Creating Meaning at Work through Transformational Leadership

• Published in: Enhancing Employee Engagement pp. 31 - 41
• Main Authors: Asare, Enoch, Whittington, J. Lee, Beldona, Sri, Meskelis, Simone
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Springer International Publishing AG 2017; Springer International Publishing
• Subjects: Business strategy; Personnel & human resources management; Sociology: work & labour
• ISBN: 3319547313; 9783319547312
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-54732-9_4

Following the work of Pratt and Ashforth (2003), we distinguish between meaningfulness at work and meaningfulness in work. Meaningfulness at work occurs by being part of an organization that is perceived as significant, rather than focusing on what an individual does. Meaningfulness at work can be enhanced through a variety of organizational practices that provide a sense of meaning by being part of an organization instead of what an individual does. This is done by leaders who build strong organizational cultures. Strong cultures provide a sense of identity that creates a unifying bond among the organization’s members. Leaders can enhance positive meaning by engaging in behaviors associated with transformational leadership to arouse and inspire the members of their organization. In this chapter, we examine the role of these transformational leadership behaviors on an employee’s experience of meaningful work.