work

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Work-Family Interface: Lessons from Joe Grzywacz

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In this episode of Meaningful Work Matters, Andrew Soren spoke with Joe Grzywacz, the Associate Dean of Research and Faculty Development at San Jose State University in the College of Health and Sciences. His research expertise lies at the intersection of work and family life and their profound impact on health and well-being.

Grzywacz recognized early in his career that work can be a challenge to push through, but at other times, it can be a place to flourish and do well. The key difference is how work is designed and positioned to achieve the latter.

Midlife in the United States (MIDUS)

Grzywacz has been deeply involved in a landmark research project called Midlife Development in the U.S. (MIDUS). Since it started in 1995, this national longitudinal study of health and wellbeing has aimed to understand successful aging. MIDUS is unique because it measures social, biological, economic, and psychological factors across disciplines. Today, it is one of the largest studies of its kind, funded by the National Institute on Health.

Grzywacz oversees all areas related to the topic of work within the study - a critical factor for understanding health and well-being, given that the average person spends more time at work than just about anywhere else across the lifespan.

The Design of Work

There are different ways to think about the design of work. The National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety, for example, looks at job characteristics, which, boiled down, include buckets like:

  • What are the opportunities workers have on the job to exercise control or decision-making regarding their work?

  • How much external pressure or demand is put on workers?

  • Is what I am doing meaningful, or does what I am doing matter in a lasting way?

  • Am I treated fairly and equitably?

Grzywacz notes that these job characteristics are often very different for black and brown individuals, for younger workers compared to older workers, for men compared to women, etc. The job market is segregated in many ways that tend to benefit some people and not others.

The Impact on Psychological Well-Being

Based on about 40+ years of research, there are substantial consequences when these fundamental characteristics are unmet. These characteristics are tied to a concept called cognitive reserve. If you think of your mind as a muscle, the more you use it, the longer it will stay robust and healthy.

Likewise, many of these job characteristics are linked to how well your cognitive functioning holds up later in life and how physical health plays out in the face of chronic disease.

To Grzywacz, it’s crystal clear that work underlies our health and well-being, even if it takes a bit to catch up to us.

The Work-Family Interface

The work-family interface is all about how our jobs and families intersect. Grzywacz highlights that the two influence each other in various ways - sometimes good, sometimes bad.

On the one hand, we are caretakers and loved ones within a family structure, and on the other, we are operating in an economy that likely requires us also to be a worker. We are often splitting our time to satisfy both roles.

Finding a balance between these two important roles can be a challenge for all of us at one point or another. However, as Grzywacz explains, the synergy between work and life can also be enriching. In the Western world, this works very well. For example, for those who earn a living wage, or even a climbing wage, that’s a form of work-family enrichment because our work life ends up benefitting our family life.

Those with a synergistic or enriching work and family life have higher levels of well-being - and that is associated with less chronic conditions and lower stress levels, etc. A positive work-life interface benefits individuals, their families, organizations, and society.

Cross-Cultural Differences

According to Grzywacz, the research shows that job characteristics are relatively universal across cultural contexts.

By contrast, there are distinctive cultural differences when combining work and family. In the US, we’ve lived a ‘segmented reality’ throughout the industrial area. This means we spend 8 hours a day at work, then come home and attend to home life. In the US, work tends to be viewed as a different space than our family life.

The US is relatively unique in this separation. Other parts of the world see work and family as more integrated. For example, one might say they work for their family, and their commitment to their family is reflected in their work.

The Research on Alienation

Another area of Grzywacz’s research is alienation. This refers to when a worker is separated or alienated from the more significant impact, meaning, or context of their work AND the other individuals who are part of the final product.

The evidence tells us that alienated work is linked to a variety of mental health including depression. We have only recently connected this concept to the biology of successful aging. People with higher levels of alienated work show more wear and tear on their bodies at an organ and tissue level than those who experience less alienation at work.

Final Thoughts

In wrapping up, Grzywacz offers a reflection on pursuing meaningful work. He urges listeners to consider the balance between seeking meaning in work and finding contentment with what they have. He posits that while meaningful work is important, the constant chase for the 'perfect' job can lead to dissatisfaction and overlook the value of other life domains.

For further exploration:

  • Mid-Life in the United States - link

Time, Meaning and Existential Labour: Lessons from Katie Bailey

This Meaningful Work Matters episode features Dr. Katie Bailey, a Professor of Work and Employment at the King’s College London. Her research focuses on meaning and purpose at work, temporality and interstitial times and spaces in organizations, employee engagement, and strategic human resource management.

Katie takes us on a tour of the various ways that meaningful work has been defined in the academic literature, the ways that time truly matters when it comes to finding meaning at work, and how we can create an ethical environment for meaningful work by reducing the gaps between what we say and what we do when it comes to designing roles, tasks, interactions, and building organizational cultures that support individuals as they pursue meaningful work.

