Human Resource Development International

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An emerging construct for meaningful work

Neal Chalofsky

To cite this article: Neal Chalofsky (2003) An emerging construct for meaningful work, Human
Resource Development International, 6:1, 69-83, DOI: 10.1080/1367886022000016785

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HRDI 6:1 (2003), pp. 69–83

An emerging construct for meaningful work

Neal Chalofsky
The George Washington University

Abstract: This literature review addresses the state of research concerning the concept of
the meaningful work. This inquiry built on the theoretical foundation of the content
motivation theorists, but focused on what the recent research informs us about meaning
of work as a motivational construct. Three themes emerged – sense of self, the work itself
and sense of balance – that became subsets for the concluding term of integrated wholeness.

Keywords: Meaningful work, integrated wholeness, spirituality in work, self-

actualization

The managerial and popular literature has been increasingly referring to individuals
questioning the meaning and purpose in their work for at least the past ten years.
Charles Handy’s The Hungry Spirit, Tom Chappell’s The Soul of a Business, Matthew
Fox’s The Reinvention of Work and Richard Leider’s The Power of Purpose are just four
of the many books that have meaning and spirituality as their theme. The Academy of
Management now has a spirituality, religion and management interest group, as do
other management and organizational behavior associations. There are several
conferences a year specifically on spirituality and work in this country and this same topic
is beginning to be echoed internationally.
The ‘baby boomers’ in America (the disproportionally large generation born just
after World War II) are going through mid-life questioning the meaning and purpose
of the work and their lives.

The relative dissatisfaction of the ‘boomers’ seems to be persisting. In the past, job
satisfaction increased as people moved from their twenties into their thirties. In 1973, for
instance, nearly half the workers between the ages of 30 and 40 claimed to be very satisfied
with their job(s). . . . Job satisfaction among 30 to 49 year olds today is no higher than
among the 18–29 group.
(Kalb and Hugick 1990: 22)

‘Throughout recent history, surveys have found the lowest levels of job satisfaction
among the youngest segment of the population’ (Kalb and Hugick 1990: 21).
Ironically, the young adult children of this generation are not reacting to the same
problems that have plagued past young workers (inexperience, lack of credentials and
unhappiness with entry-level positions). Like their parents, they are also 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.
Add to this the chaos and change that is reshaping the nature of work and organi-
zations, such as the demands to ‘perform more with less’, the new employee contract,

Human Resource Development International

ISSN 1367-8868 print/ISSN 1469-8374 online © 2003 Taylor & Francis Ltd
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DOI: 10.1080/1367886022000016785
Peer-Reviewed Articles

‘free agent’ workers and lack of balance in people’s work and personal lives (especially
dual-career and single working parents). Only one quarter of respondents in a national
survey reported having no stress around work demands, work/life balance and even
personal health (Kalb and Hugick 1990).

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine what the more recent research and theory-
building literature can inform us in order to develop a construct for the meaning of
work. While there have been theories that focus on work and such variables as job
satisfaction (which will be discussed later), there has been little if any research conducted
on this aspect of work motivation. So all we have been able to rely on up to now has
been speculation, educated opinion and anecdotal evidence.
A review of this nature is important to determine: (1) the nature and scope of the
recent research on this topic, (2) whether there has been enough research to begin to
identify a construct and (3) what gaps exist that warrant further research and theory
building.

Theoretical framework

Gayle (1997) reported that the classic motivation theorists and humanistic psychologists
clearly supported the notion that individuals have an inherent need for a work life that
they believe is meaningful (Alderfer 1972; Herzberg et al. 1959; Maslow 1943, 1971;
McGregor 1960; Rogers 1959, 1961). Maslow (1971) wrote that individuals who do
not perceive the workplace as meaningful and purposeful will not work up to their
professional capacity. Yet, with rapidly changing economic conditions, organizational
structures and job requirements, what may once have provided a measure of meaning
and purpose for individuals in the workplace is eroding (Csikszentmihalyi 1990; Shamir
1991).
There is a long history of research and discourse about what motivates employees
and the relationship between job satisfaction and performance/productivity. Yet this
one paper cannot cover the totality of motivation theory and research. So, for the
purpose of this review, the operating definition of motivation is ‘the forces acting on
or within a person that cause the person to behave in a specific goal-directed manner’
(Hellreigel et al. 1998: 136). Steers and Porter (1991) refer to three theoretical
approaches to motivation:

• Need or content theories – they identify the nature of motive forces that serve as
mainsprings for human behavior. They focus on people’s intrinsic needs and are
based on the assumption that we act to satisfy our needs.
• Environmental or reinforcement theories – they identify forces in the environment
that cause people to respond in a certain way. They focus on what directs or channels
behavior towards certain goals.
• Person–environment interaction theories – they focus on the processes existing
between the environment and the person that cause them to choose one action

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over another. They focus on cognitive processes that cause people to consider the
anticipated consequences of their actions.

