A Humanistic Perspective for Management Research: Protecting Dignity and Promoting Well-Being

Leadership, management and organisational implications for public service employee well-being and performance

“…These earlier models have endured in the public service landscape, aptly described by Benington and Hartley (2011, p. 17) metaphorically as 'the machinery of government, levers of power, chain of command, and cogs in the machine …'. While the machine model with standardised products and Taylorist division of labour may have suited the industrial age in a relatively stable context (Benington & Hartley, 2011;Osborne et al, 2013;Pirson, 2021), the current 'permanent white water' environment and, in particular, global crises like the COVID-19 pandemic have vividly illustrated their inherent inadequacies.…”

“…Mirroring this shift, public organisations are also under pressure to move from task oriented, mainly productivity focused (Cvenkel, 2020) and command and control management approaches to citizen-and employee-centric, service-dominant, networked, relational and affective governance, such as the New Public Governance paradigm (Betancourt & Vivier, 2021;Osborne et al, 2013) and transformational leadership paradigms (Denhardt & Denhardt, 2007;Dirani et al, 2020). However, in reality, rationalistic, transactional and market-oriented perspectives continue to dictate public service reform thinking and practice (Pedersen & Hartley, 2008;Pirson, 2021;Vigoda-Gadot & Meisler, 2010), notwithstanding the paradoxes and the negative effects of decades of New Public Management's (NPM) dominance (Hood & Peters, 2004;Osborne et al, 2013), for example, the latter's stressful effects on public employees' wellbeing (Cvenkel, 2020).…”

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This state of public affairs invites important epistemological questions to be asked regarding public service transformation in a multidimensional, interdependent and interdisciplinary 21st-century environment (Pirson, 2021;Van Wart, 2011). The theoretical frameworks associated with 20th-century Orientation: With the significant changes in the organisational context and the nature of work, greater focus on employee well-being is central to the quality of work life (QWL) and effective organisations.Research purpose: This article examines the complex and dynamic interplay between the multidimensional affective, behavioural, relational and socio-cultural dimensions in mediating employee well-being and organisational performance in a transforming South African provincial government.Motivation for the study: Theoretical models and public reforms have focused on the formal, transactional and technical aspects in understanding organisational performance and employee well-being, with less attention given to the behavioural, socio-cultural and interpersonal dimensions.Research approach/design and method: This qualitative study in two provincial government departments with 43 public servants (rank levels 6-15) applied the integral theory-based, fourquadrant model.

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“…This state of public affairs invites important epistemological questions to be asked regarding public service transformation in a multidimensional, interdependent and interdisciplinary 21st-century environment (Pirson, 2021;Van Wart, 2011). The theoretical frameworks associated with 20th-century Orientation: With the significant changes in the organisational context and the nature of work, greater focus on employee well-being is central to the quality of work life (QWL) and effective organisations.…”

Migrant worker well-being as a struggle for meaningful work: Evidence from Bangladeshi migrants in a developing country

“…Additionally, we contribute theoretically to more holistic accounts of well-being which avoid the depiction of precarious workers and such migrants as mere victims (Nail, 2018). Well-being has been conceived as a social, relational or collective phenomenon which incorporates quality of life factors, meaning or purpose, and individual agency (Fisher, 2014;Nussbaum, 2011;Pirson, 2017;White, 2017). We build on such multifaceted frameworks to explore meaningful work (MW), a concept considered integral to well-being (Fisher, 2014;Yeoman, 2014).…”