The Multi-Faceted Nature of Meaningful Work

Bailey has spent years exploring the complexity of meaningful work in research and practice. She emphasizes that meaningful work goes far beyond job satisfaction or employee engagement because it is intertwined with our most human sense of identity and purpose. She notes that in the literature, there are many different definitions of meaningful work, but they can be primarily broken down into two broad perspectives:

  1. Subjective Dimension: From one perspective, meaningful work is seen as subjective, essentially down to the individual. It's in the eye of the beholder, where people decide daily whether their work is subjectively meaningful to them. Psychologists who regard meaningful work as an attitude similar to job satisfaction often hold this view. It's a personal assessment based on individual feelings and perceptions.

  2. Objective Dimension: The other perspective views meaningful work as an objective attribute that some jobs have and others don't. This view is shared by sociologists, ethicists, and political theorists. They believe that society objectively determines meaningful work, with specific attributes that make it meaningful. These attributes include autonomy, dignity, freedom, and receiving feedback. Jobs possessing these characteristics are considered meaningful objectively, regardless of an individual's feelings or perceptions.

Four Pillars of Meaningful Work

Bailey points to the work of Marjolein Lips-Wiersma, who maps meaningful work into four key pillars: contribution, belonging, self-actualization, and being your best self. These pillars provide a roadmap for individuals and leaders to assess and enhance the meaningfulness of their work. Contribution emphasizes the impact of one’s work on the greater good while belonging underscores the importance of community and connection in the workplace. Self-actualization speaks to the personal growth and development that work can foster, and being your best self highlights the alignment of work with one’s core values and strengths.

 

The Role of Time in Finding Meaning

Bailey’s insights into the temporal aspects of meaningful work are pioneering. She highlights how autonomy and the freedom to manage one's time can significantly influence the sense of fulfillment in one's job. However, her latest research explores how the ability to see past contributions or future impact can all influence perceptions of meaningfulness. Bailey shares a fascinating example of her research with stonemasons repairing centuries-old cathedrals in the UK. By seeing the "banker marks" left by prior workers hundreds of years ago and knowing their marks would be viewed similarly far into the future, stonemasons tend to feel a profound long-term connection to their work.

The Double Edge of Meaningful Work

Bailey points out many positive benefits to individual well-being and organizational performance when people are engaged in meaningful work. Still, there are dark sides to meaningful work, which are essential to be aware of. She highlights two key aspects:

  1. Sacrifices for Meaningful Work: Bailey points out that when individuals see their work as deeply meaningful, they might be willing to make detrimental sacrifices to their well-being. This suggests that pursuing meaningful work can sometimes lead to neglecting personal health, work-life balance, or other aspects of life, as the individual becomes overly invested in their work.

  2. Existential Labor: Another concept Bailey discusses is "existential labor." This occurs when organizations put intense cultural pressure on employees to find their work meaningful. Employees might be continually told that their work is meaningful and fulfilling. However, if they don't genuinely feel that sense of meaningfulness, they may start acting as if they find their work meaningful when they do not. Existential labor is the act of pretending or performing to meet external expectations. It can be seen as a form of emotional labor where employees must manage and modify their emotions and expressions to align with organizational expectations, even if these do not reflect their true feelings.

Ethical and Practical Insights for Fostering Meaning

Bailey emphasizes the importance of organizations creating an environment that enables individuals to find their version of meaningfulness. Bailey discusses the critical role of leaders in creating an environment where meaningful work is accessible to all. This involves a commitment to ethical leadership practices, prioritizing employee well-being, and aligning organizational goals and job design with espoused values. From a practical standpoint, Bailey suggests ways to embed meaningful work into the fabric of organizational culture. This includes designing roles that provide a sense of significance, encouraging positive interactions among team members, and aligning tasks with a clear and compelling organizational purpose. These strategies are essential for leaders aiming to reconcile personal values with work demands and those seeking to manage stress and prevent team burnout.

Final Thoughts

Katie Bailey’s profound insights on meaningful work remind us that the journey to finding meaning in our professional lives is deeply personal yet universally impactful. Meaningful work is not just about the tasks we perform but also about the environment we cultivate, the relationships we build, and the ethical considerations we uphold.

As professionals and leaders striving for positive change, let's embrace the responsibility of creating an ecosystem where every individual can discover what meaningful work means to them. In doing so, we enhance our experiences and contribute to a culture of well-being and purpose that extends far beyond the walls of our workplaces.

The Virtuous Organization: Lessons from Kim Cameron

This Meaningful Work Matters episode features Kim Cameron, a renowned expert in positive organizational scholarship and a faculty member at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.