These three approaches are primarily from the discipline of psychology. There are other
approaches or variations from other disciplines, as well. Sociology considers social
or group norms and economics considers value added to the organization or to the
national workforce.
The need or content theories of the 1960s and 1970s and their emphasis on the
individual gave way to the reinforcement and person–environment interaction theories
of the 1970s through the 1990s and their emphasis on performance, organizational
systems and productivity. Most of the research, therefore, has been in relation to these
theories. The recent resurgence of interest in the individual, and such intrinsic factors
as meaning and spirituality, is just beginning to result in research being conducted in
this area (Howard 1995; Fox, 1994; Csikszentmihalyi 1990)
This paper focuses on those theories and the research concerned with ‘the forces
acting . . . within a person’. Maslow (1943, 1954, 1970, 1971), Herzberg (1959),
McClelland (1965) and Alderfer (1972) theorized that individuals are motivated to take
certain actions based on fulfilling needs believed to be inherent in all humans. Given
the brevity of this paper, the individual theories of the authors mentioned above will
not be discussed in detail. However, these theorists all proposed that, as these needs
move from basic survival needs to higher-order needs, they become more intrinsic and
reflective in nature. The higher-order needs are translated into values, working toward
a higher cause, meaningfulness and life purpose. A few theorists moved beyond the
notion of the value of performing a set of tasks as a primary motivator, most notably
Maslow (1971). After establishing his hierarchy of needs, he began to explore the
meaning of work. This exploration was expressed in his description of being values,
referred to as B-values. B-values included truth, transcendence, goodness, uniqueness,
aliveness, justice, richness and meaningfulness. Maslow believed that individuals
have the potential to reach what he called self-actualization, which is the process of
developing one’s potential, of expressing oneself to the fullest possible extent in a
manner that is personally fulfilling. It is not an end-state, but an ongoing process of
becoming. Near the end of his life, Maslow wrote of people who seemed to transcend
self-actualization. He labeled this phenomenon ‘Theory Z’ after McGregor’s (1960)
Theories X and Y. In this state, people are devoted to a task, vocation or calling that
transcends the dichotomies of work and play. Maslow viewed this as a dynamic process
of expanding the capabilities of the self to virtually unlimited potential.
Also noteworthy is the thoughtful discourse from Rogers (1961), Locke (1975)
and Ackoff (1981). Rogers (1961) believed that people find purpose when they experi-
ence freedom to be exactly who they are in a fluid and changing manner. Locke (1975)
wrote that people strive to attain goals in order to satisfy their emotions and desires.
Ackoff (1981) described purpose and meaning as progress toward an ideal that converts
mere existence into significant living by making choice meaningful.
While there has been considerable research on various aspects and factors that impact
on satisfaction and performance, very little research has been conducted specifically
concerning what actually constitutes meaningful work.

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Procedures

A literature review of researched-based articles, both quantitative and qualitative, was

conducted in 1996. Business, psychology, sociology and education literature was
reviewed. The following databases were searched: ABI/Inform, Educational Resources
Information Center, Psychological INFO (journal and articles) and Dissertation
Abstracts. Keywords used in the literature search included: work values and beliefs,
work and meaning, work and spirituality, motivation and meaning, motivation and
high performance, purpose of work, work and personal growth. The same review was
again conducted in 1999 to see what had been added to the literature. The resulting
literature were reviewed and analyzed.

Findings

The first search found very few studies that related to the topic, but enough were
identified to warrant findings around two major areas, values and meaning. The second
search concentrated on the meaning of meaningful work and found that there have been
a number of additional studies (primarily dissertations). Thus, it was felt that there
was enough research to warrant identifying an emerging construct. First, a synopsis of
the original review will be presented, followed by the findings from the subsequent
review.

