Meaningful work: this part 1 in a three-part series focuses on the classic theories and new studies on why people need meaningful work and the implications for organizations. Subsequent articles will discuss meaningful learning and humane workplaces

T+D, Dec, 2003 by Neal Chalofsky

This is the first in a three-part series that focuses on the classic theories and new studies on why people need meaningful work and the implications for organizations.

Recent studies have shown that people want to have more control and meaning to their work and a better work-life balance. As a result, says Chalofsky, the best employers aren't great because of their perks and benefits, but because of their organizational cultures and policies that promote meaningful work and a nurturing, supportive workplace.

Because many organizations are still trying to motivate workers with an "assembly-line mentality," there has been increasing need for a new paradigm so organizations can meet the modern worker's demands. "We need to accept divergence, multiple perspectives, and incomplete truths--and stop looking for the 'right answer,'" says Chalofsky.

By revisiting the theories of several legendary content motivation theorists, the author describes a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of intrinsic motivation. Meaningful work requires the equal interplay of three elements: self, work, and balance.

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Most of us have been led to believe that companies are in business expressly to make a profit. As Collins and Porres point out in Built to Last, businesses need profit like humans need air. But the missions of most successful organizations are about the quality of their products or services, their value to customers, and their employee-friendly workplaces. Profit is what they need to function in an economic system, but it's not usually described as a goal.

If you ask people why they work, many will say it's for the money. But money is to individuals what profit is to businesses: They need it to function in the economic system, but it's not what motivates us to work. In survey after survey and study after study when the questions push beneath the surface, people list money behind values such as satisfaction, close work relationships, autonomy, work-life balance, and learning.

With the need for knowledge workers increasing in the continued volatility of the economy and projected labor pool shortage in the next 10 years, the demand for employee loyalty and commitment have come back into vogue. Work-life policies and programs are the current organizational responses to the need to attract and retain the best and brightest workers. One study reports that balancing their work and personal lives is the number 1 priority for 78 percent of workers; 70 percent of males in the same study said they were willing to give up pay, power, and prestige for more time with their families. College students' top consideration for selecting their first employer is the ability to achieve work-life balance, but that's not just about on-site day-care centers, flexible work hours, and tuition assistance.

Herzberg's famous motivation-hygiene theory is still relevant. The truly great places to work, such as Fortune's 100 Best Places to Work, aren't great because of their perks and benefits, but because of their organizational cultures and policies that promote meaningful work and a nurturing, supportive workplace.

Common ground, different choices

In June 2001, the Research to Practice Committee of ASTD sponsored a future search conference, "Shaping the Future: Workplace Learning and Performance in the New Millennium." Included in the 10 common ground areas that participants arrived at were striking a healthy balance between work life and personal life, striving to create humane workplaces, and developing a sense of social responsibility. For quite some time, baby boomers have been questioning meaning and purpose in their work. A recent study of executives who had lost their jobs but were financially comfortable found that they still valued meaningful work over independence. Another study that has been examining job satisfaction for more than 30 years found that "in the past, job satisfaction increased as people moved from their twenties into their thirties." In 1973, nearly half of workers between age 30 and 40 claimed to be "very satisfied" with their jobs. Now, job satisfaction among 30- to 49-year-olds is no higher than among the 18 to 29 group. These same surveys have traditionally found the lowest levels of job satisfaction among the youngest segment of the population. Ironically, the young adults of this generation typically aren't reacting to the same problems that have plagued past young workers: inexperience, lack of credentials, and unhappiness with entry-level positions. Like their parents, Generations X and Y are questioning the meaning and purpose of work. But their questions concern whether they even want to start down the career paths their parents took, and their decisions are resulting in making different choices about the role of work in their lives. What we keep hearing over and over is that people want more control over their work, they want more work-life balance, and they want more personal growth and meaning in their work.