledge workers. In other words, we posit that the implementation of participative communicative practices that enable meaningful “dialogue” and interactions between the organization and its employees is likely to foster knowledge workers’ identification, especially when these practices positively affect their job experiences.…”