Values and meaning

Values
A preliminary keyword search identified a limited number of literature reviews, articles
from scholarly journals and abstracts of doctoral dissertations on ‘values’ as they relate
to ‘work’ and ‘spirituality’. The initially daunting variety of concepts that appeared in
these articles was sorted into three clusters: cognition, emotion and action/results.
The cognition cluster includes keywords like valuing, comparing, recognition and
assessment. The cognitive dimension of valuing involves the determination of whether
an option is worthy, either intrinsically or in relationship to some extrinsic outcome.
Broenen described cognition in valuing as ‘making subjective rankings or judgments
about variables in one’s environment that may relate to how satisfying one considers
one’s job’ (1990: 2).
The emotion cluster includes concepts like, needs, desire and affect. George and
Jones (1996) found that research in subjective well-being suggested that values,
attitudes and moods form a powerful triple interaction that can affect job satisfaction
and turnover. Emotions also help energize or motivate action. Action/result keywords
include performance, behavior and goal achievement as outcomes of value motivated
activity.
The action/result cluster is reflected in the research on organizational behavior
and human resource management, which involves the interaction of individual values
with the workplace (Coomey 1988; Carlson 1995). Coomey reported that her search
of the literature uncovered widely diverse definitions of values, which she eventually

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consolidated into one. According to Coomey’s definition, values are the transformations
that take place between actual or perceived outcomes (rewards, losses, etc.) and affective
states (satisfaction, dissatisfaction, etc.), which lead to action/results (behavior, perfor-
mance, etc.). She further explained that values derive from a vast number of contextual
variables like childhood, education, occupation, personal goals, stage in the life cycle,
perceived equity, organizational climate, outcomes and values themselves.
The literature seems to refer to values as intrinsic motivators to performing a task
and deriving satisfaction from the accomplishment of that task (or job). While the
emphasis may be on the congruence of the task with our beliefs, objectives and antic-
ipated rewards, the motivation is focused on the accomplishment of the task. We are
motivated by values based on result or outcome. Meaning, on the other hand, was
found to be more deeply intrinsic than values, suggesting three levels of satisfaction:
extrinsic, intrinsic and something even deeper.

Meaning in work
Csikszentmihalyi (1990), in his attempt to define meaning, readily acknowledged the
difficulty the task presents by suggesting that any definition of the term would undoubt-
edly be circular. However, he points to three ways in which the word may be defined:
(1) having a purpose or the significance of something, (2) the intentions one holds and
(3) identifying or clarifying the term in context. Similarly, one may attempt to define
work. Dirkx (1995) subscribed to the theory that work is one of the ways that mature
adults care for themselves and others. This was expressed by respondents in the Schaefer
and Darling (1996) study who defined work as an opportunity for service to others and
not distinct from the rest of life. The term may also be definitive of one’s uniqueness
and a way of expressing one’s self in the world.
Viewing the words meaning and work together presents an even greater challenge
at definition. Meaning at work implies a relationship between the person and the
organization or the workplace, in terms of commitment, loyalty and dedication. In
a book sponsored by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology on
the changing nature of work (Howard 1995), the closest any of the chapter authors
come to addressing meaning is by discussing empowerment in the workplace. Meaning
of work implies a sociological and anthropological concern for the role of work in a
society; in terms of the norms, values and traditions of work in the day-to-day life of
people. Dubin (1976) uses the term work centrality as a general belief about the value
of working in one’s life. The MOW International Research Team (1987) used this
definition as the basis for the framework they used to study meaning of work in eight
countries. Meaning in work, or meaningful work, suggests an inclusive state of being.
It is the way we express the meaning and purpose of our lives through the activities
(work) that comprise most of our waking hours. For some, work is their life, as reflected
in the comments of an unemployed 45-year-old construction worker captured in
Terkel’s (1972) famous book Working. ‘Right now I can’t really describe myself because
. . . I’m unemployed. . . . So, you see, I can’t say who I am right now. . . . I guess a
man’s something else besides his work, isn’t he? But what? I just don’t know’. The
opposite of meaningful work is alienation, which Wilensky (1960) defined as the
disassociation of self from work and a loss of capacity to express one’s self in work. For
the purposes of this review, meaningful work has been chosen as the term to focus on

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that which gives essence to what we do and what brings a sense of fulfillment to our
lives. The literature reflecting the last fifteen years of research on this topic indicates that
meaningful work can be a significant contributor to meeting one’s purpose in life.

