Meaningful work, work engagement and organisational commitment

Abstract

Orientation: Meaningful work can yield benefits for organisations and lead to positive work outcomes such as satisfied, engaged and committed employees, individual and organisational fulfilment, productivity, retention and loyalty.Research purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate the relationships amongst psychological meaningfulness, work engagement and organisational commitment and to test for a possible mediation effect of work engagement on the relationship between psychological meaningfulness and organisational commitment.Motivation for the study: Managers have to rethink ways of improving productivity and performance at work, due to the diverse, and in some instances escalating, needs of employees (e.g. financial support) to uphold their interest in and enjoyment of working.Research approach, design and method: A quantitative approach was employed to gather the data for the study, utilising a cross-sectional survey design. The sample (n = 415) consisted of working employees from various companies and positions in Gauteng, South Africa.Main findings: The results confirmed a positive relationship between psychological meaningfulness, work engagement and organisational commitment. Further, psychological meaningfulness predicts work engagement, whilst psychological meaningfulness and work engagement predict organisational commitment.Practical/managerial implications: Employers identifying their employees’ commitment patterns and mapping out strategies for enhancing those that are relevant to organisational goals will yield positive work outcomes (e.g. employees who are creative, seek growth or challenges for themselves).Contribution/value-add: This study contributes to the literature through highlighting the impact that meaningful work has on sustaining employee commitment to the organisation.

Caring for “Parentless” Children: An Exploration of Work Stressors and Resources as Experienced by Caregivers in Children’s Homes in Ghana

“…These suggestions are supported by motivation research outcomes that show positive relationships between employee incentive and work performance (Ibrahim & Brobbey, 2015;Sekhar, Patwardhan, & Singh, 2013). To the extent that caregivers who demonstrated this sense of meaningfulness seemed less likely to give up and were willing to keep going in the job, our findings also confirm those reported by Geldenhuys, Łaba, and Venter (2014) and Rosso, Dekas, and Wrzesniewski (2010), who reported positive relationships between psychological meaningfulness of work and work commitment.…”

The Relationship between Work Value and Organizational Commitment on Student of Sekolah Polisi Negara Mojokerto

“…Furthermore, work attachment also positively correlated with organizational commitment (Ho, Oldenburg, Day, & Sun, 2012;Dabare & Sajeevanie, 2014;Geldenhuys, Łaba, &Venter, 2014). There are many literatures indicate there was a positive correlation between work value and organizational commitment (Putti, Aryee, & Liang, 2014;Shas, Kaur, & Haque, 1992;Maiyanto & Santhoso, 1999).…”

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