Meaningfulness‐making at work

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding of the ways workers can actively make their own work experiences more meaningful. Design/methodology/approach -The data consist of 29 interviews with people from three professions. The authors analyzed the interviews by coding the statements into first-and second-order categories, and then aggregating them into theoretical constructs; and by recognizing relations between the constructs. Findings -Workers try to increase the proportion of positive cues extracted from work to make their work more meaningful. The three main tactics for increasing the proportion of positive cues are cognitively emphasizing the positive qualities of work, developing competencies to be better able to produce positive outcomes and positive reactions from others, and influencing the work content. Research limitations/implications -This model provides a preliminary understanding of meaningfulness-making, based on cross-sectional interview data. Future research should use alternative methods, and verify and elaborate the findings. Practical implications -Managers can promote workers' sense of meaningfulness by coaching and enabling meaningfulness-making tactics identified in this paper. Originality/value -This paper presents alternative ways to achieve work meaningfulness that complement the previously recognized job crafting and sensemaking routes.

Working and employability after 75 in Australia

“…Most frequently mentioned among the benefits was that working provides stimulus for the brain, followed by the opportunities to apply skills, be still part of what they consider important, and receive feedback on competence. Older people thrived on any feedback that affirms both their value to an employer and their worth to themselves (Vuori, San and Kira ).…”

Cognitive job crafting: A possible response to increasing job insecurity and declining professional prestige

“…Cognitive crafting essentially implies an individual developing a new way of looking at his or her job (Wrzesniewski et al, ). For example, cognitively crafting one's job could consist of reframing the purpose of one's job to align more with personal passions and preferences (Batova, ), emphasising the positive aspects of one's profession (Vuori, San, & Kira, ), forging an “esteem enhancing” identity (Fuller & Unwin, ), and/or distancing mentally or physically from a person, situation, event, or unpleasant work environment that threatens the image of the job (Bruning & Campion, ). Cognitive job crafting is also an important strategy to modify jobs where there is little opportunity for other forms of job crafting (Zhang & Parker, ).…”

The Process of Reinventing a Job: A Meta–Synthesis of Qualitative Job Crafting Research

“…Cognitive crafting regards changing the way one views the job, which changes how individuals approach their jobs. For example, employees who reframe the purpose of their work to align it with their passions (Batova, 2018), or who cognitively emphasize the positive aspects of their jobs (Vuori et al, 2012), engage in cognitive crafting.…”

“…However, in addition to this large increase in quantitative job crafting studies, it is notable that, with some exceptions, earlier job crafting studies were primarily qualitative (e.g., Berg, Grant, & Johnson, 2010a;Berg, Wrzesniewski, & Dutton, 2010b;Vuori, San, & Kira, 2012), and similar to the quantitative approach, this qualitative literature continues to grow. The uniqueness of each qualitative study renders it difficult to elucidate their contribution to extant knowledge (Estabrooks, Field, & Morse, 1994), and the inductive approach of much of the qualitative literature results in few attempts to translate themes into concepts that were previously employed by other researchers (Morse, 2001).…”