Meaning of meaningful work research

From 1978 to 1984, 14,700 people in eight countries were studied as to the meaning
they attached to the life role of working (MOW 1987). This research was concerned
with societal norms about working and (cognitively) valued work outcomes, among
other variables. The theoretical foundation for the study was a cognitive-social
psychologically based view of the nature of work in society. By far the predominant
rationale for people working was economic, the ability to secure an income. The second
level of valued working outcomes was the need to express oneself through working. In
fact, interesting work was the most important single element in four out of the eight
countries, second in two others and third in one country. It was also the most important
across all age groups and between males and females. Interesting work was part of what
was called the self-expression dimension, which also included person–job fit, autonomy
and variety. Since this was such a large study, while it provided numerous correlations
between different variables and dimensions, it resulted in quite of number of major
questions for further research. The MOW team felt that the question of what constitutes
interesting work may not only be of major significance, but, ‘may be destined to become
a major mismatch between the nature of preferred and available work for large numbers
of individuals during the early part of the 21st century’ (1987: 254) This research
question and statement represented the need to inquire in more depth by moving from
studying the meaning of work to the meaning in work.
Wishner’s (1991) study on the influence of the meaning of work, among other
constructs on job satisfaction of school psychologists, yielded interesting results.
Though the prediction that the meaning of work was prominent and intrinsically
important was not confirmed, the construct itself proved the single best prediction of
job satisfaction. This indication propelled the researcher to conclude that the meaning
of work has a more pervasive role in the lives of individuals. Shamir (1991) reported
that a task can be motivating due solely to its meaning to the individual, rather than
for the intrinsic rewards it may bring. Jaeger (1994), in investigating the self-employed,
concluded that, among aspects of the prevailing work ethic, a need for meaningful
work was the single most important descriptor which defined the individuals’ sense of
purpose in their contribution to the spirit of community living. Further, the researcher
concluded that work was an accepted part of the participants’ personal identity. It was
that which brought meaning, enjoyment and satisfaction to their lives. These studies
reflected the type of research the MOW study recommended. These and other studies
grouped around three themes that emerged from the review.

Sense of self
It seems that one’s ability to achieve meaning from one’s work depends on what
one brings to the work itself. Loscocco (1985) identified two elements – work commit-
ment and work orientation and suggested that these are designators through which
people come to assign particular meanings to the work they do. In one aspect, work

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commitment represents the relative contribution of work to the sense of self, while
work orientation reflects the importance people attach to the various types of rewards
available from the work they do.
Jaeger and Loscocco’s ideas are reflective of Connelly’s (1985) concept of work
spirit, the set of qualities exhibited by people who enjoy their work enormously. Among
these qualities are a positive state of mind, a sense of purpose and vision and a full sense
of self. One group of participants in Connelly’s study describes work spirit as a ‘ground
of being’, a continuing state of mind from which everything else emerges. Connelly
concluded from this study that people who love their work and find meaning in it
realize that their work experience, to some extent, is dependent on what they themselves
bring to the experience.
Shamir (1991) argued that current work-motivation theories should be augmented
by the concept of self. He built a theory of self-concept motivations on the following
assumptions: that people are not only goal-oriented, but also self-expressive, that they
are motivated to maintain and enhance their self-esteem, self-worth and self-consistency.
Shamir also postulated that self-concepts are composed, in part, of identities. He further
suggests that self-concept-based behavior is not necessarily related to clear expectations
or specific outcomes. These assumptions imply that work motivation will be increased
when job-related identities are prominent in the self-concept, and when the engagement
offers opportunities for enhancing self-esteem and self-worth through actions that are
consistent with the person’s self-concept.
Pitts (1995) indicated that the ability to find meaning in one’s work is an expression
of one’s sense of self. It seems then, that if people derive meaning from their work to
the extent described by ‘work spirit’, then work becomes one means by which people
are grounded in who they are as spiritual beings. Neck and Milliman (1994) suggest
that a central aspect of spirituality involves the meaning of one’s work. The concept itself
(spirituality) is multi-dimensional and may be expressed as a transforming power or an
expressed desire to find meaning and purpose in life. It also suggests a desire to make
a difference and create a meaningful world or an inner wisdom and compassion.
Sveinunggaard (1992) similarly describes one’s spirituality as a transformational life
experience that gives rise to a reaffirmation of self-characterized by a contextual
awareness of oneself as one journeys inward to discover the self.
The theory of self, as expressed through spirituality, is defined by Hartman (1996)
as inclusive of all human experiences including work and one’s experience of reality.
Further, the researcher indicated that the meaning one encounters from this reality
gives rise to the quest for significance. This theory is substantiated by McEnroe (1995),
who claimed that the most significant factor contributing to outstanding leadership is
the executives’ strong inner core of spirituality, which, among other competencies,
includes finding meaning in everyday life, what they do and what happens to the
organization.

