IOP3702 EXAM PREPARATORY NOTES

The meaning of work  The meaning of work is multifaceted. Not only does work have different meanings, but these meanings can change over time, as individuals and the nature and structure of work change.  The meaning of work is significant for the study of careers because it influences the individuals expectation of work and their career.  The meaning of work embraces the significance that work or working has in people’s lives.  Work constitutes a major element of human activity that transpires over much of people’s lives.  Work sustains life in the sense of biological survival and it can also sustain the quality of life.  Next to family work has been found to have relatively more importance than other areas of life such as leisure. Repeated x 2 Workplace Spirituality Workplace spirituality is the recognition that employees have an inner life that nourishes and is nourished by meaningful work that takes place in the context of community. Spirituality is the feeling individuals have about the fundamental meaning of who they are, what they are doing and the contributions they are making. Spirituality represents the quest to unite one's inner life and outer world (i.e. the community environment which provides constant connection to one’s co-workers). The community environment is viewed as a place in which people can experience personal growth by being involved in meaningful work that gives a purpose to their life where they feel valued for themselves as individuals and have a sense of working together with others for a common purpose. The search for meaning and purpose, and consequent realisation, provide an individual with a sense of alignment and order ─ a spiritual cohesiveness, which instills a sense of tightness and well-being. Spiritual cohesiveness is a sense of wholeness, a oneness with who we are and an awareness of how we fit with our external environment. Work is a central part of people’s existence and the search for spiritual wholeness occurs within the context of the workplace. In the modern workplace, many people are increasingly embarking upon a spiritual journey seeking to discover their true selves through the search for a higher purpose that provides meaning to their lives. Self Actualization Self-actualization is a process of inner-directedness through which the individuals give expression to their intrinsic nature. It involves the tendency to enrich oneself by psychological growth and by seeing meaning in being. Characteristics associated with self-actualized people include autonomy in the sense of relative independence of the physical and social environment, democratic orientation, feeling of connectedness with others, freshness of appreciation, and feeling at ease with complexity and ambiguity These characteristics can be condensed into a single quality, namely openness to experience. Openness can be associated with work that can facilitate self-actualization i.e. intrinsic satisfaction. lOMoARcPSD| Self-actualization contributes to one's sense of identity. It involves one's self-concepts and these selfconcepts can find expression through self-actualization in work. Through work, people identify themselves to themselves and to others, and also see themselves as distinct or different from others. Self-concepts can change as work structures change. Self-concepts can be expressed or repressed in varying degrees by various work factors. If a self-concept is not congruent with the requirements of a job, work loses its meaning and an authentic part of the self is repressed. Competency Finding intrinsic meaning and a sense of identity in work amounts to a career competency. The accumulation of competencies has a dual purpose by equipping people to adapt to changes and contributes to satisfying organisational requirements Fluctuations in utilizing competencies are understood in terms of three modes of career growth and development that are recurrent and episodic throughout the individuals entire career life  Learning mode: Quest for novelty and variety for self improvement by acquiring new competencies beyond mere mastering of the job  Performance mode: Quest for success and mastery of a job or skills and finding a standard of excellence in a particular work context to prove oneself worthy.  Development mode: Quest for meaning by seeking work/life events that will be conducive to finding a calling or purpose. Individuals seek understanding of themselves in the context of values and future paths. At any particular point in their career and individual will function in one of the modes but may revert to a former mode since the modes are recurrent. Repeated x 4 The term ‘values’ is used interchangeably to denote norms, beliefs, principles, preferences, needs, interests, intentions, codes, criteria, world-view or ideology. Such terms suggest that values can be seen as orientations or dispositions that selectively determine modes of behavior and life forms, including work behavior and work forms. Values guide the selection or evaluation of behaviours and events, remain stable over time and are generally ordered in terms of relative importance by different people. Values develop as a result of external socio-cultural forces and internal psychological factors that influence the individual. These socio-cultural norms become personal objectives of the individual that transform to values and become socially sanctioned. The Protestant work ethic postulated that work has moral value, that each person has a calling to work, that people should develop their talents and that all, including the rich, should work. This work ethic is associated with the development of capitalism. Over time, much of the religious meaning of the Protestant work ethic declined. Occupational achievement through hard work and thrift remained work values, but were seen as of intrinsic value to the individual. Protestant values such as selfreliance and mastery are transferred to children by child-rearing practices, which lead to achievement motivation. Two norms seen as necessary in conceptualizing the meaning of work are the individual’s obligation to society and entitlements of the working individual. The obligation norm includes beliefs about the duties of work, namely that workers should be expected to think of better ways to do their jobs; that it is one’s duty to contribute to society by lOMoARcPSD| working, that a large portion of income should be saved, that monotonous work is acceptable if pay is fair and that workers should value the work they are doing. Entitlements concern beliefs about the rights of working, namely that a job should be provided to every individual who wishes to work, that the educational system should prepare every person for a good job if they exert reasonable effort, that, if workers’ skills become out-dated, their employer should be responsible for retraining and re-employment and that, when changes have to be made in work methods, the superior should ask workers for their opinions. Since value can have an impact on work performance, performance values per se are important in research on values. Measured performance values include the work ethic, pursuit of excellence, status aspiration, and authoritarianism, the need for material gain, mastery and competitiveness. The relation between values and the meaning of work can be direct or indirect and imperceptible and can be complicated by the fact that the meaning of work associated with values does not necessarily constitute the goal of work. The meaning of work has many phases. It has different meanings that change over time - as individuals, the nature and structure of work change. Work constitutes a major part of human activity that occurs over the majority of people’s lives. Work sustains life in the sense of biological survival and it can