Andrew and Kim discuss the essence of virtuous organizations and the incredible transformation they can bring about. Kim shares insights from his extensive research, including eight key dimensions pivotal in fostering an organization's virtuousness. From gratitude and appreciation to trust and integrity, these dimensions create a holistic environment for individuals to flourish.

Discover inspiring real-life stories of organizations that have embraced virtuousness in their cultures, even during challenging times like downsizing or a pandemic. This conversation with Kim Cameron is a must-listen if you want to understand how virtuous organizations can positively impact performance, well-being, and culture.

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Positive Deviance Defined

Kim Cameron has been one of the driving forces behind Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS), an area of research that explores the what, how and why of positively deviant organizations. Organizations that are positively deviant go way beyond the usual expectations or norms. Not only do they achieve bottom-line performance, they also enact virtuous behavior, cultivate positive work culture, foster resilience, create inclusive growth and foster sustainable practices.

The Eight Dimensions of Virtuousness

Cameron identifies eight dimensions that contribute to virtuousness within organizations. These dimensions, when institutionalized, have been directly linked to high performance.

  1. Gratitude and Appreciation: Recognizing employees' contributions through gratitude practices that make people feel valued and valuable.

  2. Dignity and Respect: Work environments where all individuals are treated with dignity and are respected for their inherent worth.

  3. Support and Compassion: Providing empathetic support to employees, especially when facing challenges or difficulties.

  4. Caring and Concern: Closely related to compassion, it creates an environment where employees feel their well-being is a priority.

  5. Meaningfulness and Purpose: having a profound organizational purpose beyond transactional objectives and ensuring employees find meaning by understanding how they contribute to it.

  6. Positively Energizing Activities: Fostering positive energy through activities and behaviors that help others to dream, do, become, learn, and flourish.

  7. Forgiveness and Understanding: Fosters a culture where mistakes are seen as opportunities for growth and learning, promoting an atmosphere of forgiveness.

  8. Trust and Integrity: Ensuring that the organization operates with honesty and ethical principles, which in turn builds trust among employees and stakeholders.

These eight dimensions collectively contribute to an organizational culture that is not just focused on achieving financial success, but also on fostering a positive, virtuous, and supportive work environment. This holistic approach to organizational success is what differentiates such organizations and leads to exceptional performance across various metrics.

Virtuous Organizations in Action

In Derby, Connecticut, Griffin Hospital faced severe challenges, including a reputation for poor service, particularly in its OBGYN department. The crisis escalated when a respected director of operations, Pat Charmel was fired, sparking staff uproar. Employees, valuing Charmel's leadership, boldly interrupted a board meeting, demanding his reinstatement and the executives' dismissal. The board acquiesced, appointing Charmel as both President and CEO.

Charmel quickly addressed the hospital's negative image and discovered financial mismanagement by the previous CEO. Facing potential bankruptcy, he had to make tough decisions, including downsizing, which affected some of his strongest supporters.

Despite these hardships, Charmel's compassionate approach and strategic leadership turned the hospital around. Under his direction, Griffin Hospital recovered and thrived, especially during the pandemic. It prioritized community health by providing COVID testing and vaccination services to vulnerable populations, emphasizing virtuous, community-focused actions over immediate profit.

Courageous Leadership in Virtuous Organizations

To truly listen and be innovative like Pat Charmel requires taking risks. Cameron talks about the kind of courageous leadership and unequivocal support from the top that is required in virtuous organizations. However, change cannot be top-down only; it needs involvement and buy-in from all levels. That means that a critical attribute of leadership in virtuous organizations is the capacity to cultivate a culture of support, innovation, and inclusive change.

Positive Energy and Resilience During Adversity

Cameron illustrates the point by discussing the University of Michigan's Business and Finance Group, where ‘positive energizers’ were identified and empowered to effect change. The energizers were tasked with a challenge to spread positive practices across the organization. These practices ranged from small gestures like bringing flowers to larger systemic changes like reward system overhauls. Remarkably, even during the pandemic, this approach led to significant improvements across various dimensions, proving that positive energy and innovative, people-focused initiatives can build resilience and drive improvement, even in adversity.

Ethics and Empirical Evidence in Virtuous Organizations

Discussing the ethical dimensions of virtuous organizations, Cameron places ethics as a mid-point in a continuum, with unethical behavior on one end and virtuousness on the other. He advocates for organizations not just to avoid harm but to actively do good. Cameron argues that empirical evidence showing the positive impact on bottom-line results can inspire leaders to adopt virtuous practices.

Cameron’s insights highlight the transformative power of virtuousness within organizations. By institutionalizing positive practices, organizations can achieve extraordinary outcomes while fostering employee flourishing.