The work itself

Csikszentmihalyi (1990) found in his research on high performance that people in what
he refers to as a ‘flow state’ actually feel a sense of disappointment when they achieve
the objective of their performance, because the act of performing is the motivator; not
the accomplishment of the task. People in the flow state derive meaning from their

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work because they both believe/know they will succeed and accept ‘failure’ because it
is worth the risk. So success is secondary to the work itself and risk (and possibly failure)
increases the challenge and learning. These are two factors Gayle (1997) found that
contribute to meaningfulness among high-technology professionals. The people she
researched were ‘gold-collar’ employees, technical experts in great demand in the
workplace who know they can go anywhere and get as much salary as they desire. So
the end-goal of money or status was not what was of importance to them, it was their
ability to have an impact on the organization’s effectiveness through the work, and the
self-directed ‘space’ to be continually challenged, creative and learning. Similarly,
Deems (1997) found that people in two organizations she studied perceived self-
authority, participatory work practices and continuous growth and development as
integral to the meaning of work.

Sense of balance
Several studies have dealt specifically with women and meaning of work. Svendsen’s
(1997) study looked at how women experience the attempt to achieve integrated
wholeness, the merging of their professional and personal selves. She found that the
co-researchers brought their whole selves (mind, body, emotion, spirit) to their work
and their ‘play’, that relationships played a critical role in achieving integrated wholeness,
and, again, the theme of continuous learning and growth was significant. Ostendorf
(1998) also found that the relationships women formed at work were integral to the
meaning these women derived from their work. Personal growth and emotional well-
being were also themes that emerged in the study.
Rulle’s (1999) study of empowerment among nurses (all women) revealed the rela-
tionship between meaning, autonomy and giving to others. Jaeger (1994) also found
the same relationship among self-employed persons. And giving to others was also
a theme that emerged from Allen’s (1996) study of CEOs and volunteerism and Mukri’s
(1998) study of Navy nurses and Schein’s lifestyle career anchor. An additional theme,
work/life balance, was the purpose of Svendson’s study, which was also mentioned,
though not clearly identified, in most of the above-cited studies. In Mukri’s study,
she found that the structure of the military actually provided the ability to commit to
a balance between work and family, which was valued by the nurses and supported by
the leadership.
It is important to note that at this point the fact that most of the recent research
reviewed is in dissertation form. This gives rise to speculation that (1) faculty/
researchers have yet to pursue this topic in earnest (a number of these studies are
described as exploratory), (2) faculty/researchers and students have not published their
findings and/or (3) faculty/researchers and students have had difficulties finding
journals open to accepting articles on this topic. The Mitroff and Denton (1999) study
discussed below was one of the first to be published in a major management journal,
and, as mentioned above, the Academy of Management at their 2000 annual conference
just established a special interest group on spirituality (and religion) in organizations.
So the impetus to do research and the venues to accept and publish research are just
beginning to be established.
The most recent study on meaning and purpose looked at spirituality in the work-
place. Mitroff and Denton (1999) asked their respondents to define spirituality and the

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one word that captured their descriptions was interconnectedness. Yet their research
question was about what gave the respondents the most meaning and purpose in their
jobs. The findings of their survey were that people ranked the ability to realize their full
potential as a person as their first choice, being associated with a good (ethical) company
as their second choice and interesting work as their third. Interestingly, the results of
their follow-up interviews were that most people do not feel that they bring their whole
selves to the workplace, thus they do not feel that the ability to reach their potential
exists. This conclusion has significant implications for how we use the terms spirituality
and meaning almost interchangeably. The popular literature tends to use the term
spirituality and work, as in ‘how can we help organizations to realize the power of
spirituality at work?’ Yet the respondents talked about spirituality as being very personal
and relating to all of their lives, not just in relationship to their jobs.
Work is just one area of people’s lives, albeit a significant one. But, while the
workplace can provide the space and support for spiritual interconnectedness, only the
individual can bring their own spirituality to the workplace. Meaningful work, on the
other hand, can be provided at the workplace by ensuring alignment between an
individual’s competencies, values and purpose and those of the work.
In summary, the themes that emerged from the review – a sense of self, the work
itself and a sense of balance – overlap and intertwine. They are also difficult to articulate
easily.

