Making Work Meaningful...By Listening to Me??

One element of making work meaningful to employees is helping them see how their work fits into broader organizational goals and accomplishments. Indeed, a lack of deeper connections for one's work is part of Karl Marx's argument way back in 1844 that capitalism creates worker alienation, though Marx typically isn't recognized as the basis for contemporary human resource management! In any case, in December I had an opportunity to present my research to interested staff here in the Carlson School of Management. This is part of a professional development series that aims to help connect staff to the school's faculty and their research. I truly enjoyed this opportunity, and I hope that in some small way I contributed toward making work more meaningful here in my own organization. The topic of my presentation was, unsurprisingly, "The Thought of Work," but I also try to answer the burning question "What the heck is industrial relations?" If you want to watch my presentation, it's archived here.