Call for Papers

Call for short papers (pdf)

Over the past two decades, the conversations concerning individuals’ work experiences in organizations have increasingly centered around the notion of meaningful work, broadly defined as work that is personally significant and worthwhile (Lysova et al., 2019; Rosso et al., 2010). Meaningful work has been recognized not only as an aspirational and positive work experience (Bailey et al., 2019; Blustein et al., 2023; Lepisto & Pratt, 2017; Lysova et al., 2019) but also as a normative obligation to self and others (Michaelson, 2021) and a “fundamental human need” (Yeoman, 2014) that can be enabled in organizations that allow for meaningfulness to emerge. It has been found to have important benefits for individuals (e.g. job satisfaction, work engagement, etc.) and organizations (e.g., employee performance, creativity, etc.) (Allan et al., 2019; Bailey et al., 2019).
 
Therefore, it is not surprising that much of the research so far has focused on understanding different sources of meaningful work within organizations that could foster meaningful work in organizations (Blustein et al., 2023; Lysova et al., 2019; Rosso et al., 2010). This research has highlighted the powerful influence job and social contexts play in enabling meaningful work. Specifically, it has shown that individuals experience their work as meaningful when they work in jobs in which individuals are proximate to beneficiaries of their work (e.g., customers, patients, etc.; Grant, 2007) or in work contexts where they are surrounded by positive work relationships with leaders and coworkers (Bailey & Madden, 2017; Lysova et al., 2023a). However, much of this research draws on the assumption that this work environment within which individuals interact is composed of other humans. This does not sufficiently reflect the contemporary world of work of the more-than-human society, where technology is transforming how, where, and when we work, and nature is influencing why and for whom we work.
 
Organizations are dealing with new ways of working enabled by the growing introduction of AI, robots, and technology in its broad sense and represented by virtual and augmented reality (Kim & Scheller-Wolf, 2022; Lysova et al., 2023b). Technology changes job design and diversifies individuals’ interactions with humans and non-human entities at work (e.g., technology, nature, etc.). This changes how, where, and when individuals work (Leonardi et al., 2024; Spreitzer et al., 2015), and, therefore, it can also influence how people come to find meaningfulness in their work. From the limited and primarily conceptual research linking such technology and meaningful work, we know that these changes could either free individuals from routine tasks, allowing for more meaningful work, or could also limit individuals’ ability to experience meaningful work (Bankins & Formosa, 2023).
 
While more-than-human technology impacts the world and experience of work, the more-than-human natural environment is impacted by the consequences of work. The experience of meaningful work can be influenced by the potential for one’s work to help or harm the natural environment as a critical and vulnerable stakeholder of work activity. This claim finds support in research on corporate social responsibility, which shows that it influences whether people are attracted to work in socially responsible organizations, considering the expected meaningfulness they could derive (Jones et al., 2014).
 
The implications of technology’s impact on work and work’s impact on the natural environment spread beyond simply studying barriers and opportunities to understanding and emphasizing the role non-human entities play in the construction of meaningfulness in organizations. For instance, could they protect individuals from organizational actions leading to their exploitation, or would they be allies for those in minority positions, supporting diversity and inclusion?
 
With this call for papers, we invite scholars to contribute to a discussion about the role of non-human entities in shaping, enabling, or undermining meaningful work in organizations. We encourage scholars from diverse research fields to provide a novel perspective on its implications of more-than-human society for meaningful work. Specifically, we are interested in the intersections of meaningful work with topics related to the future of work broadly and, more specifically, technology, new ways of working, issues of diversity and inclusion, and environmental sustainability.
 
Some possible topics for papers in the subtheme include, but are not limited to:

• How can organizations support employees, particularly those traditionally lacking opportunities for meaningful work, to derive a sense of meaning in their work in the new realities of a more-than-human society?

• How do changing ways of working shape the ability to experience meaningful work? And how might such changes afford different abilities and opportunities for different groups of workers?

• How can new forms of relating and connecting through technology (e.g., via augmented reality spaces) be utilized to foster meaningful work in organizations? To what extent might such utilizations afford opportunities for those who may have had barriers to physically relating and connecting with others in more traditional workspaces?

