I'd like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company. - The Coca-Cola Company (1971)
Thesis: In response to a convergence of existential threats, we are now living in, and living out, an age of transcendence. Meaningful work has never been so important.
Key points:
- This author has seen a surge in demand for “meaningful work.”
- Research supports anecdote with constructs such as “calling” in career counseling.
- {Of note, I/O psychology terminology and research have evolved along an increasingly spiritual journey.}
- Transcendence, the core of meaningful work, is argued to be the current Zeitgeist, supported by four examples:
- Global stressors have led many to re-examine their lives and values.
- The pandemic, via WFH, has led many to take a critical review of their job.
- Millennials want jobs that provide a sense of purpose, value.
- Technology is now replacing knowledge workers driving the workforce toward humanistic jobs.
- Meaningful work must keep pace with global and individual needs and trends.
- This is not only being done (see #4), it’s doable. (No grammar issue)
- Most of the time, it’s up to leadership to make this happen.
A confluence of forces has led to radical change with exceptional impact on the world of work. Some, including myself, find the term “change” -- at least as a matter of degree or evolution -- to be completely “off mark.” We’re living in a new world, not a changed one as evident in so many ways.
One work-related result of this ‘break’ is less obvious due to its covert, psychological nature. {But not to me, mostly because people tell me so.}