Sense of Self

Integrated
Wholeness

The Work Itself Sense of Balance

The sense of self includes:

• Bringing one’s whole self (mind, body, emotion, spirit) to the work (and the
workplace)
• Recognizing and developing one’s potential
• Knowing one’s purpose in life and how work fits into that purpose
• Having a positive belief system about achieving one’s purpose.

The work itself includes:

• The act of performing

• Challenge, creativity, learning, continuous growth
• The opportunity to carry out one’s purpose through the work
• Autonomy, empowerment.

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The sense of balance includes:

• The balance of work self and personal self

• The balance of spiritual self and work self
• The balance of giving to oneself and giving to others.

Conclusion

These three themes – sense of self, the work itself and the sense of balance – are reflected
in the term integrated wholeness (Svendsen 1997). No single factor in each of these
three themes can stand alone or is more important than the others. Meaningful work
requires the interplay of all of these elements. Yet we can examine each of these themes
separately while acknowledging their interdependence.
What is of real significance is that these themes and factors in the aggregate represent
a deeper level of motivation than the traditional intrinsic values of a sense of accom-
plishment, pride, satisfaction of finishing a task and praise from a supervisor. What is
being represented through this research is an emerging new paradigm that links back
to some of the work of the content theorists but takes their thinking and the concept
of intrinsic motivation to a deeper evolutionary level.

Discussion: integrated wholeness

Sense of self
The idea of people needing to bring their whole selves (mind, body, emotion and spirit)
to their work was identified numerous times. The sense of the whole self is critical to
finding meaning in work. People often fail to bring their whole selves to work out of
fear of rejection, prejudice or misunderstanding. ‘We work hard to create physical safety
in our workplaces. Can we also create mental, emotional, and spiritual safety – safety
for the whole person?’ (Richards 1995: 87). One of the significant findings of the
Mitroff and Denton study was the number of respondents who felt they could not
bring their whole selves to their present workplaces.
Before one can bring the whole self to work, one has to first be aware of one’s own
values, beliefs and purpose in life. The sense of self also includes constantly striving to
reach one’s potential and believing in one’s ability to reach that potential. And it
includes an alignment between one’s purpose in life and the purpose for the work.
The sense of self is truly representative of Maslow’s level of self-actualization. The
recent research, while predominantly qualitative, seems to support his concept of
actualizing the whole self. Maybe the quantitative research that disproved Maslow’s
theories did so because we did not fully understand or appreciate the depth of foresight
he had.

I think it significant that in more than a quarter of a century since Maslow’s death, there
has been no sign of a decline in his reputation, whereas Freud’s and Jung’s are heavily bullet
scarred. This, I believe, is because there is a sense in which Maslow has still not come into
his own. His significance lies in the future and will become apparent in the 21st century.
(Colin Wilson in Maslow 1998: 3)

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The more recent research, being qualitative, has been able to reach beyond the
surface meaning of his seminal hierarchy of needs. I believe it is about time we accepted
naturalistic inquiry into issues and topics, such as meaningful work and spirituality in
the workplace, that are not measurable by positivistic, scientific means.

The work itself

‘Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men, but from doing
something worthwhile.’ Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell’s statement personifies the
essence of what really motivates people, the work itself. In the not-so-distant past,
managers made decisions about the structure and process of work activities in the name
of efficiency (Thomas 2000). Jobs were broken down into tasks, which involved certain
competencies and specific and measurable objectives. But work has now changed
dramatically. Organizations have realized they need to rely more and more on workers
to make decisions about how the work should get accomplished. This requires more
worker autonomy, flexibility, empowerment, continuous learning, risk taking and
creativity. Thomas captures what the research has demonstrated with his list of the four
most critical intrinsic rewards: sense of meaning and purpose, sense of choice, sense of
competence and sense of progress. Although Csikszentmihalyi would probably not
agree with the sense of progress as a necessary intrinsic motivator, most of us are not
yet at such a high performing level that we do not need to be at least partially motivated
by a sense of moving toward accomplishment. While the work itself relates back to
both Maslow’s self-actualization and Alderfer’s growth levels, and to an extent to
Herzberg’s motivators, the focus is on carrying out one’s life purpose through the work
itself. ‘This is what I was meant to do.’ It is not about productivity or other end-state.
It is about working and growing as a never-ending process. This is one reason why
meaningful work is so hard to measure quantifiably; any one measure is only a snapshot
in time.