also sustain the quality of life. Different meanings of work can be derived from different values associated with work. The meaning of work in people’s lives is determined by factors within the individual (ones personal work values, preferences and work goals) and by the job and wider environment (the characteristics of the job or work itself and the organizational and socio – cultural context) Downloaded by Thomas Mboya () lOMoARcPSD| Individual meanings of work derived directly or indirectly from socio – cultural influences in the context of family socialization, school, socialization, group affiliations and work experiences. Socio cultural influences are embedded in historical contexts that give rise to changing meanings of work over time An individual may experience different meanings of work at different times in their lives or may experience different meanings of work at the same time. The meaning of work is an important study in the subject of careers as it influences the individuals expectation of work and their career. Pre – Industrial Era Three meanings that are associated with work in pre-industrial times are:  Work as drudgery  Work as instrumental or spiritual or religious ends and  Work as intrinsically meaningful for its own sake The Greeks and Romans viewed work as a burden that contaminates the mind. The ideal of exercising the mind was to think of matters concerning philosophy, politics and art. Manual labour was the domain of slaves, whilst free men were associated with big businesses, agriculture, and living the life of a retired country gentleman. Hebrews also regarded work as drudgery, but additionally as providing expiation of sin and regaining spiritual dignity. Early Christians shared view, but incorporated the meaning of work as charity in that one shares the fortunes of work with the needy. Catholic meanings included expiation, charity and purification. Also accepted that individual enriches himself through work, not as an end itself, but means to maintain life and ultimate life hereafter. Protestants views regarded work as a duty. Luther advocated that man works to serve God and that no activity was superior to another since all work helped to build Gods Kingdom on earth. An ideology emerged emphasizing diligence, punctuality, deferment of gratification and primacy of work domain. The Protestant work ethic is not associated with religious affirmation, but reflects individuals work values, such as belief that work is intrinsically rewarding and not just a means to attaining external rewards The Persian society saw work with an ethical connotation. It was seen as virtuous in conquest of good over evil. Work was good in that it was instrumental in keeping the land fertile, acquiring property, and providing shelter. Eastern views saw work as instrumental in spiritual and character development. Islamic thinking saw those who earn honest living by their own labour and not by begging receive the grace of Allah. The Buddhist writings - physical labour & spiritual growth were seen as part of same process Japanese view of work based on Confucian model of human nature, affirmed mankind’s goodness. The Confucian work ethic influenced values of hard work and the drive to accumulate wealth in Japan and South Korean. Socialization regarding the importance of diligence in learning, studying, working and other life domains generally begins years before an individual starts their first job. Individuals who endorse the Confucian values of diligence, determination and perseverance are likely to accept taxing Downloaded by Thomas Mboya () lOMoARcPSD| and demanding work even if the work is not enjoyable due to fact that these values are deemed instrumental to obtaining success. During Renaissance in Europe the focus was on the value of mental powers rather than physical powers with work being intrinsically meaningful in itself. Work was seen as means of mastering nature and each person becoming their own master. In 19’Th century a universal meaning emerged in which work became the meaning for all progress –spiritual, material, and intellectual. Industrial Era The meaning of work was not self evident. Industrialization involved the mass production of objects in factories, with accompanying structural changes in the work process. The division of labour became more extensive. Work tasks became fragmented and were reduced to mechanistic, repetitive functions that adversely affected workers personal commitment to their jobs. High rates of production expected by industry and long working hours led to a decline in the will to work and to a seeking of meaning outside of work Post Industrialization The focus is on information rather than on industry. Production was associated with producing ideas in offices in addition to manufacturing objects in factories. The cultural climate of post – industrialization was referred to as post modernism and characterized by recognition of differences, plurality, paradox, and eclecticism involving various possibilities and choices. Information technology & globalisation lead to multicultural viewpoints about meaning of work. Post industrialism regarded employees as being more enlightened with 5 characteristics:  Self-actualization – being in accordance with one’s values, focusing on personal, intellectual an emotional development & growth  Hedonism – right to enjoy life and benefits of work  Entitlementalism – entitled to certain thing  Antiproductivism – questioning cost of economic growth vs. depletion of natural resource  Anti-authoritarianism - right to question anybody who gives commands The 21st Century Workplace The 21st century is characterized by boundaryless, service driven, technology-intensive work environments Work meaning is a socially constructed product that is dynamic and fluid and that expresses itself through the lenses of job meaning, role meaning, and self meaning in a particular socio – cultural context. Shifts from national to global markets and from technological to information, service based economies signal dramatic changes that are also reflected in the nature of work and the way work is performed. Heightened change and uncertain markets lead to a search for meaning, higher purpose and spiritual sense making through ones work activities and life roles. The meaning of work is seen as being constituted at work with others. Working provides people with a sense of social status and a social identity; this provides the individual with power and access to resources. Unemployed individuals experience feelings of isolation and social disconnection. Repeated X 5 Work – Family Enrichment Downloaded by Thomas Mboya () lOMoARcPSD| Work-family enrichment refers to the extent to which experiences in one role improve the quality of life in the other role, where quality of life includes high performances and positive effect. The relationship between work and family is viewed as bidirectional: work can enrich family life (workto-family enrichment) and family can enrich work life (family-to-work enrichment). The availability of resources within a role enables that role to enrich another role, but stressors in a role will interfere with the other which may lead to work or family conflict Work-family enrichment expands people’s capacity to achieve effectiveness and derive satisfaction from multiple life roles, but conflict limits this capacity. Work-family enrichment is part of work ethic that promotes a health work-life balance. This ethic emphasizes the importance of working smarter rather than harder and embracing, apart from ones work, ones other life obligations. Studies have shown that achieving a balance between home life and work life is a high priority for many people. Not sure of this answer – can’t find it in the notes 2011 Question so not sure if this still part of the syllabus