Facilitating meaningfulness in the workplace: a field intervention study

Luke Fletcher, Keith Schofield

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a field intervention study that sought to address two objectives: (a) what are the psychological effects of a meaningfulness intervention? and (b) what key issues should be considered when developing meaningfulness interventions? Eighty employees from three different organizations based in the UK were allocated to either the intervention condition or a wait-list control group. Compared against the wait-list control group, the meaningfulness intervention facilitated meaningfulness in/at work, job/organization engagement, and personal initiative. Finally, focus group interviews revealed a number of micro (e.g., sustaining motivation), meso (e.g., role of line managers) and macro (e.g., socio-political events) level issues that should be considered when planning and implementing meaningfulness interventions. Overall this study makes use of field intervention research in order to develop the rationale for incorporating meaningfulness theories and concepts within HRM practice, particularly in better aligning personal development, team-based learning and performance management activities.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2975-3003
Number of pages29
JournalInternational Journal of Human Resource Management
Volume32
Issue number14
Early online date10 Jun 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Bibliographical note

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in The International Journal of Human Resource Management on 10 June 2019, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09585192.2019.1624590

Keywords

  • employee engagement
  • Field intervention
  • meaningful work
  • mixed methods
  • personal initiative

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