Sense of balance
To paraphrase a Zen Buddhist saying, work and pleasure should be so aligned that it
is impossible to distinguish one from the other. The sense of balance at its ideal is that
life is so integrated that it does not matter what one is doing so long as it is meaningful.
But, given that most of us do not live in an ideal world, a sense of balance concerns the
choices we make between the time spent at paid work, unpaid work (work at home,
with family, as a volunteer) and at pleasurable pursuits, such that no one area of our
lives is so dominant that we cease to value the other areas. All work and no play is
stressful, overwhelming, and usually results in our health, family and social lives suffering
– even when the work is meaningful. All play and no work quickly becomes boring and
meaningless.
We also need to balance the nourishing of our different selves (mental, physical,
emotional and spiritual) because, in the less than ideal world, we do not have the luxury
of meeting all of our needs through one major activity. So we need to take the time to
learn, to keep fit, to reflect, to meditate or pray and to give to others. Again, because
we usually worry most about doing our paid work, we do not take the time to care for
ourselves. And when we do not take care of ourselves, we usually cannot be there for

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others. So we end up running on the proverbial treadmill until we finally realize we are
not meeting our own or anyone else’s needs. The statistics we read in the media on
work-related stress, people being overweight and less than physically fit, depression,
divorce and even workplace violence speak for themselves.
Meaningful work is not just about the meaning of the paid work we perform; it is
about the way we live our lives. It is the alignment of purpose, values and the relation-
ships and activities we pursue in life. It is about living our lives and performing our work
with integrity. It is about integrated wholeness.

Recommendations for further research

First of all, research needs to be conducted to test and refine this preliminary construct.
It also seems obvious that research eventually needs to be done to determine the impact
of meaningful work on individual performance and organizational effectiveness. We
also need to learn more about the interrelationship between values and meaning and
between meaning and spirituality. We need to further investigate levels of intrinsic
motivation. We need to examine the components of meaningful work in more depth;
especially the relationship of issues such as values, alignment, balance and integrity.
Finally, we need to identify actual examples of meaningful workplaces and share best
practices.

Implications for the field of HRD

In this age of the ‘new employee contract’ we need to pay attention to:

our whole selves at work, to admit that some work has no meaning to us and offers no
possibility of joy, to examine what work will have meaning to us and seek such work, to
meet our co-workers self-to-self, center-to-center, and to stop pretending that our interior
lives don’t matter. [Only then] will our work become more joyful [and] our organizations
will flourish with commitment, passion, imagination, spirit, and soul.
(Richards 1995: 94)

When the emphasis on performance is paramount over all else, employees gradually
lose the meaning of their work. Such loss of meaning affects attitudes, behavior and
overall mental health. Our profession needs to search for and implement new workplace
models that address work as a vehicle both for production and for individual and social
development and satisfaction (Svendsen 1997).
In our zeal to become organizational change agents, we have lost sight of the impor-
tance of the individual worker. And so have most organizations. We need to remember
that, as one author stated, ‘Organizations don’t change. People change. And then
people change organizations’ (Richard 1996: 11).
One approach that needs to be utilized and developed further is the concept of
crafting or sculpting work. This approach shifts the emphasis from fitting the worker
to the work to fitting the work to the worker. Another recent organization-level
intervention is the examination and realignment of individual, group and organization
values. Finally, mission statements, strategic plans and performance appraisals that
honor and support meaningful workplaces are paramount.

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 Chalofsky: An emerging construct for meaningful work

Address for correspondence

Neal Chalofsky
Associate Professor and Director, HRD Doctoral Program
The George Washington University
2134 G Street NW, Suite 219
Washington, DC 20052, USA
Tel: 202 994 7188
Fax: 202 994 4928
E-mail: nealcha@gwu.edu

Acknowledgements

I should like to thank Pat Daly, Janet Silverthorne, Tim Tobin and Lauren Turner for
their critical role in helping to collect and analyze the research.

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