• How can technologically advanced and/or enhanced job designs enable or undermine the potential for individuals to experience meaningful work? And to what extent do such changes to traditional job designs afford/reduce opportunities for meaningful work for different groups of workers?

• How does the integration with non-human entities (i.e., technology, natural environment) enable and/or limit the ability of individuals to derive a sense of meaning in the wider context of their organization?

• How does the prospect of technological unemployment impact human potential to experience meaning in life and at work? And to what extent would such impacts have on those already at high risk of un(der)employment?

• Can non-human entities save humans from the risk of organizational exploitation? And how might this influence efforts around equality and inclusion in organizations?

• How do non-human entities create experiences of meaninglessness in organizations?

• How does the environmental impact of work influence workers’ experience of meaningful work?

• How do social and environmental imperatives influence workers’ career choices and perceptions of the meaningfulness of their work?

• What implications do any of the topics above have for exacerbating or reducing inequalities in the workplace and society, particularly for historically minoritized workers?

References

• Allan, B.A., Batz-Barbarich, C., Sterling, H.M., & Tay, L. (2019): “Outcomes of meaningful work: A meta‐analysis.” Journal of Management Studies, 56 (3), 500–528.
• Bailey, C., & Madden, A. (2015): “Time reclaimed: temporality and the experience of meaningful work.” Work, Employment and Society, 31 (1), 3–18.
• Bankins, S., & Formosa, P. (2023): “The ethical implications of artificial intelligence (AI) for meaningful work.” Journal of Business Ethics, 185 (4), 725–740.
• Bailey, C., Yeoman, R., Madden, A., Thompson, M., & Kerridge, G. (2019): “A review of the empirical literature on meaningful work: Progress and research agenda.” Human Resource Development Review, 18 (1), 83–113.
• Blustein, D.L., Lysova, E.I., & Duffy, R.D. (2023): “Understanding decent work and meaningful work.” Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 10 (1), 289–314.
• Grant, A.M. (2007): “Relational job design and the motivation to make a prosocial difference.” Academy of Management Review, 32 (2), 393–417.
• Jones, D.A., Willness, C.R., & Glavas, A. (2017): “When Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Meets Organizational Psychology: New Frontiers in Micro-CSR Research, and Fulfilling a Quid Pro Quo through Multilevel Insights.” Frontiers in Psychology, 8, https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00520/full.
• Kim, T.W., & Scheller-Wolf, A. (2019): “Technological unemployment, meaning in life, purpose of business, and the future of stakeholders.” Journal of Business Ethics, 160, 319–337.
• Leonardi, P.M., Parker, S.H., & Shen, R. (2024): “How remote work changes the world of work.” Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 11 (1), 193–219.
• Lepisto, D.A., & Pratt, M.G. (2016): “Meaningful work as realization and justification: Toward a dual conceptualization.” Organizational Psychology Review, 7 (2), 99–121.
• Lysova, E.I., Allan, B.A., Dik, B.J., Duffy, R.D., & Steger, M.F. (2019): “Fostering meaningful work in organizations: A multi-level review and integration.” Journal of Vocational Behavior, 110, Part B, 374–389.
• Lysova, E.I., Fletcher, L., & El Baroudi, S. (2023a): “What enables us to better experience our work as meaningful? The importance of awareness and the social context.” Human Relations, 76 (8), 1226–1255.
• Lysova, E.I., Tosti-Kharas, J., Michaelson, C., Fletcher, L., Baily, C., & McGhee, P. (2023b): “Ethics and the future of meaningful work: Introduction to the Special Issue.” Journal of Business Ethics, 185, 713–723.
• Michaelson, C. (2021): “A normative meaning of meaningful work.” Journal of Business Ethics, 170, 413–428.
• Rosso, B.D., Dekas, K.H., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2010): “On the meaning of work: A theoretical integration and review.” Research in Organizational Behavior, 30, 91–127.
• Yeoman, R. (2014): “Conceptualising meaningful work as a fundamental human need.” Journal of Business Ethics, 125, 235–251.