sources of meaningfulness in the workplace …
Sources Of Meaningfulness In The Workplace According To Hospitality Employees In One Hospitality Organization
Refereed Paper Dimitrov, Danielle Purpose Statement
The purpose of this paper is to explore the way hospitality
employees from different national cultures in a US-based hotel perceive their workplace to be a meaningful workplace, based on Dimitrov‘s (2009)
empirical study about the features of the humane organization. Background Information and Significance to the Field of HRD The US workforce is already threatened by the phenomenon of the ―unhappy worker‖, as Kaye and Jordan-Evans (2007) testified that more and more HRD professionals feel this discontented presence. This is supported with statistics from Gallup‘s Management Journal‘s Employee Engagement Index
pointing out that 54% of US workers are not engaged and 17% are actively disengaged in their workplaces. Kaye and Jordan-Evans (2007) expressed themselves very articulately when stating the problem in today‘s organizations: ―Many unhappy workers leave the workplace and assuming they are
talented contributors, their departure costs money—big money. But other unhappy workers quit and stay,
leaving half their heads and hearts at home‖ (p. 3). Thus, the issue of how more and more difficult it becomes for organizations to select, retain, motivate, and develop highly competent and qualified professionals, is very relevant to the field of HRD. As Gayle (1997) confirmed, simply using a monetary incentive approach is insufficient. In a quick historic review of the need for motivation and satisfaction of employees, one can see the progression from addressing material needs (monetary rewards) to focusing on more intrinsic motivators (respect, achievement, flexibility, work-life balance, and meaningful workplace) that represent a higher-level contemporary needs corresponding to Maslow‘s (1970) self-actualization needs. The future belongs to companies like
Patagonia (Casey, 2007), described in Fortune, whose management is not influenced by the market
pressure for achieving greater profit, but maintains its soul by being a human-friendly and environmentally conscious organization. This line of thoughts, following the ideas of motivation and content theories (Alderfer, 1972; Herzberg, 1968; Herzberg et al., 1959; Maslow, 1970; McGregor, 1960; McClelland, 1953; Rogers, 1959, 1961; Vroom, 1964), directs the search for meaningfulness in life and in the workplace. It also follows that by finding what is meaningful and humane in the workplace, according to hospitality management employees, Dimitrov‘s (2009) study made a concrete positive impact on the
human resources development research and practices for motivation, engagement, and development of employees through various non-monetary venues. The field of hospitality was selected as the background for the study because of its historical lack of research in the area of meaning of work and its association with employee exploitation and lack of family friendliness (Brownell, 1998; Mulvaney, O‘Neill, Cleveland,
& Crouter , 2007).
The sources of meaningfulness in the workplace are also relevant to the field of HRD because the organization today is the main home of the working individual. This is measured, not only by the time one spends at work, but also by the enormous significance of work for the identity formation and maintenance of the contemporary person (Turner, 2005). Thus, it is logical for people to aspire toward making their new home a comfortable place where they can find support, meaning, peace, and personal fulfillment. The quest for a humane (Chalofsky, 2008; Chalofsky et al., 2003; Dimitrov, 2009) and meaningful workplace (Chalofsky, 2003) is a frequently discussed topic in the era of human resources
development (Gayle, 1997; Turner, 2005), a field whose purpose ―is to develop human capabilities in the workforce and
society‖ (Cseh, 2006). Dimitrov‘s (2009) case study began filling in the existing gap in the body of
knowledge about the humane organization through understanding of what a meaningful workplace is in one hospitality organization.
sourcesofmeaningfulnessintheworkplace…
