Lecture 2-Nandi 2004 PDF

Lecture 2 The meaning of work Please note: You will not be able to complete the lecture without completing your pre-reading for this section of work. PRESCRIBED READING: Cantone 2016 About the prescribed readin...

Lecture 2 The meaning of work Please note: You will not be able to complete the lecture without completing your pre-reading for this section of work. PRESCRIBED READING: Cantone 2016 About the prescribed reading: Refer to the module guide for the full reference / title of the prescribed reading Explain the importance and meaning of work for people in general Discuss the various meanings associated with work as relevant to the periods o The pre-industrial era, industrial era and post-industrial era o The 21st century o Industry 4.0 (digital era) Discuss the core principles and issues embedded in the psychology of working Discuss the work as a central-life interest Discuss core work and career values that influence the meaning of work Define ‘work’ in your own words, providing a definition based on your own understanding of the concept.  Work exists in the occupational Work is a central human activity context as well as in social undertaken for another party in domains such as within the v v exchange for compensation family, in the community, the (Capeli & Keller, 2013). workplaces and many other contexts, throughout one’s life (Stebleton, 2012, p.52). Industry 4.0 (the digital era) The 4th Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0 and beyond) is rapidly transforming the nature an concept of work around the globe Digitisation, interconnectivity, virtualisation, automation and smart technology is becoming an integral facet of work in the digital era (McKinsey Global Institute, 2015) Technological advancements and innovation, along with uncertain ‘slow to adjust’ economic and labour market conditions, will fundamentally change the nature of employment, jobs, occupations, business and society All these changes will shape the future of work, career choices, career development and career well-being (Hirschi, 2018) The impact of the digital era Traditional world of work Emerging world of work Jobs (traditional employment) as we know them today may New types of work, jobs and occupation emerging be reduced Increase in precarious work or job uncertainty i.e. ‘Gig’ economy characterised by flexible, temporary or unemployment and underemployment freelance jobs insecure and temporal forms of employment Self-regulated, independent forms of work as a result of online marketplaces of the digital era Largely formal employment mindset (9 to 5 work for another Largely entrepreneurial mindset party) Self-employment, freelance work, side hustles temporary, project-driven work,  Provide an example of a traditional occupation or job that has disappeared and a new type of work or occupation that has emerged since the rise of the digital era. The following should be included in your response for both the traditional and emergent examples: 1. Identify the job, career or type of work 2. Describe the work that it involves 3. Discuss how or why it has disappeared and/or entered the labour market Traditional vs emerging occupations The International Labour Organisation (ILO) declared decent work and the right to just and favourable remuneration as a basic human right and vehicle for social justice because of work’s propensity to ensure for workers and their families an existence worthy of human dignity Decent work contributes to individual wellbeing and the welfare of communities It satisfies the human need for survival and power, social connection and self-determination (Duffy, Douglass, Autin & Allan, 2016). The meaning of work embraces the significance that work or working has on people’s lives. It constitutes a major element of human activity that transpires throughout an individual’s life. Work sustains life in the sense of biological survival and it can sustain the quality of life. In general, next to family, work has been found to be of relatively high importance compared to other areas of life such as leisure, community and religion (Harpaz & Fu, 2002). Wo r k i n g c a n p l a y a meaningful role in the lives of individuals because it is a characteristically human activity that can yield a sense of fulfilment and c o m p l e t i o n. I t i s a l s o v i ew e d a s a n a c t i v i t y i n vo l v i n g ex e r t i o n o r l a b o u r. T h e meaning that we gain from work can result in a plethora o f b e n e f i t s s u c h a s l i fe s a t i sfa c t i o n , g re a te r m e a n i n g and sense of purpose in life and wellbeing.  A means of making a living Being occupied Fulfilling a vocation Develop and utilising skills Different meanings of work can be Fulfilling needs derived from different values associated with work, for instance work can be seen as: Contributing to an all-embracing lifestyle Fulfilling a life purpose  Individuals can ascribe meaning from work which is directly or indirectly influenced by their social- cultural context such as family, school and group socialisation as well as work experience Socio-cultural influences are embedded in historical contexts that give rise to changing meanings of work over time The digital era will bring profound shift in the meaning of work as people will need to learn new ways of creating gainful work, earning a living and finding alternative means of meaningful employment The shift in people’s mindsets will also give rise to new meanings of work Compare how technological advancement has shifted how you study and consume new information. How have learning methods changed from when you started school, compared to how you learn at university today? Consider the technologies used in your learning experience (past to present). The evolving meaning of work The meaning and organisation of work has changed over the years and can be characterised according to specific periods in history where big changes to ways of working occurred in industry. Rural industry and Mechanisation of work, Emergence of energy The rise of electronics, contemporaneous extraction of coal and sources such as electricity, Digitisation / industry telecommunication and agricultural growth, agriculture became the gas and oil and new ways 4.0, automation, computers, new preceding the first backbone of society of communicating i.e. virtualisation and smart technologies industrial revolution through mechanisation telegraph and telephone technology The evolving meanings associated with work The meaning and organisation of work has changed over the years and can be characterised according to specific periods in history where big changes to ways of working occurred in industry. Work as ‘drudgery’ Work as instrumental to spiritual or religious ends Work as intrinsically