Work values and the meaning of work

Work is a central human activity undertaken for another party in exchange for compensation; however, work is not always tied to or solely located in the occupational structure. Work is linked to a constellation of roles across multiple social domains that individuals engage in throughout their life, paid and nonpaid roles. The concept of ‘work’ has a range of possible meanings, the meaning of work embraces the significance that work or working has in people’s lives. Work encompasses a major element of human activity that takes place over much of a person’s life. Work sustains life in the sense of biological survival and it can also 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 and because of the significance of work in people’s lives, work can be seen as inherently meaningful. Work is a characteristically human activity in which human beings can find fulfilment and completion – and/or it can mean activity involving exertion or labour.

The meaning of work in people’s lives is determined by factors within the individuals – one’s personal work values, preference and work goals – and by the job and wider environment.

The term values is used interchangeably to denote norms, beliefs, principles, preferences, needs, interests, intentions, codes, criteria, worldview or ideology. Such terms suggest that values can be seen as orientation or dispositions that selectively determine modes of behaviour and life forms, including work behaviour and work forms. 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 peoples.

Values develop as a result of external socio-cultural forces and internal psychological factors that influence the individual. Work values represent what the individual wants to obtain from work. People’s work values relate to their career values, which are based on their evaluation of the desirability of different kinds of job attributes.

Discussed below, some of the prevailing work values that have an important influence on the meaning of work:

-??????Advancement

Those who value advancement in their work and their career attach much importance to achievement, the long-term concern about doing things better, surpassing one’s standard of excellence and/or wanting to do something challenging or unique, upward mobility, making progress, development, power and status. Those high in power motivation often have a high interest in their image or status and how they are viewed by others. They also value having prestigious possessions and success is also regarded as important.

-??????Power

Power refers to the capacity that a person has to influence the behaviour of other people so that they act in accordance with one’s wishes. Power, therefore, exists wherever there is a relationship between two or more people or groups.

Dominant groups in society and organisations transmit values and goals to the workplace by virtue of their positions of power and control over economic activity.

-??????Status

Advancement and power are also closely related to the need for status. Status arises largely from the tendency to categorise people according to work-related factors. Work, therefore, determines the individual’s place in the status hierarchy of the community. Status is ascribed to individuals by society, family, friends and co-workers and is generally ascribed to individuals according to material achievement and to social achievement.

Status can involve mobility and directionality, since both society and organisations are hierarchically structured, a value judgement is attached to vertical mobility.

-??????Autonomy

People who value autonomy consider a certain degree of freedom to organise their life and work as important. They tend to seek work situations in which they can be maximally free of organisational constraints to pursue their professional or technical competence. As a result. they often compromise themselves less towards the organisation, because they generally expect less of the organisation than others would do. The value of autonomy corresponds to the notion of self-directedness as manifested in people’s need for self-actualisation, competency and leisure.

-??????Self-actualisation

Self-actualisation is a process of inner-directedness through which individuals give expression to the intrinsic natures. It involves the tendency to enrich oneself by psychological growth and by seeing meaning in being. Characteristics associated with self-actualised people include autonomy in the sense of relative independence of the physical and social environment, a democratic orientation, a feeling of connectedness with others, the freshness of appreciation and feel at ease with complexity and ambiguity. These characteristics can be condensed into a single quality – openness to experience.

Self-actualisation contributes to one’s sense of identity which centres on a question that involves self-concepts. These self-concepts can find expression through self-actualisation in work, through work, people identify themselves to themselves and to others, and also see themselves as distinct or different from others. If a self-concept is not congruent with the requirement of a job, work loses its meaning and an authentic part of the self is repressed.

-??????Competency

Finding intrinsic meaning and a sense of identity in work amount to a career competency that characterises the individual. The knowing-why competency, which together with knowing-whom competencies – which involve developing interpersonal and inter-organisational communication networks – and knowing-how competencies – which involve acquiring skills and knowledge, contribute to the individual’s cumulative competencies.

The accumulation of competencies has become important in the contemporary milieu of job organisational and career structures. It serves a dual purpose, by equipping the individual to adapt to change and contributing to satisfying organisational requirements.

The performance-, learning- and development modes of career development are applicable when a career is seen as a lifelong development.

-??????Leisure

Leisure involves activities that fall outside the context of work and which are not necessarily instrumental in sustaining income but can constitute ways in which is connected to non-work. The relation between work and leisure is not clear-cut. Leisure can also compensate for a lack of meaning in work activities and leisure roles can contribute to self-enrichment and expressing parts of the personality that cannot find expression in work. The pursuit of leisure can create values distinct from work values.

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