iop3703_summary

Study Unit 1: The Meaning of Work The Meaning of Work and Work Values Work is a major element of human activity: it sustains biological survival and it can sustain quality of life. Different meanings can be derived from different values associated with work, e.g. work seen as a means of making a living, of being occupied, of fulfilling a vocation, developing and utilising skills or fulfilling a life purpose. Meanings Associated with Work • Pre-industrial era: Drudgery; instrumental to spiritual or religious ends; intrinsically meaningful for its own sake • Industrial era: Mechanical and repetitive work; decline in will to work; seek meaning outside work • Post-industrial era: Focus on information; producing ideas; multicultural viewpoints about the meaning of work • 21st century/ knowledge economy: Technology-driven workplaces; work meaning is socially constructed; search for meaning and higher purpose due to change and uncertain markets • Work as a central life interest: Centrality of work is the degree of importance work has in the life of an individual; refers not to the work itself but the value outcomes Work Values • Advancement power status: People who value advancement in their work attach much importance to achievement; high in power motivation • Autonomy: People who value autonomy want freedom to organise their life and work; seek to be free of organisational constraints • Self-actualisation: Process of inner-directedness through which individuals give expression to their intrinsic nature • Competency: Finding intrinsic meaning and a sense of identity in work is career competency • Leisure: Activities that fall outside the context of work; work may have a spill-over effect on leasure which may be positive or negative • Economic/material rewards: Associated with the need for job security, good salary and good working conditions • Social values: Centred around relations with people; affective rather than material; value of benevolence • Sense of belonging in society: Work can be a basis for integrating people into society by providing connections; ties the individual to society • Work-family enrichment: The extent to which experiences in one role improve the quality of life in another role; bi-directional • Workplace spirituality: Recognition that employees have an inner life that nourishes and is nourished by meaningful work in the context of community