meaningful for its own sake Theevolving The evolving meaning meanings ofwith associated workwork The meaning and organisation of work has changed over the years and can be characterised according to specific periods in history where big changes to ways of working occurred in industry. Mechanistic mass production leads to decline in the will to work Meaning sought outside sphere of work Theevolving The evolving meaning meanings ofwith associated workwork The meaning and organisation of work has changed over the years and can be characterised according to specific periods in history where big changes to ways of working occurred in industry. Information technology and globalisation lead to multicultural viewpoints about meaning of work  Theevolving The evolving meaning meanings ofwith associated workwork The meaning and organisation of work has changed over the years and can be characterised according to specific periods in history where big changes to ways of working occurred in industry. Boundaryless, service-driven, technology-intensive work environments Work meaning is socially constructed product that is dynamic and fluid and that expresses itself through the perspectives of job meaning, role meaning and self- meaning in a particular socio-cultural context Heightened change and uncertain markets lead to a search for meaning, higher purpose and spiritual sensemaking through one’s work activities and life roles Theevolving evolving meaning ofwith work Meaning of work lies in self-regulated career self-management, career agility, The meanings associated work personal growth and development and an entrepreneurial mindset towards employment creation Business and digital savvy in creating, marketing and selling niche products and The meaning andreal-time services with organisation of work information has changed at lower entry costsover the years on digital and can be characterised according to specific platforms periods in history where big changes to ways of working occurred in industry. Life-long learning, agency, upskilling, agility and flexibility in adapting to change and technology Work-life balance and integration in high-tech living and working community systems Autonomy, control and flexibility in independent, self-directed forms of work Value-driven product development and service delivery focused on the human experience Being able to move beyond what one wants to ‘be’ to what one wants and is able to ‘do;, so one can find meaningful ways to develop and grow personal strengths and capabilities regardless of access to particular job The evolving meaning of work The meaning and organisation of work has changed over the years and can be characterised according to specific periods in history where big changes to ways of working occurred in industry.  Viewed work as drudgery Hebrews and Christians Used work as an opportunity for the expiation of sin An opportunity to seek redemption and regain spiritual dignity The meaning of work has also been considered from various societal and religious perspectives over time Early Catholics Meaning of work related to expiation, charity and purification The pre-industrial era was characterised by linking work to religion and spirituality Protestants Work was viewed as duty and an act of serving God Middle and Far Eastern Work seen as instrumental in spiritual and character development Work viewed as a way to earn an honest living through one’s own Islam labour rather than begging Those who engaged in their own labour gain the grace of Allah The industrialisation age Post-industrialism the meaning of work shifted away from the religious, Post-industrialism resulting in industry shifting to an spiritual and self-evident focus due to mass information focus where production moved from production in factories solely mechanistic, manufacturing in factories to the production of ideas and working in-office work became fragmented due to extensive division of labour New technologies, computerisation and communication work reduced to mechanistic, repetitive functions that affected the personal commitment of workers Globalisation created opportunity for interaction with different cultures  Cultures have different views about the meaning of work Western-based African-based societies societies view work from the view work from the perspective of perspective of externally internally driven driven factors and values factors and values (individualism) (collectivism)  Reflect on your personal life story. How does your cultural background (being either a Western- or African-based society) currently influence your career decisions and the meaning of work for you personally? Work provides people with a sense of social status and social identity Provides individuals and family with power and access to resources (e.g. it affects the position within one’s family, and gives access to external social groups and community) Social connection with others has become the main source of work life Individuals facing unemployment often experience feelings of isolation due to the disruption of their social networks and the implications of not work (unemployment) for their social standing and social connectedness which forms part of survival and economic sustenance The meaning of work is an important concept in people’s lives because it is associated with: Higher job performance Life satisfaction and life Lower levels of anxiety, and productivity meaning hostility and depression Greater career and More intrinsic work Sacrifice of time and pay organizational motivation for careers commitment According to Chan (2001), life experiences generate and enrich work meanings. People are purposeful and intentional beings who make sense of their living experiences. In living a holistic and integral life, people are in a continuous process of making and exploring meaning People engage in continuous sensemaking to discern what meaning that work holds for them, the act on their relational setting at work in a motivated fashion to shape their contact with others and the experiences they are likely to have The process of interpersonal sensemaking is approached from three perspectives Job meaning Role meaning Self-meaning tasks and activities that an employee perceived position in social structure an self-understanding and self-narratives believes constitute the job, and the employee holds in the organisation and about one’s identity and qualities or perceived value of the tasks the perceived value of the position characteristics when at work and the perceived value or worth of one’s personal qualities in the job  Four types of organisational transitions have received increasing attention during the 21st century: Dramatic changes that have affected work and organisations have resulted from the abovementioned organisational transitions: Increasing Shift to smaller Change of focus Impact of Re-engineer of disappearance of the Global organisations from creating information business meaning ‘job’ as a competition employing products to technology processes fixed collection of fewer people providing services tasks Based on the meaning of work in the 21st century, how does employment affect positions of power within the family dynamic? Base your answer on your own experience or what you have observed in your social context and/or environment.  