Thesis summary: The meaning of work and the individual’s sensemaking – From the perspective of human resource managers

The scope of research examining the meaning and meaningfulness of work is rather broad; I therefore believe it is necessary to first provide an overview of research approaches before describing my own approach. Depending on the definition of the concept of the meaning of work they used, researchers took various approaches. According to one group of researchers, the meaning of work and the meaningfulness of work is necessarily a subjective matter, with the meaning of work defined intrinsically (coming from the individual) (e.g. Simon, 1997; Isaksen, 2000). Another group of researchers believe that the meaning of work and the meaningfulness of work may be determined according to a set of objective criteria – so it is, therefore, objective (e.g. Morse – Weiss, 1955; Vecchio, 1980; MOW International Research Team, 1987). A third group of researchers emphasize the concept of intersubjectivity: that the social surroundings of the individual affect the meaning of work; the interpretation of this community impacts their individual understanding (Salancik – Pfeffer, 1978; Wrzesniewski – Dutton, 2001, Pratt – Ashforth, 2003; Wrzesniewski et al., 2003). The meaning of work can be understood as a constant, static definition at any particular moment (e.g. Morse – Weiss, 1955; Vecchio, 1980; MOW International Research Team, 1987; Isaksen, 2000) or as a variable, dynamic definition (Pratt – Ashforth, 2003; Wrzesniewski et al, 2003), with the latter lending itself to an approach focused on the process.