The psychology of work (POW) theory recognises that work can fulfil three basic human needs: Work provides a means to meet the needs for Colleagues, supervisors and beneficiaries Work further provides a means by which physical survival (i.e. safety, security, food, provides avenues for social self-determination needs can be met. Self- clothing and shelter) and psychological connectedness at work determined work is intrinsically motivating, power (i.e. accruing symbolic resources such as acting as a form of one’s authentic identity education, status, prestige and material work) through work Value congruence refers to the alignment between an individual’s core values and those of the organisation he or she works for. Access to opportunity structure and resources such as education, social support, safe and adequate housing and financial support promote the internalisation of extrinsically motivating work. Extrinsically motivating work is often especially relevant to people at lower socio-economic levels of living as they often lack access to the resources that increase the likelihood of finding work that is rewarding and meaningful, and meets the need for self-determination. The POW theory emphasises the influence of social class on the meaning of work Social class refers to people’s relative positions in society’s economic and cultural hierarchy and reflects the power, influence and control over resources that this rank affords Research suggests that those in higher social classes may be more likely to experience meaningful work than those in lower social classes. Discuss possible reasons for this below. Sources of work meaning (Allan et al, 2014): Individuation Represents self-agency and involves drawing meaningfulness from establishing the self as a valuable, autonomous individual Contribution Represents to the extent to which one perceives that he or she is making a significant impact on others Self-connection Represents an individual feeling aligned and engaged with his or her identity Unification Represents communion and harmony with others, with belongingness and a sense of community playing a critical role Unemployment affects people negatively due to the significance of work and working in their lives It brings about a complexity of experiences in people’s lives that are influenced by social class position Unemployed people experience multiple forms of classism, a systematic oppression of subordinated groups who do not have equal access to acquire economic power or social influence and privilege The Social Class Worldview Model differentiates between classism experienced externally – exerted by members of an individual’s economic culture, and internalised classism is an internal process where job loss results in feelings and thoughts of failure and shame Internalised classism might be particularly salient in social classes with fewer resources, where work is mainly a means of survival Underemployment also negatively affects perceptions of meaningful work Underemployment typically occurs when individuals are: Overqualified i.e., possess Involuntarily employed Underpaid i.e., they are more education or have outside their area of earning lower wages than Involuntarily engaged in higher skills and job education, training or in their previous job or insecure employment experience than a job expertise among their peers requires Research shows that sub-optimal work hinders the fulfilment of self-determination needs and prevents individuals from choosing the work they want A fundamental factor in the meaning of work is the centrality of work, which is the degree of importance that working has, in the life of an individual at any point in time A study conducted in 1992 identified that for many people work is in fact not a central life interest, although this may differ for different occupational groups However, work is losing its centrality for industrial workers two-thirds say that work is not a central life half the managerial sector indicates that it does interest, not regard it as a central life interest, In contrast, this is not the case for professionals – because professional practice is creative and involves personal responsibility and accountability for the outcomes of one’s performance The noticeable shift in work centrality has resulted in contemporary career development theory viewing the meaning of work from a social constructionist paradigm: How work (paid and unpaid) fits into people’s lives The meaning people attach to various work-life roles Work as a central life interest is about the value that people derive from engaging in work / rewards of working, for instance: Individuals with high work centrality likely view job Individuals with low centrality may perceive performance as instrumental in obtaining many non- performance as relating only to pay or other financial or psychological rewards economic/material rewards associated with the job Defining values: Values are used interchangeably with norms, beliefs, principles, preferences, needs, interests, intentions, codes, criteria, worldview or ideology They selectively determine modes of behaviour and ways of living, including work behaviour and forms of work 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 are also described as beliefs that represent broad motivational goals or desirable end states of behaviour that apply across contest and time Values develop as a result of external socio-cultural forces and internal psychological factors that influence the individual Socio-cultural norms become personal objectives of the individual that are transformed into values Work values refer to basic values in the work setting and represent what the individual wants to obtain from work  Self- Economic / determination / Advancement Power Status Material Autonomy self- rewards actualisation Workplace Sense of Work-family Social values Leisure Competency spirituality belonging enrichment ✓What is the significance of work in people’s lives? ✓Review the different meanings of work associated with the different eras: pre- industrial era, industrial era, post-industrial era, 21st century and digital era (Industry 4.0 and beyond) ✓Explain the basic principles of the psychology of working and their influence on the meaning of work.